I pit the substandard governmental response to the situation in New Orleans.

The BBQ Pit
1

There are a ton of threads surrounding Katrina, looters, people who didn’t leave, etc. What I am infuriated by is the seeming lack of coordination of governmental agencies - from the NO police to the mayor’s office to the state level, and even the federal response. Today was the first day that I actually saw and heard the mayor of New Orleans, and I have all the cable news channels…

It seems that NOBODY is in charge of the evacuation or rescue efforts. I’ve seen Harry Connick, Jr. in the streets trying to help people but not representatives of elected officials responsible for law and order in the city. I certainly understand that I’m not necessarily seeing everything, but I am perplexed that after 9/11 and the heightened security alert, this situation is turning into a demonstration of how flat-footed the response has been to date.

A lot of us here, and in other places in the nation have been Monday morning quarterbacking the response. Can they not evacuate people from Louis Armstrong Airport? Can they not have the buses from any major school district (I used to to teach in Houston and there are at least four bus barns in the city that have hundreds of buses parked, every night) and get them to the Superdome and Convention Center? Who is the individual (or individuals) responsible for coordinating this effort, and why are they not explaining to the people of New Orleans (and the nation) what the plan is?

It seems the response has been completely ad hoc. A sizeable number of the NOPD apparently walked off the job… why? Why wasn’t there an immediate response to this? Have they sent out trucks with loudspeakers to reassure and instruct people as to what they should do? I would think in this nation, in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, one could expect instructions and help instantly.

I want to make clear that the work of relief workers, guardsmen and women, and those people on the ground has been amazing. The individual acts of courage (such as a young man who rowed a boat full of children to the convention center because their mothers could not make the trip, and the nurse who was helping people in the convention center) should be applauded and I am so happy that they are exercising the leadership that the municipal, state, and federal leaders have not.

Posters from around the world have remarked at their amazement over how unorganized and chaotic this evacuation has been. As an American citizen - one who has lived through the L.A. riots and other situations of civil unrest - I am simply slack-jawed in horror about what is not being done on behalf of poor, mostly Black citizens of this nation. The scene in New Orleans resembles a third-world country because the governmental response has been third-rate.

Is anyone else as disappointed, sickened, and angered as I am at the leadership involved?

2

There’s a good Great Debates thread on this.

3

thanks, Eve, for the heads up. (It’s actually in IMHO, but the link works fine.) I still think they deserve to be pitted, though.

4

Yes. After this is done, I expect to see resignations and firings at the highest level. Personally, were I President, I would fire the Secretary of Homeland Security and the guy in charge of FEMA. Today.

5

Oop! That’s what I get for only clicking on “New Posts.”

6

I believe the reason many NO cops walked off the job is because they were instructed to defend property against looting, and many of them believed it wasn’t worth risking their lives to do so. After all, the looters have picked up guns from every Wal-Mart and gun shop and people have been spotted roaming the streets with AK-47s and the like.

I supposed if I were a cop and were told to go defend some big box store instead of working to find survivors, I’d give someone the finger too.

7

Haha. Yer funny.

Your progress in the current administration depends on loyalty and toeing the party line. You know that.

I envision a new government agency. One created to coordinate everything from security to search and rescue. An umbrella organization that will get all of our government agencies to work together to maximize their responses to such disasters.

Oh, right. Nevermind. We’ve already got that, and boy do I feel better.

-Joe

8

Yeah, I know. In case you’re concerned, I promise I’m not holding my breath waiting for it.

9

I posted this before, but it fits better here:

There was a great :rolleyes: moment today on TV when the president (paraphrased) said to the LA politicians and rescue managers: “You are doing a heck of a job”

Because TODAY, earlier, Bush said otherwise:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.impact/index.html

10

Better watch it. This is in danger of becoming a librul circle jerk. After all, we’re in like 7 posts and not one post praising The Leader.

-Joe

11

Conservative Republican Bush voter and supporter here. I’m dismayed at what has been revealed about emergency preparedness and coordination in the wake of the hurricane. It would probably be counter-productive to get rid of the top people at FEMA or DHS right now, but heads should roll later. I’d also be interested in knowing what they’ve been spending money on in terms of disaster planning since DHS was established, because it doesn’t look like we’ve achieved much in that area.

