A lot of people (Paul’s latest sparring partner included) have been slamming FEMA’s performance in the wake of hurricane Katrina. It’s true that a lot of people have suffered — and died — in the aftermath. But was FEMA really inept?
The agency handled disasters in much the same timeliness as Katrina last year, and it was regarded as excellent performance. In fact, last summer they helped Florida deal with no less than four hurricanes. With no change in personnel at the top, now it’s being criticized. What has changed since then?
1) The sheer magnitude of the destruction — Katrina did far more damage than the other storms.
2) The utter incompetence of the state and local officials — nearly every disaster plan has a section that says “FEMA and other federal resources will be available within 72 to 96 hours; until that time, it is the responsibility of local and state agencies to manage the crisis.”
3) The patience and comprehension of the American people has been eroded by the instant-gratification mentality, combined with the 24-hour news cycle and competitiveness of the 24-hour news channels.
4) The Left’s determined focus to blame everything they can on Bush, to find the dark cloud attached to every silver lining and attempt to attach it to him.
In all the howling about Bush in the wake of Katrina, one thing I have noticed is not a single coherent, substantive suggestion about what might have been done has emerged.
1) Override Governor Blanco? Little matter of the law and the Constitution. The President can only supplant the authority of a Mayor and Governor if he invokes the Insurrection Act, and that is a HUGE gun — as in “use this only in the direst of circumstances, or expect to be impeached — and even then, expect it.”
2) Get the rescue efforts there faster? Not possible. The hurricane wiped out roads, rails, bridges, docks, and airports. Supplies are HEAVY and BULKY, and I’ve read a few pieces by actual military logistics experts who actually do that sort of thing for a living. They say that the response time was actually exceptionally good.
3) Pre-position rescue personnel and supplies: WHERE? You send that stuff into a disaster area before it becomes a disaster, and you risk it being destroyed by the disaster. And that point all you’ve achieved is creating more victims and throwing away a big chunk of critical supplies. You assemble them OUTSIDE the disaster area, then send them in once it’s passed — which is exactly what happened.
4) Spend more money on flood-prevention programs? They did. But a few facts that don’t often get discussed when the focus is “blame Bush!” For one, that money is disbursed by the government, but actually spent by state and local officials — who put it into improving the locks system (which was actually seeing DECREASING traffic, not increasing), casinos, and other pork-barrel projects, not the levees. For another, the levees that failed were the ones that had been “upgraded;” the “unimproved” ones held just fine. For a third, the levees were designed to withstand a Force 3 storm when they were first built decades ago; Katrina was a strong Force 4 when she hit. Improving them to withstand a hurricane as strong as Katrina is a project that will take years and years just to STUDY and DEVELOP.
5) Improve the evacuation plans? That’s the responsibility of the state and local officials. Last year, with Ivan, they had a “dress rehearsal” for a big storm — and everyone knew it, and called the plans “a complete failure.” In that year, what did they do to improve them? Not a damned thing.
Yeah, the top guys at FEMA might be hacks. They might even have screwed up a few things. But all federal agencies learn to “work around” the political appointees at the very top and still do their jobs — and FEMA is no exception, as shown last summer.
And should “Brownie” be fired? For padding his resume’, yeah, I think he should. And if the guy who recommended him wasn’t already out of government service, I’d say fire that guy, too.
But it is, has been, and always will be the duties of the local and state officials to be the first responders to disasters, and to hold the line as best they can until the federal government can marshal its resources to back them up — and even today, in the best possible circumstances, that can take up to three or four days.
That’s just the way it is, just the way it has to be, under the Constitution, and just the way it ought to be.
JT,
For another view check out the view from Jeb Bush The Florida Gov. that know a little bit about hurricances.
He is defending FEMA.
“The agency handled disasters in much the same timeliness as Katrina last year, and it was regarded as excellent performance. In fact, last summer they helped Florida deal with no less than four hurricanes. With no change in personnel at the top, now it’s being criticized. What has changed since then?”
The point, however, is that a response to something as catastrophic as Katrina shouldn’t be similar to responses to the much less catastrophic hurricanes in Florida last year. There needs to be a massive response to a major disaster. It’s like saying “well, the government the same to a 5.5 earthquake in So Cal and an 8.8 earthquake in San Francisco…what’s wrong with that?”
