I think it was rather the other way around, FEMA and Bush were faced with the problem of having to deal with a situation that was not only exacerbated by, but mostly caused by the incompetence of some at the state and local level.

Take the people "trapped" at the stadium. First of all, it was the assigned place for people to go in the event of just such a catastrophe, they were not "trapped" there. The issue then became lack of supplies, which is completely a state and local responsibility. It was the responsibility of the city and state government to ensure that designated areas for people to go in such a situation would be sufficiently stocked with food, water, and medications. FEMA was critized for taking a few days to do what all the planning expected them to take a few days to do, the only reason them not doing their job BETTER than expected was that the state and local authorities utterly failed to do their's.

I will say it again, Blanco's hysterical and thoughtless "send everything you've got" message was irresponsible, selfish, and merely underscored her own incompetence.

__________________
"It's a good feeling to shoot a bad guy. Something you democrats would never understand. Americans are homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys!"

----Denny Crane

since when does the Federal government need permission from state/local officials to take action?

FEMA officials: "We're here to help."

State/Local official officials: "No, you don't have the proper authorization."



The stadium was inadequate as a shelter given the scope of the disaster, underscoring what I already stated: that NOLA's own municipal resources were insufficient.

State/local officials didn't do everything they could, but even if they had, federal assistance would've been required. And if the local officials failed, the feds were perfectly welcome to take control of the situation, i. e. in the absence of leadership, provide leadership.

But it goes without saying that if anyone in NOLA asked for federal assistance, the US govt., under Bush, would've ignored them.

And to be fair, I myself and pretty much everyone in the country is partially responsible for the disaster. Given the substantial foreign interest in the welfare of NOLA (as one of the only places in the US w/a glaringly distinct ethno-cultural heritage),

anyone one of us could've started a fund to pay for patching the city's levees, but none of us did . But it's not too late. If the GOP-controlled state govt. in LA continues to neglect NOLA's reconstruction, I'm sure any of us can take action.

Blanco was a fool, but I doubt Jindal, had he been governor at the time, would've done any better.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

Katrina started a new trend............dumb-ass irresponsible state and local officials were able to blame their shortcomings on the feds and they got all the help in the world from the MSM to do it.

But the truth is by law the feds can't step in until they are invited first. It is against the law. Posse Comitatus:

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“The only thing standing between Joe Biden and the presidency is his mouth.”

- Michele Malkin

As Mrs. M said, there is risk pretty much where ever one lives. To me, the difference is that there are not inept mouthpieces (like Nagin) hounding the camera, blaming everyone else, and accepting no share of the blame (good strategy). It got the population torqued up enough and the folks in NO got megadollars of much needed aid (forget about the other Gulf areas that got whacked, too). The Midwesterners need help, too and the Red Cross' balance is zero.

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I am an American. That's the way most of us put it, just matter of factly. They are plain words, those four: you could write them on your thumbnail, or sweep them clear across this bright autumn sky. But remember too, that they are more than just words. They are a way of life. So whenever you speak them, speak them firmly, speak them proudly, speak them gratefully. I am an American. ...a tradition

I think the more interesting question raised here (and by Katrina) is how disaster management should be delegated at the state/federal levels. Off the top of my head, I'm inclined to suggest that more responsibility be placed on the state and local municipalities. I think that this helps prevent unfairness in terms of where people opt to live. If you move somewhere that gets pounded by hurricanes/floods/tornadoes/earthquakes routinely, state/local taxes ought to be higher there to account for disaster management than somewhere with relatively few disasters. Or, perhaps there could be some give and take - the feds will step in, but you're running a tab to eventually be repaid from state/local taxes.

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

The only problem with that of course is what about folks who are born there and live there from birth with no possibility of moving?

Its a bit harsh on them, no?

Now you're getting into states rights issues.

Truth be told, Congress last week passed a bill authorizing federal insurance to cover the costs insurance providers pay to disaster victims.

So much for working on paying down the debt.

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“The only thing standing between Joe Biden and the presidency is his mouth.”

- Michele Malkin

The stadium was not inadequate given the scope of the disaster, the stadium was a MORE than adequate facility, what was lacking was the basic SUPPLIES which was the responsibility of the state and local government, and that was NOT a result of insufficient resources, it was a result of incompetent planning and governance.

