Re: THE LOCALS ARE BEING CRITICIZED
> > > That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions.
> > > However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a
> > > barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.
> > >
> > > Here's my gripe:
> > >
> > > Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that
> joke
> > of
> > > a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?
> > >
> > > Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite
>
> > > turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite
> of
> >
> > > what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A
> disgraceful
> >
> > > lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor
> > people
> > > in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.
>
> > >
> > > Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the
> > N.O.
> > > city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> > > water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of
> > the
> > > city.
> >
> > > There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad
> that
> > > our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a
> > > manner befitting the scope of the disaster.
> >
> > Actually, I have heard local politicians being criticized
> as
> > well. Particularly on CNN and Lou Dobbs especially. The
> > mayor of NOLA is BLACK. Most of the political
> > powers-that-be in NOLA and LA are BLACK!
> >
> > While I totally agree there is much blame to go around,
> most
> > of it does fall onto the Federal level. This was a
> disaster
> > much to great for local police and fire and what-not to
> > handle. That is where FEMA is supposed to come in.
> >
> > But wait, FEMA was "demoted" to just another department
> > under the Dept. Of Homeland Security. And now FEMA is
> being
> > run by people who don't have a clue how to handle
> disasters
> > such as what's happened in NOLA. They're main focus is
> > terrorism. You should honestly look into what happened to
>
> > the millions and millions of dollars that were SUPPOSED TO
>
> > GO to fixing the NOLA levees. That money was diverted to
> > the War in Iraq.
> >
> > Once again, the US is embarassed how it can NOT handle a
> > disaster on it's own land.
> >
> > The locals are being criticized, but we are finally seeing
>
> > our media back to where it should be: grilling those
> > essentially responsible for f**king up -- once again.
> >
>
> As I said, there's plenty of blame to go around. However,
> the first response to a disaster is on the state and local
> level. ALWAYS. That's because the nature of our big nation
> makes it impossible for an immediate (physical) Federal
> response in less than 24-48 hours. Plus, key pieces of
> equipment and food are moved away from the storm area so
> that they too are not destroyed. So, the initial screw up
> was local. I know a bit about this and that is how it works.
> It takes time for outside help to come - always.
>
> And, the race of the mayor of New Orleans is not at issue
> here - his performance is what is being questioned. The
> governor is white and I hold her even MORE responsible for
> the initial delays and poor planning. Let's nopt even go
> there. Disaster management is as much the state's job as it
> is the city's. I am of the opinion that these initial
> problems allowed the lawlessness to set in and to fester -
> which further prevented help from getting to the people who
> needed it.
>
> All that being said, Fed support should have been there at
> least 36 hours earlier than it was. So, the questioning of
> Chertoff and FEMA is appropriate. But, I think that the
> blame needs to go around to all - Fed and State. Only then
> can we prevent this kind of mess in the future. The
> coverage that I have seen has been extremely critical of the
> Federal response, but has given the locals a pass. Both
> sets need to be held accountable for this tragedy - IMO.
>
One major issue comes down to resources. While state & local officials made their share of mistakes a major factor is simply resources. Louisiana is te 4th poorest state in the United States, New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the U>S (saw something along the lines that it was 63rd out of 69 cities in average income of medium & large sized cities) 30% of the city is under the poverttyy line. We aren't talking about people who have the simple access to the resources they needed. It was a major federal response melt down. The Federal response needs to be strong in any kind of disaster, but it is even more important in poorer areas where the resources on the local level simply can't match the resources in some more wealthy or ewven middle class sections of the country
> > > That's fine, as Chertoff deserves the tough questions.
> > > However, he is an easy target - like shooting fish in a
> > > barrel. It's fair, but also quite convenient.
> > >
> > > Here's my gripe:
> > >
> > > Where are the tough questions for the mayor and that
> joke
> > of
> > > a governor that Louisiana is stuck with?
> > >
> > > Somehow, they've gotten a free pass by the media despite
>
> > > turning in a performance that was the absolute opposite
> of
> >
> > > what Giuliani and Pataki put in after 9-11. A
> disgraceful
> >
> > > lack of preparedness or professionality. Those poor
> > people
> > > in New Orleans have had NO ONE to act as their advocate.
>
> > >
> > > Haven't heard a thing about that - or about all of the
> > N.O.
> > > city school buses that were shown sitting in 5 feet of
> > > water, instead of ferrying New Orleans residents out of
> > the
> > > city.
> >
> > > There's plenty of blame to go around folks. Too bad
> that
> > > our journalistic colleagues fail to highlight that in a
> > > manner befitting the scope of the disaster.
> >
> > Actually, I have heard local politicians being criticized
> as
> > well. Particularly on CNN and Lou Dobbs especially. The
> > mayor of NOLA is BLACK. Most of the political
> > powers-that-be in NOLA and LA are BLACK!
> >
> > While I totally agree there is much blame to go around,
> most
> > of it does fall onto the Federal level. This was a
> disaster
> > much to great for local police and fire and what-not to
> > handle. That is where FEMA is supposed to come in.
> >
> > But wait, FEMA was "demoted" to just another department
> > under the Dept. Of Homeland Security. And now FEMA is
> being
> > run by people who don't have a clue how to handle
> disasters
> > such as what's happened in NOLA. They're main focus is
> > terrorism. You should honestly look into what happened to
>
> > the millions and millions of dollars that were SUPPOSED TO
>
> > GO to fixing the NOLA levees. That money was diverted to
> > the War in Iraq.
> >
> > Once again, the US is embarassed how it can NOT handle a
> > disaster on it's own land.
> >
> > The locals are being criticized, but we are finally seeing
>
> > our media back to where it should be: grilling those
> > essentially responsible for f**king up -- once again.
> >
>
> As I said, there's plenty of blame to go around. However,
> the first response to a disaster is on the state and local
> level. ALWAYS. That's because the nature of our big nation
> makes it impossible for an immediate (physical) Federal
> response in less than 24-48 hours. Plus, key pieces of
> equipment and food are moved away from the storm area so
> that they too are not destroyed. So, the initial screw up
> was local. I know a bit about this and that is how it works.
> It takes time for outside help to come - always.
>
> And, the race of the mayor of New Orleans is not at issue
> here - his performance is what is being questioned. The
> governor is white and I hold her even MORE responsible for
> the initial delays and poor planning. Let's nopt even go
> there. Disaster management is as much the state's job as it
> is the city's. I am of the opinion that these initial
> problems allowed the lawlessness to set in and to fester -
> which further prevented help from getting to the people who
> needed it.
>
> All that being said, Fed support should have been there at
> least 36 hours earlier than it was. So, the questioning of
> Chertoff and FEMA is appropriate. But, I think that the
> blame needs to go around to all - Fed and State. Only then
> can we prevent this kind of mess in the future. The
> coverage that I have seen has been extremely critical of the
> Federal response, but has given the locals a pass. Both
> sets need to be held accountable for this tragedy - IMO.
>
One major issue comes down to resources. While state & local officials made their share of mistakes a major factor is simply resources. Louisiana is te 4th poorest state in the United States, New Orleans is one of the poorest cities in the U>S (saw something along the lines that it was 63rd out of 69 cities in average income of medium & large sized cities) 30% of the city is under the poverttyy line. We aren't talking about people who have the simple access to the resources they needed. It was a major federal response melt down. The Federal response needs to be strong in any kind of disaster, but it is even more important in poorer areas where the resources on the local level simply can't match the resources in some more wealthy or ewven middle class sections of the country