12

I’m angry as hell. I have seen all these politicians congratulating each other for a job well-done, and I can’t help but wonder what disaster they’re talking about.

I’m angry that Homeland Security, the same agency that’s worried about a fuckin’ bobby pin on an airplane…the same agency that has curtailed our basic rights in the name of safety from the enemy, failed so miseraby not only to protect us, but to rescue us from the most devastating disaster and enormous clusterfuck our nation’s history.

I’m angry that these people are speaking to each other in cryptic bible-speak, praying at every turn instead of getting the right people in the right place to fix this thing. I’m torqued that the president and congress didn’t drop EVERYTHING and get their pompous asses back to work on MONDAY while the hurricane was taking the Gulf Coast apart, fercrissakes.

I’m pissed off that the plan to avoid this disaster was, for whatever reason, blown off. This is our darkest hour. We’ve handled this with all the skill and agility of a third-world nation with no resources. What. The. Fuck. I’m horrified. If “the terrorists” are watching, they’ll probably figure it’s safe to cut their operating budget in half.

13

Yeah, I’m not blown away with how well the government has handled this so far, but I can’t imagine it would have done much good if Bush had told those in charge of the efforts, “You guys stink on ice! What a miserable job all of you are doing.!” There’s a time and a place for everything, but that was not the time nor the place. Investigations and firings should take place after the situation is under control.

14

For years and years and years, there have been voices out there saying that you can’t get something for nothing. That it is magical thinking to believe that we can collect less taxes but provide more services.
These voices have been voted out and replaced by those (from both parties) who have told the people otherwise. Infrastructure? We don’t need no stinking infrastructure. We also don’t need no big government or expensive programs. Not if that means not cutting taxes let alone raising some.

Funds to shore up the levee system have been cut from budgets or not put into budgets for decades.

Now it’s time to pay the piper…
If anything good comes of this entire mess, it might be that the US public wakes up and realizes that if they want any type of reliable infrastructure or government services - they will need to pay for them.

.

15

Well, at least Bush has told us that Tret Lott’s house will be rebuilt.

Does he NOT understand how stupid that sounds when people are dying???

16

Psycho Pirate, when is it time to criticize? It seems that when it comes to our current “leadership” it’s never.

Don’t criticize before hand: “That’s negative thinking and you’re only helping the Saddamists/Communists/Terrorists/Hurricanes”
Don’t criticize during: “People are dying! Now is not the time!”
Don’t criticize after. “People are dead! Wait until later you heartless bastard!”

Wait until…?

Until they’re no longer dead, apparently.

You seem to have forgotten that anything can be forgiven and forgotten as long as taxes are lowered.

ANYTHING.

Mortgage your future today!

-Joe, notices you didn’t forget, just wanted to bitch and reinforce

17

This is the Bush administration we are talking about here, if the politicians or managers that failed are Republicans, they will get a promotion.

18

Our taxes are paying for FEMA and Homeland Security. So far, neither organization has shown that they have a clue about what they are supposed to be doing.

I want to see some heads roll, preferably from the top down. What I’m sure I will see is lower ranking peons who had no say fired, while the top assholes who have sucked from the public tit for years while producing nothing (but who have friends in high places) keep sucking.

19

Was I the only one who wanted to reach through the TV and smack that smirk off Bush’s face during that interview he gave on Good Morning America to Diane Sawyer?

20

When I started in the business world I was taught the following:

  1. Hope for the best, but always plan for the worst.
  2. Murphy is always one step ahead of you
  3. Have a plan
  4. Don’t foget Murphy
    5.Have a backup plan in case your plan doesn’t work
  5. Have a contingincy plan in case your backup goes to hell
  6. Give some thought to what will happen if your contingncy plan fails.
    8.Have I mentioned Murphy?

A hurricane in not like an earthquake. They knew this sucker was comming for several days. Why wern’t there trucks preloaded with food / supplies and sitting on the TX / LA border waiting to be dispatched?
Why wasn’t there more food waiting at the evac centers?
Why wasn’t the National Guard ready to deploy on Monday? (Not the ones in Iraq, the other units that are there now)
Why didn’t the city corner the supply of porta potties, and service trucks? It was a sure bet that there would be some flooding, and the that the sewage system would stop working.
What a cluster fuck