# I pit the substandard governmental response to the situation in New Orleans. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 2, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747 "2005-09-02T16:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/21 "2005-09-02T18:19:16Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This is the Bush administration we are talking about here, if the politicians or managers that failed are Republicans, they will get a promotion. No kidding. Maybe they’ll get the Medal of Freedom like Bremmer and Tenet. ---
**Author:** ![HeelB4Zod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@HeelB4Zod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeelB4Zod)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/22 "2005-09-02T18:32:01Z")
I am a moderate Republican who voted for Kerry, but whose usual first reaction to most Bush-bashing is an eyeroll. I didn’t vote for him so I’m not such a huge fan, but I also don’t think he’s the human manifestation of Satan, either. But I am disgusted and ashamed at the response of the Bush Administration to this tragedy. It’s incompetent, appalling and unacceptable. As I said in a previous post on another thread, had Bush amassed the requisite amount of political capital from previous policy successes, the government’s piss-poor, inarticulate, tone-deaf response to this horror may have been overlooked or at least pooh-poohed. Alas, with a botched war/occupation, a runaway deficit, and now probably inflation, higher gas prices, and higher unemployment coming soon to a theater near you, political capital is in short supply. I think this hurricane blew away more than the Gulf Coast and the Big Easy. It blew away the last of the Emperor’s clothing. You can’t pray this one away, Mr. President. You can’t bomb it away. You can’t blame the media. The trust fund won’t help you on this one. Whether or not it’s fair, this is your turd sandwich to eat, Mr. Bush. Yes, I think this event will have profound political consequences. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/23 "2005-09-02T19:00:49Z")
I’m not sure that it will translate into votes in 2006 and 2008. But I have never seen such outrage from the American people. In some ways, this is more disturbing than 9/11. We knew the Islamic extremists hated us, but now we feel betrayed by our own govenment. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/24 "2005-09-02T19:12:24Z")
Chertoff hasn’t been in place long enough to be ‘leaving to spend more time with his family’. Something like that would give ammunition to the opposition so I don’t expect it. Brown, on the other hand, is sufficiently far down the food chain that he could be discarded on a whim, really. It’ll be his head on the block if the coverage remains highly critical of the administration. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/25 "2005-09-02T19:16:19Z")
I’m stunned you guys haven’t yet found a way to blame Karl Rove for this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/26 "2005-09-02T19:16:57Z")
> [@5que](#): > > No kidding. Maybe they’ll get the Medal of Freedom like Bremmer and Tenet. Ok, make that then: promotions to **all** that fail under this administration. It seems to me that every politician realizes that becoming a “good soldier” for this administration is the way to cleanse any sins of the past and present. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/27 "2005-09-02T19:32:22Z")
I also usually roll my eyes with the party-line Bush bashing. There are plenty of real issues to beat this administration over the head with. But this event has highlighted how poorly the “war president” performed with a disaster. If anything, this last campaign was all about how Americans were safer with Bush in power. Like the 9/11 commission report said, this administration showed a lack of imagination in not imagining the very best response available from Homeland Security. With all of the attention on counterterror and the like, it seems like ideas on how to evacuate people en masse should be better than they were on 9/11. Years ago, right after the election of 2000, I recall the exhortations that Bush, the CEO president, would be efficient and move quickly, unlike the wonkiness in the Clinton White House. If Bush is indeed the CEO of USA, Inc., I think he needs to be fired. Is he, individually, responsible for the hurricane? Of course not. But he is the leader of the federal effort to respond. The response has been unimaginative and short-sighted. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/28 "2005-09-02T19:45:11Z")
Plenty of fuck ups in the handling of Katrina but the one that’s really pissing me off right now is the apparent complete lack of a plan to handle refugees. How in the fuck is it possible, four years since 9/11, that the U.S. doesn’t have a plan for housing tens/hundreds of thousands of displaced people? They can’t live in the fucking Astrodome indefinitely. Good thing a suitcase bomb hasn’t been detonated. And, by the way, would it be possible to use some of the various military bases BRAC just voted to close as refugee housing? ---
**Author:** ![Innuendo\_Hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Innuendo\_Hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innuendo_Hunter)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/29 "2005-09-02T19:46:59Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > 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. This is the heart of the matter. Everyone knew NO was a disaster waiting to happen. Everyone knew hurricanes roll through that region fairly frequently. Why weren’t these things planned for? Why didn’t we prepare to respond earlier? **Why the hell weren’t things pre-loaded and ready to go on Monday???** Fuck!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/30 "2005-09-02T19:47:48Z")
Is it worth pointing out that the heads of FEMA appointed by Bush (Joe Allbaugh and Mike Brown) have _no_ experience in disaster management? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/31 "2005-09-02T19:48:30Z")
