Hurricane in the Pines
- Thread starter bobpbx
- Start date
I won't really go there either, but I think there is a lesson to be learned from the past week. When they say to evacuate, don't screw around - get the hell out.
Boyd said:
Yeah, that worked really well for those who just had surgery. They literally bounded down the steps of the hospital.
I was reading CNN this morning, and the mayor down there seems two faced. Here is the small excerpt from the article.
(See the mayor's order to stop the talking and send soldiers to help -- 1:00)
"A few moments ago, he stopped a truck full of National Guard troops ... and said, 'Point your weapons down, this is not Iraq,' " Starr reported.
How things change...
Guy
(See the mayor's order to stop the talking and send soldiers to help -- 1:00)
"A few moments ago, he stopped a truck full of National Guard troops ... and said, 'Point your weapons down, this is not Iraq,' " Starr reported.
How things change...
Guy
Come on Bob, you don't really buy that, do you? Do you really think the g'ment is thinking "all the wealthy white folk are out so it's ok"?BobM said:
This thing didn't just happen to New Orleans as the news would have you believe. This thing is huge. What about Biloxi? What about the area further north that got ripped with tornados, can't even remember the name of the area because the news doesn't talk about it? What about the countless other towns along the gulf that were devistated by Katrina? The people of New Orleans are crying that they are forgotten but what about these other folk? This thing is huge.
Steve
The guy who runs another forum that I post on had his servers hosted at DirectNIC in New Orleans. Obviously, his site is down. He has a temporary site up with some updates of what's going on. He pretty much summed up how I feel:
http://forums.somethingawful.com
http://forums.somethingawful.com
Without a doubt there is a lot of handwringing and finger pointing going on over the catastrophe on the gulf coast. Personally I feel much of it is misguided. In large part by a media whose not so veiled intentions to tarnish the administration at any cost. Even the truth. The New Orleans office of emergency management has a very thorough and comprehensive plan in place to implement in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster. You can read it here. I can save you the trouble, having read it myself and can say categorically that the troubles down there are the result of a total collapse of local government. When it became obvious to the mayor that he had neither the control of his underlings nor the confidence in them he ordered the evacuation. He didn't execute his plan, he bailed. While New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin criticizes, carps, and moans -- far away in dry, safe Baton Rouge we should be asking him where was his government in the days following the hurricane? Any sensible disaster plan would have required every policeman, every fireman, and every public health worker to remain in the City and to come to work the following morning.
Where were they? New Orleans has a police force of 1,700 officers (majority black.) Even under the terrible conditions, the presence of those officers around the city would have gone far to maintain a sense of order. And where were the firefighters -- yes, without water pressure they couldn't have fought fires, but they could have begun rescue efforts.
It appears that Mayor Nagin's government (like the Mayor himself) simply disappeared. Many probably evacuated and there have been reports of policemen turning in their badges and leaving. The only heroes in this crisis appear to be the valiant hospital workers who struggled for days with no support from their own city to keep the sick from dying.
Where was the local Health Department? Where were the stocks of medication and food that any sensible city often hit by hurricanes would maintain? Why were hundreds of school buses left idle instead of being pressed into service to evacuate those poor about whom we're hearing so much?
This is being turned into a racial issue now. Black demagogues around the country are beginning to howl at President Bush's and "white" America's failure to respond more quickly. But they're simply trying to deflect attention away from what they want to keep secret. Why did the black Mayor and his government presiding over a majority-black and overwhelmingly poor city fail to provide his own constituents with the barest support during the city's worst crisis?
The Federal Government is doing what it always does, coming in afterward to clean up the mess. And I'm sure we'll be hearing for years what it could or should have done better. But the fact remains that it's a far bigger mess in New Orleans than it might have been because of Mayor Nagin's obvious incompetence. The racialists should pipe down, contribute some money, and ponder what, and who actually drove New Orleans to its knees.
The collapse of New Orleans' institutions in its worst hours is the true national disgrace. The truth is that the federal government isn't the first line of defence, its the last line of defense. How confident are we in OUR elected local government officials?
Where were they? New Orleans has a police force of 1,700 officers (majority black.) Even under the terrible conditions, the presence of those officers around the city would have gone far to maintain a sense of order. And where were the firefighters -- yes, without water pressure they couldn't have fought fires, but they could have begun rescue efforts.
It appears that Mayor Nagin's government (like the Mayor himself) simply disappeared. Many probably evacuated and there have been reports of policemen turning in their badges and leaving. The only heroes in this crisis appear to be the valiant hospital workers who struggled for days with no support from their own city to keep the sick from dying.
Where was the local Health Department? Where were the stocks of medication and food that any sensible city often hit by hurricanes would maintain? Why were hundreds of school buses left idle instead of being pressed into service to evacuate those poor about whom we're hearing so much?
This is being turned into a racial issue now. Black demagogues around the country are beginning to howl at President Bush's and "white" America's failure to respond more quickly. But they're simply trying to deflect attention away from what they want to keep secret. Why did the black Mayor and his government presiding over a majority-black and overwhelmingly poor city fail to provide his own constituents with the barest support during the city's worst crisis?
