QUOTE (kanigirrrrl @ April 8, 2008 - 02:48 PM)
Hope you don't mind Kristl, I'm just hitchhiking to answer JohnW's Katrina/FEMA post on the TC 4 board.
OK so I didn't misunderstand you. The one point that I would agree with you is that the local administrations of were poorly equipped to handle a disaster of such magnitude which is why FEMA was formed in the first place. Of course when you cut funding, downsize and put in charge people who have no experience whatsoever with disaster planning and response, I too would be looking for scapegoats other than the administration. FEMA is a Disaster Response Agency. If Bush was so ready and begging the locals to let the Feds take over, meaning they were ready willing and able why when FEMA WAS called in did it take so long to get buses into the city, planes into the airports to evacuate. When NPR has to tell Michael Chertoff (Head of Homeland Security, the Department FEMA was shoved off to) that thousands of people were camped out at the Convention Center without food and water, he dismissed it as a rumor. FEMA's failures are well documented in the press (excellent article here
Article on FEMA Failure ) and in hearings on Capitol HIll. You may want to "turn a blind eye" to the failures of this administration and spin it as a local failure but I would ask Actor how he feels about FEMA and the Bush's administrations efforts in that National Disaster.
Whether the conditions that existed at Walter Reed before Bush took office cuts no slack with me, his administration is responsible for the conditions that existed when he took us to war. I would think any veteran would be appalled at the lack of basic human respect given to the servicemen and families who dealt with the Walter Reed debacle. Who is worse, the Cindy Sheehans of the world or the staff who's job it is to care for the soldiers gravely wounded for defending our country?
Cut the BS about Bush? You won't even begin to understand just how badly he has damaged this country and it's people for years to come.
I would hope that it was an honest mistake in your stating that FEMA was formed because of the problems presented by Katrina. FEMA has been around since 1803 in some form or another. Unfortunately, because of 9/11, much of the moneys that would go towards natural disaster relief out of necessity is shared by national security against terrorism. It's a bad world we live in.
I thought I was clear as to the delay in bringing relief and evacuating the Katrina victims...something about first responders being the local and state authorities - In a nutshell, failed levees, failed security measures, lack of food, water and toilet facilities, no busses to transport (they were under water thanks to Nagin) - these are all local failures, not federal - Nagin and Blanco being so relunctant to order a mandatory evacuation until it was too late except to blame the Feds for their own mistakes.
Another problem was that many of the residents in the flood areas refused to leave their homes because they didn't want to leave their pets and for other reasons finally had to be rescued off of the roofs of their homes by the Feds in boats.
As for Michael Chertoff, I'm with you on him. I think he is ill-suited for the job as far as disasters like Katrina are concerned. I also think that his predecessor, Michael Brown, got a bad rap. Brown had no problem with Mississippi or Alabama. A year earlier in 2004, three hurricanes devestated Florida in a six-week period and Brown handled those hurricanes with aplumb. Had Blanco had not denied the Feds access to the Superdome with the food, water and medical supplies, Brown would have gotten a pat on the back. Instead he took the blame when Blanco should have been censored for the incompetent she is. The locals knew who was to blame which is why Blanco did not run for reelection. When ABC interviewed some of the Katrina victims, they got a real surprise when the victims praised Bush and blamed Ray Nagin.
http://www.newsbusters.org/node/1201I'm sure that Actor has some horror stories to tell as there were many victims who suffered greatly whether it was a loss of their home, business and/or loved ones. As for the failures of this administration there are plenty but I wonder how things might have gone if Gore or Kerry were president. They would be facing the same problems (Don't forget - it was the Dems who gave Bush approval to go into Iraq and it was the Dems who first called for the removal of Saddam and his WMD's starting in 1998) as Bush is facing - illegal immigration, healthcare, a pending social security crisis, an oncoming recession etc.
Walter Reed Hospital - I think you should give Bush some slack as he did spend some time there and apologized to the patients and the staff for the poor conditions and promised to fix them. The President addressed about 100 medical workers and patients telling them that "The system failed you and it failed our troops and we are going to fix it."
Part of the fix involved replacing military staff in charge of the hospital. Bush also took the time to interview patients and staff to pinpoint the problems.
So in the end Bush recognized there were both bureaucratic and administrative problems that need solving.
That last sentence in your post to me -where have I seen that before? Maybe several times before. I believe over on the Yahoo Answers forum in the political section.
Glad it's almost time to go home. I plan to take a nice hot shower, get into my PJs, and watch some episodes of "Reno 911".
...And dude, I'd honor your opinions...To me Music, is a living enitity...A thing to be discussed over, argued about, challenged, and ultimatlly digested...PM me if you don't want your opinions generally known...
...Hi my name is PSH, and I'm a fan of "The Soup"...Hey Joel McHale's hot as he!!, and the show makes me laugh...
Rebecca Young,
I am a boy person. Here's a pic of me from my ol' college days in Los Angeles. 