> [@Innuendo Hunter](#): > > This is the heart of the matter. > > Everyone knew NO was a disaster waiting to happen. Everyone knew hurricanes roll through that region fairly frequently. > > Why weren’t these things planned for? Why didn’t we prepare to respond earlier? > > **Why the hell weren’t things pre-loaded and ready to go on Monday???** > > Fuck!! > > :mad: Actually, hurricanes do _not_ “roll through that region fairly frequently.” People were worried about something like this happening over 30 years ago. They’ve managed to dodge all bullets until now. ---
**Author:** ![Innuendo\_Hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Innuendo\_Hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innuendo_Hunter)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/32 "2005-09-02T19:50:51Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Actually, hurricanes do _not_ “roll through that region fairly frequently.” People were worried about something like this happening over 30 years ago. They’ve managed to dodge all bullets until now. Err a, by “region” I mean, the gulf. Any hurricane in the gulf has a potential to hit NO. The threat is real. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/33 "2005-09-02T19:52:47Z")
> [@Innuendo Hunter](#): > > Err a, by “region” I mean, the gulf. Any hurricane in the gulf has a potential to hit NO. The threat is real. Exactly. That’s why people were raising concerns about just such an even over 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/34 "2005-09-02T19:56:17Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > People were worried about something like this happening over 30 years ago. They’ve managed to dodge all bullets until now. It’s Gerald Ford’s fault? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/35 "2005-09-02T20:09:30Z")
> [@Innuendo Hunter](#): > > Err a, by “region” I mean, the gulf. Any hurricane in the gulf has a potential to hit NO. The threat is real. I’ve never been struck by a bullet. Therefore I am obviously immune to bullets. I have been bulletproof for 30 years now. Obviously I have nothing to fear from any gun in the world. Psst. **Steph96** is a moron. Don’t feed the morons. He can be entertaining, though, in a ‘Retarded Monkey Dancing On A Frying Pan’ kind of way. I’m sure he’ll be in here to argue that this is all Clinton/Kerry/Gore/FDR’s fault any moment now. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/36 "2005-09-02T20:16:02Z")
[cnn.com is calling bullshit now.](http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.response/index.html) > [@](#): > > **The big disconnect on New Orleans** > > The official version; then there’s the in-the-trenches version > > Friday, September 2, 2005; Posted: 3:57 p.m. EDT (19:57 GMT) > > NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) – Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday. The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets. > > These conflicting views came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN’s transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others. What follows are chipperly optimistic statements from the Federal fucks talking about how well everything’s going, and no, they hadn’t noticed any real problems other than isolated instances. Followed by eyewitness statements of what’s really happening. My favorite? Where Brown tries the blame-the-media schitck: > [@](#): > > # Brown: I actually think the security is pretty darn good. There’s some really bad people out there that are causing some problems, and it seems to me that every time a bad person wants to scream of cause a problem, there’s somebody there with a camera to stick it in their face ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/37 "2005-09-02T20:21:56Z")
“Those defending the government’s response to Katrina as the best we can expect under the circumstances lost an ally this morning – George W. Bush.” From Reason’s Hit and Run. Those guys rule. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/38 "2005-09-02T20:28:38Z")
> [@Hippy Hollow](#): > > If Bush is indeed the CEO of USA, Inc… Then he’s been running it just like he ran his own companies. Too bad a mysterious investor or two won’t show up to buy the country from him. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/39 "2005-09-02T20:31:49Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > My favorite? Where Brown tries the blame-the-media schitck: Maybe the current admin got a discount on cue cards reading “A few bad apples”? Because it ALWAYS IS. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747/40 "2005-09-02T20:36:14Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > 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? Nope, that was my reaction too. He makes my skin crawl anyway, but that was a new low. I’ve gone from horrified to angry when it comes to this situation. How could Bush go around pimping his Rx plan and enjoying his vacation while all this was going on? And now he’s saying the response is “not acceptable.” Big surprise–it came about five days too late. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-substandard-governmental-response-to-the-situation-in-new-orleans/319747.md?page=3)