There’s ample evidence that FEMA treated Katrina like just another hurricane, and not like “the Big One”. See this Washington Post article…one clear example here is that Alabama got five times as much water for distribution for Louisiana.
FEMA’s response to Katrina shouldn’t have been similar to past hurricanes…they should have prepared for a major catastrophe. And they didn’t do this well.
Llama School:
How exactly should FEMA have known that Katrina
would be the ‘Big One’?
One caveat, Jay:
I’ve read (I can’t remember where; sorry) that a Category 4 hurricane would cause the leevees to overflow, not cause breaches in them. Sort of like pouring eight ounces of coffee into a six ounce cup. The breaches should never have occurred.
I see that response in Mississippi isn’t criticized, nor in Alabama, but is only criticized when looking at New Orleans (not even elsewhere in Louisiana!).
Oh yea, it must be because of racism, not because those were the only “state and local” officials who were completely incompetent.
The Katrina response should be comparead to the aftermath of Camille in 1969. I didn’t live on the Gulf Coast and that time and would be interested in any first hand accounts of the recovery from that storm.
Tob
“1) Override Governor Blanco? Little matter of the law and the Constitution…”
You know, it makes me proud to live in a country where even the President is obligated to live by the law of the land… even if it means idiots like Blanco are allowed to screw up. I guess Bush doesn’t get to be as much of a cowboy as people think.
By the predictions from people like Max Mayfield and others…any slow-moving Cat 3 or higher hurricane headed towards N.O. would be BIG trouble. And the response was less than adequate. A brief excerpt from the WaPo article linked above…more in the article:
“By Friday, FEMA’s emergency headquarters for Katrina was already running; technically, the agency was at level one, its highest level of alert.
But as the headquarters staff came in, there was a strange sense of inaction, as if “nobody’s turning the key to start the engine,” said one team leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. For his group, Friday was a day to sit around wondering, “Why aren’t we treating this as a bigger emergency? Why aren’t we doing anything?”
“Why aren’t we treating this as a bigger emergency? Why aren’t we doing anything?”
Because Governor Blanco is stalling us.
Llama School, what could they have done ahead of time? You’re talking about a group that already had the red cross in Baton Rouge waiting for the go-ahead from The Louisiana State Department of [State] Homeland Security (of the state, as if I didn’t emphasize it enough) to go into New Orleans by Monday. Before the Hurricaine, it is NOT up to FEMA to do evacuation. FEMA is an organization that is set up to act AFTERWARDS, in the recovery effort. Evacuation is really for the local areas to deal with, since they are the ones who are most affected, and are the ones who BEST know the logistical problems they might encounter.
1: people tend to forget the massive evacuation that WAS undertaken…it was very successful (think of the massive population of the entire region that is now alive)
2: The region was already declared “States of Emergency” BEFORE the Hurricane actually hit
3: The eye of the storm never hit New Orleans, so New Orleans was thought to have “dodged the bullet”. Which doesn’t make sense as to why THE LSDHS would refuse the red cross access. If they affected area wasn’t flooded, why did they still hold them back?
4: The levees that broke were “upgraded” and “maintained”. What level of maintenance could have prevented it? Judging by how federal money gets to local officials, and considering the timeline for that to happen, in order for an upgrade to levees, the feds must disperse money at least ten years in advance (it seems).
I’d say more but I’m sick of it.
Sorry
My main beef with the President and FEMA was style, not substance. They did everything they could do in terms of substance, but things like not knowing what all the cable news channels were reporting or playing the guitar gave the appearance of obdurance. That’s certainly a forgivable offense, and substance is what’s important, right?
In terms of the levee breach I think the president was right that nobody expected it to breach (see fatman’s comment), Fox News showed some big barge or something that came loose and hit it like a sledge hammer.
ok fine:
First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities
What does this tell us? It tells us that apparently if State and Local Authorities were the ones dispatching aid and rescue, that they were failing miserably.
“FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident.”
Quoting the press release I just posted, again proving that FEMA doesn’t do evacuations. They do recovery and response AFTER disasters. To attempt to respond before hand would have been suicide (put response vehicles in the affected areas would place it in the path of the storm).