The Federal Government is doing what it always does, coming in afterward to clean up the mess. And I'm sure we'll be hearing for years what it could or should have done better. But the fact remains that it's a far bigger mess in New Orleans than it might have been because of Mayor Nagin's obvious incompetence. The racialists should pipe down, contribute some money, and ponder what, and who actually drove New Orleans to its knees.
The collapse of New Orleans' institutions in its worst hours is the true national disgrace. The truth is that the federal government isn't the first line of defence, its the last line of defense. How confident are we in OUR elected local government officials?
Thanks, King o'the Pines-
Here I was thinking - in what I now recognize was a clearly befuddled manner - that it was a complex situation and that casting accurate blame would be a difficult, long, drawn out procedure that might never be completely resolved. But then you boiled it all down and brought sense out of chaos and confusion.
INCOMPETENT LOCAL BLACK ADMINISTRATORS!. Sheesh! How'd I miss that? Thanks.
That saves all of us so much time, not to mention the strenuous effort of critical thought! ! Whew. Now we can relax.
Y'all have a nice day, heah?
Dave
Here I was thinking - in what I now recognize was a clearly befuddled manner - that it was a complex situation and that casting accurate blame would be a difficult, long, drawn out procedure that might never be completely resolved. But then you boiled it all down and brought sense out of chaos and confusion.
INCOMPETENT LOCAL BLACK ADMINISTRATORS!. Sheesh! How'd I miss that? Thanks.
That saves all of us so much time, not to mention the strenuous effort of critical thought! ! Whew. Now we can relax.
Y'all have a nice day, heah?
Dave
The emphasis here should not be that the horrendous response to the disaster was as a result of someones skin color. To make this conclusion would be to completely miss the point. The emphasis of skin color is in direct response to those who would complain that the rescue attempts were slow, because of skin color ie, racist. The governor, (white), and state senators, (white) equally share in the blame of the collapse at the local level. But why would those who shout racism completely overlook those who are most directly responsible for the well being of its residents. But thanks for your opinion. At least we know how you think.
BEHR655 said:
Actually, what I do believe is this. Yes, it is huge but it could have been avoided. Bush gave the wealthy their huge tax cut, is spending billions and billions in Iraq, and just recently forked over half the frigging wealth of the country to the energy companies. I think a little of that money should have been given to strenghen Louisiana's Levee system. They have been asking for it for years. And that political appointed FEMA guy should be fired, from now on put people in that position who are qualified to respond to big disasters.
A bit off the topic but who here is familiar with the NewMadrid fault line that runs through the Mississippi Valley? The earthquake that inevitably will swallow most of Missouri may only be weeks/months/years away. What should the federal gov't be doing about it now, before the earthquake strikes. How can Bush, or subsequent presidents prepare us for it. More importantly how can the earthquake be prevented?? Is more $$ the answer? Is it ever? Just curious.
A first hand update
Just figured I'd throw this out there. But I just got off the phone with my Uncle in Miss., Bay St. Louis area. He drove back down from Tunica (outside of Memphis) to get some belongings from his house that he and my Aunt swam out of. He said there is no running water. He brought some food down to his one neighbor, the other he found dead when her refridgerator fell on her in the storm. He said that the Florida highway patrol is running the gas stations. You can only get up to 20.00 dollars worth. But they brought the price down to 2.45 p/gal today. Also the national guard is clearing the highways, and he said he was amazed to see the amount of emergency vehicles from all different municipalities throughout the US.
Oh yeah he said that since the don't have water to clean anything, that everything in the house is begining to grow a nice fur coat!
That whole N.O. situation is crazy. I can't believe those guys were firing on people trying to help them. How stupid!
Just figured I'd throw this out there. But I just got off the phone with my Uncle in Miss., Bay St. Louis area. He drove back down from Tunica (outside of Memphis) to get some belongings from his house that he and my Aunt swam out of. He said there is no running water. He brought some food down to his one neighbor, the other he found dead when her refridgerator fell on her in the storm. He said that the Florida highway patrol is running the gas stations. You can only get up to 20.00 dollars worth. But they brought the price down to 2.45 p/gal today. Also the national guard is clearing the highways, and he said he was amazed to see the amount of emergency vehicles from all different municipalities throughout the US.
Oh yeah he said that since the don't have water to clean anything, that everything in the house is begining to grow a nice fur coat!
That whole N.O. situation is crazy. I can't believe those guys were firing on people trying to help them. How stupid!
"Bush gave the wealthy their huge tax cut, is spending billions and billions in Iraq, and just recently forked over half the frigging wealth of the country to the energy companies. I think a little of that money should have been given to strenghen Louisiana's Levee system. They have been asking for it for years. And that political appointed FEMA guy should be fired, from now on put people in that position who are qualified to respond to big disasters."
Well said, Bob.
Well said, Bob.