Hurricanes do not sneak up on people. Unlike tornadoes, hurricanes don't just
reach down out of the dark storm clouds to wreak havoc on humanity.
Hurricanes are tracked, named, have warning flags dedicated to them, and
all coastal cities have long-standing plans for dealing with them. Nearly
everyone in the world knew Katrina was going to hit Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Alabama, and yet so many have died in New Orleans. Why?
Hurricane Katrina struck the tip of southern Florida as a category 1
hurricane and made a beeline for the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For
three days Katrina churned her way across the Gulf, growing in size and
strength until it was a monster storm. With sustained winds of over 175 mph,
Katrina bore down on the city of New Orleans. Literally, at the last possible
moment, Katrina was pushed, ever-so-slightly, by dry air from the Midwest,
off to the East and dropped from a category 5 to a high category 4 with
sustained winds of 150 mph. Katrina was still a killer storm by anyone's
description. For three long days, the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of
New Orleans watched Katrina bear down on their state and city respectively
but took very little action to protect their citizens other than to state the
obvious: "Leave town." No assistance was offered to the poor or elderly.
Aerial views of New Orleans have shown pictures of hundreds of buses, left
parked and unused. Why didn't the mayor of New Orleans activate those buses
to move the people out of the city those who wanted to leave but
had no way out? Why was this golden opportunity to save lives left parked,
only to be lost to the floodwaters? This from the Louisiana disaster plan,
pg. 13, paragraph 5, dated 01/00: "The primary means of hurricane evacuation
will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned
vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide
transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance
in evacuating'..." Why was the city's own disaster plan for using those buses
to evacuate people not implemented? Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin had three
days to evacuate the poor and elderly from New Orleans but they did not. Why?
While the governors of both Mississippi and Alabama put in a formal request
for federal assistance before Katrina even made landfall, the governor of
Louisiana refused to relinquish any of her power for the good of the people.
Now she and her party point the finger of blame at the White House.
The Department of Homeland Security can only work with the state and local
officials in organizing relief efforts such as food, water, and shelter.
There is no military arm of the Department of Homeland Security or the
Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the military is what was needed and
everyone knew that.
Instead of asking why the Democratic leaders of Louisiana failed the people,
these sites post disgusting pictures of floating bodies with the message:
"George Bush did nothing." The truth is, the Democratic governor wouldn't
allow Bush to do anything. That floating body belongs to Governor Blanco. She
is the one who "did nothing."
Roving bands of {*filter*} criminals quickly took control of the streets. While
Mayor Nagin did declare martial law, it was a toothless declaration. The New
Orleans police department was instantly overwhelmed. Many policemen
just threw up their hands and walked off the job. Some joined the looters and
were videotaped by MSNBC "looting" in the local Walmart. The handful that was
left on the job did their best but the best they could do was try to stay
alive in a now lawless and dying city.
Because there was no one in charge, the initial rescue operations were feeble
at best and there was chaos. The scope and magnitude of the disaster, which
covers an area the size of Great Britain, still had not been realized by
Louisiana's Democratic elected Governor Blanco who steadfastly refused to
declare martial law and officially request that the federal government "send
in the troops."
On Friday, September 2, the president of the United States was forced to
"negotiate" with Governor Blanco for the lives of the suffering and dying
people of New Orleans. She feared that allowing the federal government to
take control would make her administration appear as though it had failed.
How she would be judged was more important to her than the lives of those
people who were dying in the squalor.
How many died as Blanco maneuvered to protect her reputation?
The Posse Comitatus Act prevents, by federal law, the president of the United
States from sending federal troops into any state without the direct request
of the elected governor of that state. A frustrated President
Bush could only stand by and watch as the horror unfolded until he received
the request for help. Despite the finger-pointing at President Bush, there
was little that he could do until he was formally asked for assistance. No
matter how loudly the liberals scream, they know full well that the president
was helpless to do much of anything.
As the death toll rose and the animalistic behavior of some of those who
chose to remain within the city became public knowledge, it was obvious that
authorities needed to regain control. As the scenes from New Orleans, now
a national disgrace, were being beamed around the world, a shameless Democrat
Governor Blanco only cared about her own political image.
There is reason to believe that President Bush, running out of patience with
Blanco by Saturday morning, used the only option that remained to him. It is
being reported that Bush went around Blanco and utilized the Insurrection Act
to federalize the National Guard and send in active military troops to take
over the rescue and put down the lawlessness that had taken over New Orleans.
The forces that Bush had poised to move into the city, swung into action. It
was no accident that the major, organized rescues began when the sun came up
on Saturday morning. At 6:30 AM, when the sky over New Orleans was suddenly
filled with military helicopters and military convoys poured into the
streets, they were there because of President Bush, not Governor Blanco.
The largest military evacuation the world has ever seen moved with the
precision and efficiency that is only seen within the military. With men like
Lt. General Russel Honore, 1st Army Commander and Army Brigadier General
Mark Graham in charge, law and order was quickly restored, and an endless
line of helicopters and boats began removing the stranded people and taking
them out of the hell-hole called New Orleans. Those forces were ready
to act because the President of the United States had positioned them to be
ready.
Everyone demands answers and everyone wants to put the blame for this
catastrophe on someone. The most convenient person to blame is President
Bush. In truth, he is the least responsible on the local level. While the
liberals feel this is the perfect time to make political hay because so many
African-Americans are involved, the first line of defense for those people,
the Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, and Democrat Governor of Louisiana,
are the leaders that failed them. The people of New Orleans were abandoned by
an arrogant democrat governor and a hapless democrat mayor as both struggled
to save their own political careers. But, because they are both
Democrats, the leftists want these ineffective leaders seen as helpless
victims of a thoughtless and racist Bush who ignored their repeated pleas for
help.
Mayor Ray Nagin has been reduced to babbling about how the CIA is out to kill
him because he "spoke his mind," and Governor Blanco has become the invisible
woman hoping that no one will notice that her gross incompetence and
arrogance cost lives. But the left marches on, blaming President Bush because
it knows it can. Most Americans are not aware of the laws preventing the
federal government from "taking over" a city or a state.
The Democrats have closed ranks around their incompetent members and blame
the president who was forced to "deal" with an inept governor. Governor
Blanco's thanks is to point the finger of blame back at the president
when she knows the fault is her own.
The Democratic Party could not possibly sink much lower than it has this past
week. The mayor, the governor, and all those liberal shrieking leftist
politicians should jump into the sewer water that now flows in the streets of
New Orleans. That's where they belong, with the rest of the floating waste.
The Democratic or "Progressive" Party should be buried with the dead. Cause
of death:
Gross incompetence, asphyxiation from lies, and the failure to accept
responsibility for the deaths of thousands of American citizens because power
meant more to them than lives.
Reply With Quote
Quote:
> > >>We will continue to see all kinds of articles where each level of gov
> will
> > >>be trying to cover their butts. We may never know that truth. Congress
> has
> > >>already cancelled the investigation. They will do it later and report
> > >>their findings in February 2006. Frankly, after living in Florida from
> so
> > >>long, I think initially it should have been handled by the gov and the
> > >>mayors of those places. After they did not or could not, the president
> > >>should have stepped in, no matter what. I think the Bush only though
> > >>Blacks would see it as abusive for Blacks to be left out in the hot
> sun,
> > >>hungry and thirsty. He was probably quite surprised that Whites were
> also
> > >>outraged. Since he's been in office, he has done
...
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