It also tells us that Henry’s search engine works much better than Llamaschool’s which only seems to find anti-Bush news. Llamaschool must be using Goregle.
Goregle!
hah! that’s a good one.
This is an e-mail to the Corner. I think we will see more of this type of thing in the days ahead. I don’t think the NOLA & LA are going to be able to hide the bad spending decisions, pork politics of the state, mismanagement of levee funds and even the corrupt government of the city and state.
Some of these have been documented already. Look for more as the press starts to do some forensic work.
nearly every disaster plan has a section that says “FEMA and other federal resources will be available within 72 to 96 hours;
What about this one?
DHS MASTER PLAN à http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf
The NRP establishes policies, procedures, and
mechanisms for proactive Federal response to
catastrophic events. A catastrophic event is any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. A catastrophic event could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to State, local, tribal, and
private-sector authorities in the impacted area; and
significantly interrupts governmental operations and
emergency services to such an extent that national
security could be threatened. All catastrophic events are
Incidents of National Significance.
Guiding Principles for Proactive Federal Response
Guiding principles for proactive Federal response
include the following:
– The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical infrastructure, property, and the environment;
contain the event; and preserve national security.
– Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of catastrophic magnitude.
How exactly should FEMA have known that Katrina
would be the ‘Big One’?
Posted by: Radical Centrist
LMFAO!!!!!!!
Urgent Weather Message from NWS New Orleans
WWUS74 KLIX 281550 NPWLIX URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED
3: The eye of the storm never hit New Orleans, so New Orleans was thought to have “dodged the bullet”
Only by WorldNut readers:
N’Orleans dodges bullet
Storm downgraded to Category 2, flooding traps residents on roofs
Posted: August 29, 2005
12:10 p.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46025
Bush strongly encouraged an evacuation of New Orleans before Katrina hit. When I repeatedly see photos of large numbers of “local” buses sitting under water there is no debate, despite all the screaming from the Dems, that on the spot resources were not used for the evacuation of those who needed a way out. When the mayor (and I don’t care if he/she is black, white or striped) of New Orleans is doing as much griping on TV about his helplessness from the local Hyatt Hotel (where by the way he is dry and has access to food) as his sodden constituency then I begin to think there is a real lack of innovative leadership in that city. Say what you want to about Bush and FEMA, but at this point it is impossible to deny that good local leadership can truly be very, very important.
2) Get the rescue efforts there faster? Not possible.
3 kids from Duke managed to get there faster.
3 Duke students tell of ‘disgraceful’ scene
By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun
gronberg@heraldsun.com
Sep 4, 2005 : 9:36 pm ET
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-643298.html
DURHAM — A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren’t receiving help from authorities.
The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.
“We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn’t go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai,” said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla.
3) Pre-position rescue personnel and supplies: WHERE?
Ft. Polk, LA, just one of MANY places.
When I repeatedly see photos of large numbers of “local” buses sitting under water there is no debate, despite all the screaming from the Dems, that on the spot resources were not used for the evacuation of those who needed a way out.
AH, the bus meme never dies in BushWorld.
The part-time drivers for the buses weren’t available.
4) Spend more money on flood-prevention programs? They did.
No they didn’t. The ACE requests for levee maintanence were seriously cut by this criminal administration:
5) Improve the evacuation plans? That’s the responsibility of the state and local officials.
WRONG AGAIN –
Under FEMA’s direction, federal and state officials began working on the $1 million Hurricane Pam project in July 2004, when 270 experts gathered in Baton Rouge, La., for an eight-day simulation. The so-called “tabletop” exercise focused planners on a mock hurricane that produced more than 20 inches of rain and 14 tornadoes. The drill included computer graphic simulations projected on large screens of the hurricane slamming directly into New Orleans.
“We designed this to be a worst-case but plausible storm,” said Madhu Beriwal, chief executive of Innovative Emergency Management Inc. of Baton Rouge, hired by FEMA to conduct the exercise.
The experts completed their first draft report in December 2004.
The report was designed to be the first step toward producing a comprehensive hurricane response plan, jointly approved and implemented by federal, state and city officials. But a lack of funding prohibited planners from quickly following up on the 2004 simulation.
“Money was not available to do the follow-up,” Brown said.
