Yep, It's All Bush's Fault. Oops, Maybe Not; Update II

Update II: Via Junk Yard Blog we learn of this story in the Washington Post. Key quote:

"None of this has been planned," he said. "Not a single elected official has come down here in days to talk to us and tell us anything, not the mayor, not the police chief, nobody.

Leadership in action.

Update: Mudville Gazette echos some of my points in this post. I am proud to say one of the Arkansas Guardsman he mentions is a buddy of mine. He is an infantry platoon leader just back from Iraq. He is also a North Little Rock Police Sergeant so I am sure he knows what he is doing in this type of situation. Good work BK! I will also add that Col. David Hunt dropped the bomb on the Governor on The O'Reilly Factor tonight when he described the lack of planning and action of Governor Blanco as the main culprit in the slow military response. Last, I will add that the one area I am truly troubled about is that the militayr and first responders do not have reliable communications that can speak to one another. I work for a carrier that would have you believe that their walkie-talkie phone is all you need for first responders. Sorry, but that is not the case. Satellite phones and radios are needed and should be part of the communications equipment for all these agencies.

Clearly the government has not responded quickly enough in this crisis. BUT, is it  all Bush's fault? How about Mayor Nagin, a Democrat? He did not use the buses he had available to schools to evacuate anyone. And police, fire and other city services that have performed poorly report to him. Not to mention that the Superdome and Convention Center are city evacuation centers. When they sent people there, they should have insured there was food, water and police presence at both locations. He also let the looters run free at first, in contrast to Mississippi, which made it clear looting was not acceptable. How about Governor Blanco, a Democrat. She controlled the Guard and State Police. She has performed well? Governor Barbour has done much better, taking charge rather than waiting for the Feds.

Let me contrast this with another pair, Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Pataki. They acted decisively with the resources they had available under their control on 9/11 and in the aftermath. They coordinated with one another. They did not throw their hands up and say, "This is for the feds to do," and wash their hands of any responsibility while waiting for the Federal Government to take over. In a crisis, the local officials are the ones with the most ability to shape events and these two were overwhelmed and incompetent. It is fortunate for them that FEMA's director may also be incompetent thus giving them someone to easily blame. By the way, whose job is it to tell FEMA about the convention center evacuation center if not City officials?

Much has also been made of the fact that the Feds had not planned for a disaster that was an obvious possibility in a city below sea level. However, what about City, Parish and State planning. You mean to tell me that the City had no stockpiles of food or water to draw from? Neither did the state,  which has an entire coastline in a hurricane zone? And about those levees? People have been warning about them for my entire lifetime (40 years). Of course it is the Feds fault in general and Bush's fault in particular that they were not shored up, right? But what about the residents? In 40 years they could not have raised the money to do this themselves? Property owners could have paid more in property taxes and tourists could have paid more in hotel taxes and much of this problem could have been addressed.

Long story short, there is plenty of blame to go around and laying this exclusively at the feet of the Federal Government and President Bush ignores that reality. Some people would not be happy unless he flew down and started handing out water and food while warding off looters singlehandedly. And I am sure that someone would still find something to bitch about!

Comments

[jdragon]

It's the mayor's fault. Ever heard of the term "thumb in the ass"? Well, he was just sitting around waiting for the turd to hit the fan and then pass on the buck.

[cranston36]

President Bush had his press secretary provide us with a new phrase, “Blame Game.”
It was introduced at a press conference where it was repeated eight times.
In order to ensure that ‘No Child Is Left Behind’ (unlike the thousands of children left behind to drown in the Gulf Coast) here is a word game you can play with your children so that they can know and use the phrase.
First of all the purpose of the exercise is to ensure that children and you, as an adult, are able to repeat the phrase when it is needed.
As part of our Homeland Defense it should be repeated eight times whenever anyone says something like this, ‘Undersecretary of FEMA Michael D. Brown is apparently an incompetent whose inadequate preparations led to the needless death of thousands of Americans, the destruction of several towns and the loss of one American city.’
As soon as you hear something like that you should say, ‘Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game.’
Children should look at the ground and shuffle their feet.
Responsible bureaucrats would also like us all to practice this other word game.
When anyone says, ‘Michael D. Brown should be fired.’, you respond, ‘Why would I do that for?’
For full effect repeat, ‘Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game, Blame Game.’
Hopefully these instructions will be available soon on FEMA for kids :
http://www.fema.gov/kids/index.htm

[The Opinionator]

Cranston36,

Thank you for the comment you left at my little piece of the Blogosphere.

As to the substance of your comment, you will not find me running to the defense of Mr. Brown. He has done a poor job of coordinating the reponse which is really FEMA's job. He should go.

That said, there is plenty of blame to go around. The Federal government is not supposed to be a first responder in a disaster. That is left to local authorities. Clearly the Mayor of New Orleans did not bother to follow his own plans for evacuation. Additionally, the police and other first responders report to him and they have proven to be wanting.

The National Guard and State Police report to the Governor, not the Feds. Their delay in deploying was a problem as was the delay by Governor Blanco in requesting Federal aid which is something she must do.

As you can see, there is plenty of blame to go around. However, each day things do improve and I anticipate that the cvity will recover much more quickly that we all suspect. Such is the American spririt.

Regards,

The Opinionator

[Notta Libb]

Check out a site dedicated to the absurdity and satire nature of saying "It's All George Bush's Fault!"

http://www.itsallgeorgebushsfault.com

Regards,
Notta Libb