Nobody is blaming the state/local officials for failing to do "everything they could", I am taking them to task for failing to do what they COULD AND WERE SUPPOSED TO DO. There is NO excuse for not having a designated relief facility stocked for providing relief. This is a basic matter of planning ahead.

And the Federal Government DID provide exactly the assitance it was SUPPOSED to. It is just unfortunate that the media allowed the Federal response to get tarnished for not picking up the slack of incompetent state and local governments when it had an unprecedented level of need across MANY states.

That just demonstrates sheer ignorance of reality. The U.S. government under Bush gave them TREMENDOUS assistance. What they U.S. government under Bush did NOT do was to 'send them everything they had', and screweing the people of states who were JUST as much in need, but whose own state and local agencies hadn't dropped the ball.

Nonesense, nobody is in any way responsible for the disaster (it was a hurricane). I couldn't care less about New Orleans, and shouldn't be expected to bear the cost of other's choices to live there.

How about the people of New Orlean's starting a fund to pay for their own friggin' levees? One would think that nobody has a more vested interest in doing so than the people living in the big below-sea level bowl? If they don't care enough about it to do a damn thing (like at least voting out of office the incompotent fool Nagin) why should I waste my time and resources which can be far better devoted to useful and deserving pursuits.

__________________
"It's a good feeling to shoot a bad guy. Something you democrats would never understand. Americans are homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys!"

----Denny Crane

Actually, the Superdome wasn't suppose to be a shelter of last resort but as usual, it ended up that way. I fault Nagin for not realizing from the past that this would happen. Had he done so, he could have done just as you said, stocked food, water and other emergency supplies but he's a total idiot!!!

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

Slidell, located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, which btw, was hit by the western part of the eye. (The eye missed N.O.)

__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

The feds can't just walk in without state request. What high school did you go to????



The stadium could very well have been an adequate shelter but the officials chose NOT to use it as such in hopes of getting people to leave. Common sense and past experience should have been enough for them to realize that people tend to be idiots and would end up at the Dome.

That's total fucking bullshit.

The people responsible for the levee breaks are the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Orleans Levee Board.

It's not that the money wasn't there but rather the lack of inspections of the levees. Nobody is neglecting N.O.'s reconstruction but N.O. themselves.


Blanco's a total idiot and her smartest move would have been to call the President, ask for an immediate pardon of Edwin Edwards and then get the hell out of the way and let him run the state.

There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that Bobby Jindal would have done a much better job than Blanco. He's not an idiot!

__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chardonnay in one hand, chocolate in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOO HOO, what a ride!'"

Get real! The Katrina victims had plenty of warning and were told to evacuate, they didn't. So whose to blame for their plite?

The contrast between these two events is striking but only in the attitudes of those affected and only in one city New Orleans.

I hate hypocracy and I have no respect for people who think they are entitled.

The author has a good point. Not only floods but the entire town of Greenland, Kansas was completed wiped out in 2007. The townspeople pulled together & are putting things back, this time green.

They didn't point their fingers at the government or the Bush administration, didn't come up with some conspiracy theory that Bush sent the F-5 upon them, (while some residents of New Orleans said it was Bush that broke the levies), etc. etc.

It is a difference in culture--from those hard working Americans that always pick up & go on, versus people who have had a government hand-out all their lives.

One of our contractors went to New Orleans to help re-build. The problem he has is that hardly anyone down there had homeowner insurance policies. So they sit back & blame the government or should I say the taxpayers of this country to re-build for them.

Repeat: Congress last week passed a bill authorizing federal insurance to cover the costs insurance providers pay to disaster victims. I'm not sure exactly what this covers, but my guess is it even covers Katrina victims who didn't have insurance. The Dems have a sneaky habit of putting hidden provisions in their bills that are unpopular.

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“The only thing standing between Joe Biden and the presidency is his mouth.”

- Michele Malkin

The obvious difference was one was forcasted days in advance while the other came with no warning. I see a great ineptitude between government and common sense, I don't understand the mental attitude days before this storm. Why didn't people and organizations like nursing homes leave? I live on the east coast on the ocean if we have a cat 3 i am getting out of here. People that could not move i can understand, those that had legs and means that stayed were warned, its unfortunate but in the long run their own fault.