Hurricane simulation predicted 61,290 dead
By RON FOURNIER and TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writers
Sep 9, 2:08 PM EDT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_WHAT_PLANNERS_FEARED?SITE=AZTUS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-09-09-14-08-42
Steve J:
You keep putting the whole FEMA response in the light of “well, they should have done something more,” and never actually manage to tell us what “more” could have been under the US Constitution.
The whole “when the locals get overwhelmed” point is off in a very silly direction. What really happens (and has been planned to happen for a couple of decades now) is that, when the local authorities have a job that’s too big, THEY HAVE TO ASK FOR ACTUAL HELP, and they have to say what that help should be.
In this case, all that the Governor of Louisiana had to do was ask, specifically, for a whole stinking LOT of National Guard and Red Cross and Salvation Army and all of the other groups to come in. The technique for doing this is called “faxing and making phone calls from a prearranged list that they have on hand.”
She did what’s technically called “diddly squat.”
In reality, the Governor sat around and had consultations with her legal staff about how much power she’d be giving up if the Feds came in, and how many people were going to have to die so she could force them out of New Orleans. She ACTIVELY ORDERED her state police and National Guard troops to keep assistance organizations out of the city, as witnessed by the Red Cross and Salvation Army (they were ready to go in less than two days after the storm).
As far as supplies and help goes, there was a HUGE amount of the stuff being moved to where it would do some good. Missisippi and Alabama got help less than 24 hours into the disaster. Parts of the Gulf coast got power before the unflooded parts of New Orleans. The Red Cross had kitchens set up in Mississippi on Tuesday after the storm. Federal money was being shuffled into the region before the storm actually hit.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA are trying, desperately, to get people to leave the city, when many of them are in clean, unflooded neighborhoods with working water systems (and only need power to get things going again).
I’m starting to wonder about the long-term motives of Blanco and Nagin. Who benefits from a completely empty city that doesn’t need to be completely empty?
“AH, the bus meme never dies in BushWorld.
The part-time drivers for the buses weren’t available.”
Wow… So that’s supposed to let the locals off the hook just like that??? The NO hurricane evacuation plan called for the city’s RTA to provide the needed personnel for a mandatory evacuation. The Ivan “live” exercise identified the need, but nothing was done about it. It would be nice if you exhibited that level of “understanding” towards FEMA.
You keep putting the whole FEMA response in the light of “well, they should have done something more,” and never actually manage to tell us what “more” could have been under the US Constitution.
Quit hiding behind the Constitution to defend the criminal Bush.
SteveJ:
“3 kids from Duke managed to get there faster.”
Yeah, in one vehicle, two days after the Feds and other assistance showed up, and three days after the roads were cleared for them. It still took them the best part of two days to get into New Orleans.
The money quote about the Superdome: “The evacuation was basically complete by the time they arrived,” which is what we’ve been telling you for a few days.
The other thing you don’t mention is that the soldiers and cops keeping people out of New Orleans are under the control of – once again – Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin.
when the local authorities have a job that’s too big, THEY HAVE TO ASK FOR ACTUAL HELP
Here’s another FREE CLUE to one who has been severely damaged by the “welfare state” –
Sunday, August 28th
State of Louisiana Emergency Disaster Aid Request:
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
“I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective responses will be beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments..”
It still took them the best part of two days to get into New Orleans.
Funny, they said 20 minutes.
“Quit hiding behind the Constitution to defend the criminal Bush.”
…and, of course, if the Feds had done as you’re now demanding, you’d be screaming about the dictator criminal Bush.
The NO hurricane evacuation plan called for the city’s RTA to provide the needed personnel for a mandatory evacuation.
There is no such plan. The funding was cut so it was never made.
…and, of course, if the Feds had done as you’re now demanding, you’d be screaming about the dictator criminal Bush.
Posted by: cirby
And don’t try to read minds, either.
Toby,
I was in the Air Force stationed in Georgia with a mobile communications unit when Camille hit. I did
Tech School” at Biloxi, so was more than ready to go in. We landed a C130 at Gulfport Naval Reserve Base in less than 24 hours after storm hit. One of the quirks of Camille was, total devestation some places, but not others. The runway at Gulfport was open. When we got there, Southeastern Bell had beaten us to the punch and had communications up. We volunteered for search and rescue.
What amazed me, was that local police and Missippi Natioal Guard were there in force. The job was monumental, but no caos. The locals were cooperative and doing all they could. That is much like what happened in that area this time.
That is what puts Katrina and New Orleans in such contrast. The problem was as much locals, residents and govt doing nothing but sit and whine for the feds to come take care of them.
Thr residents of Miss/Alabama gulf survived and rebuilt after Camille and will after Katrina, because thet are self-sufficient survivors. The ‘sheep” in New Orleans were slaughtered by Katrina and will be ‘slaughtered” by the next one unless they break from the “victim” mind set and develop a “survivor” mindset.
to hold the line as best they can until the federal government can marshal its resources to back them up — and even today, in the best possible circumstances, that can take up to three or four days.
I MISS CLINTON –
In an unusual act that may now become standard operating procedure, President Clinton pre-emptively declared federal emergencies in several states even before the hurricane touched the continental U.S. With FEMA’s encouragement,Southern states issued mandatory evacuation orders to nearly three million residents of coastal areas.
http://www.jimbovard.com/American%20Spectator%20Nov%201999%20FEMA%20Fiasco%20Hurricane%20Floyd.htm
President Clinton issued preemptive disaster declarations for Florida and Georgia.
The early declaration “enables state and local governments to get equipment and other things … in place to begin recovery efforts at the earliest possible moment,” White House spokesman Barry Toiv said in Washington.Clinton will skip a planned golfing excursion in Hawaii and return directly to Washington to monitor federal efforts to deal with Hurricane Floyd, the White House said.http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/9909/14/floyd.07/#0
MONDAY – BUSH IN PHOENIX
TUESDAY – BUSH IN SAN DIEGO
WEDNESDAY – LEAVES FOR DC FROM “THE RANCH”
“What about this one? DHS MASTER PLAN”
Well, 50 state and local agencies worked with FEMA during the 2004 “Hurricane Pam” exercise. The fictional “Pam” presented a scenario very similar to Katrina. The state, local, and pricate agencies were informed they would be the first responders and should be equipt to handle things for 3-5 days post-hurricane. After such time FEMA would be in a position to take over for the long haul. That plans appears to have been put into motion in efforts like the Red Cross’ attempt to set up humanitarian aid centers in NO, before they were waved off by the state over concerns that it would hinder the evacuation.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/02/hurricane.drill/index.html
We landed a C130 at Gulfport Naval Reserve Base in less than 24 hours after storm hit.
Think a little harder about what this means.
Steve J… please for the love of god learn a little HTML so that you can post in a more coherent manner. Six posts to answer everybody is ridiculous.. to your points:
“School bus meme -> No drivers available – SO?”
So? How does that excuse that clusterfuck? Why weren’t the drivers alerted sooner? You can talk cicrles all you want but that picture in a nutshell explains why the near-hysterical attempts of the left to blame Bush for Katrina will fail. The American people are not stupid… they realize that Bush doesn’t control the fucking yellow-peril school bus system. If those bus’s are sitting flooded…it’s the result of local inaction NOT Federal inaction.
“ACE requests->low funding”
That’s what happens in organizations… you ask, they evaluate…you may or may not get you $. In this case RECORD funding levels were approved. Were they as high as what was asked for? no…but they were higher than all previous approvals. the locals spent the money as they saw fit…apparently on the wrong stuff. Bush is not responsible for what the locals fail to do.
“Supplies->preposition at Ft. Polk”
JFC….do you even KNOW where Ft. Polk is? Go do yourself a favor and run mapquest…tell me what major interstate runs through Polk. Dumbass, Baton Rouge is closer to NO than Polk.
“3 Duke students”
Yeah…it takes the same logistical arrangements to get three kids in a Hyundai with a case of Corona to New Orleans as it does to move a National Guard company across the parking lot…. Have you ever even put on a fucking uniform? I doubt it because you appear to be clueless about anything that even concrens the military in even the most peripheral manner.
“to all other useless comments you’ve posted in the meantime…”
Prove it.
I hope Steve J is being a typical troll and spouting drivel for effect. If he is serious, his Mom needs to get him professional help and not let him wonder around by himself.
GIZMO –
What didn’t you get about the Aug. 28th letter?
It still took them the best part of two days to get into New Orleans.
SteveJ:
“Funny, they said 20 minutes.”
They left at 6 PM Thursday and got into New Orleans late Saturday. That ain’t 20 minutes. They had to go several hundred miles out of their way to get to New Orleans from Biloxi, a trip that normally takes about an hour and a half.
They claimed “it would take you no more than 20 minutes to drive in with a bus and get these people out,” but that’s just to get from the edges of New Orleans to the edges of Baton Rouge, which has been completely full of refugees since before the storm even hit. This is also completely disregarding things like fuel for the buses, where to get the buses, and where to put people once they get out, all of which had to be arranged at the last minute by the Feds because Louisiana didn’t bother with it.
You also have to have buses, which were, well, you don’t want to hear it, but we know where a lot of buses were until some unnamed Mayor forgot to move them six feet higher on the flood plain. Bus drivers are easy to get. Offer them a hundred buck a day bonus on their regular pay and you’d have plenty, just from the local labor pool.
In this case RECORD funding levels were approved.
Despite Warnings, Washington Failed to Fund Levee Projects
By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette
LA Times Staff Writers
Sun Sep 4, 7:55 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/20050904/ts_latimes/despitewarningswashingtonfailedtofundleveeprojects
Many federal, state and local flood improvement officials kept asking for more dollars for more ambitious protection projects. But the White House kept scaling down those requests. And each time, although congressional leaders were more generous with funding than the White House, the House and Senate never got anywhere near to approving the amounts that experts had said was needed.
What happened this year was typical: Local levee and flood prevention officials, along with Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), asked for $78 million in project funds. President Bush offered them less than half that — $30 million. Congress ended up authorizing $36.5 million.
Since Bush took office in 2001, local experts and Landrieu have asked for just short of $500 million. Altogether, Bush in his yearly budgets asked for $166 million, and Congress approved about $250 million.These budget decisions reflect a reality in Washington: to act with an eye toward short-term political rewards instead of making long-term investments to deal with problems.
The Army Corps of Engineers did spend $430 million to renovate pumping stations and shore up the levees. But experts said the project fell behind schedule after funding was reduced in 2003 and 2004.
Quit hiding behind the Constitution to defend the criminal Bush.
Ya know, you read something like this and you think, “What a stupid, stupid thing to say. I have to respond to that, I have to whip out my Constitution, my copy of verious legislation passed over the passed 200 years and put this sucker down where they belong.”
Then you read it again. And you scratch your head. And you realize that there’s no reason to keep playing cards with someone that only has a pile of ‘Rules for Poker!’ cards in front of them and just keeps slamming them down on the table saying, “Gin! Bush did it!”
Then you ease out of the room, trying not to make eye contact, muttering, “Hide behind the Constitution?”
They left at 6 PM Thursday and got into New Orleans late Saturday. That ain’t 20 minutes.
They wrote that it took 20 minutes to get from the outskirts of NO to the SuperDome.
BTW, do you know WHERE Duke is?
“There is no such plan. The funding was cut so it was never made.”
Here’s the “no such plan” from the City of New Orlean’s own web site: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26
Bus drivers are easy to get. Offer them a hundred buck a day bonus on their regular pay and you’d have plenty, just from the local labor pool.
LMFAO – how can you possibly believe that?
GIZMO-
THAT plan is from 2000 and contra to the PigBoy, does not call for using buses to remove people from NO. The buses are to be used to move them to shelters in NO.
Try reading instead of listening to whores for Bush.
I hope Steve J is being a typical troll and spouting drivel for effect.
I provide links, you provide excuses for death.
GIZMO –
What didn’t you get about the Aug. 28th letter?
gizmo, what he doesn’t want you to read is the rest of the Aug 28th letter, what comes after this ominous sounding introduction, where we find that Blanco is asking for 1) money, and 2) help with debris removal after the storm.
“What didn’t you get about the Aug. 28th letter?”
The part explaining why this differentiates from past formal requests for FEMA assistance in times of disasters. FEMA just doesn’t “show up”. Requesting federal disaster assistance doesn’t mean that you are abducating your state and local roles in a disaster response.