Katrina and NOLA flood Politics...

[DirtNap]

http://www.overspun.com/video/MTP.AaronBroussardX.wmv

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I really want to know what exactly was on the agreement the Louisiana Governor refused to sign when the president told her she wouldn't get aid without it. After 9/11, the previously independent (and effective) FEMA agency was gutted and put under homeland security, Why are there so many stories of the new FEMA stopping people and disrupting rescue operations, sending away needed supplies, boats, busses, ambulances, etc. What exactly was that standoff about? What did Bush want that she refused to hand over to him?

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

I don't know what was said to Gov. Blanco, but I am trying to find out..

My missing great aunt/uncle and cousin were/are in Jefferson Parish, and I broke down and cried again after watching President Broussard's emotional plea for help.

I cannot believe I am watching this nightmare unfold in our own backyard..

The buses have stopped evac'ing people out of the Superdome, but there are STILL people there.

The Coast Guard has instructed those still trapped to hang brightly colored cloths outside their homes so they may be seen, but how in the hell is that message supposed to reach THOUSANDS still trapped without power, with no way to know of these ' new instructions'??

I have posted my email address on many NOLA websites, such as www.nola.com, with offers to make phone calls anywhere in the US for displaced people looking for their relatives, or looking for help in general.

I don't know what else to do, I want to be down there.. I want to go to my aunties house and know that she and my uncle are ok..

I want to help and hug and listen..But the kids need me here..

I don't know who besides FEMA, should be crucified for this nightmare yet..

Tommorrow will make a friggin WEEK since Katrina hit, and thousands are still frightened, trapped and dying..

Just doesn't seem real...

What do we do?

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

I got this from the NOLA.COM website..

http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/ind...09.html#076955

How friggin heartbreaking is that??

These people have had to turn to the general public to beg for someone to rescue their families, because authorities cannot or will not respond to their pleas..

[AlKilyu]

Newt Gingrich, in an interview today, did not speak well of FEMA. He said they were not adequately prepared for this or any situation.

EPS if you run across that could you link it here? I can't find it...I just remember Alan Colmes was interviewing him and it was played today, but it could have been a rerun.

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Originally Posted by AlKilyu

Newt Gingrich, in an interview today, did not speak well of FEMA. He said they were not adequately prepared for this or any situation.

EPS if you run across that could you link it here? I can't find it...I just remember Alan Colmes was interviewing him and it was played today, but it could have been a rerun.

Still working on a full transcript for ya:

This is what he said yesterday:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) "criticized the administration for being sluggish" on hurricane relief "and urged the administration to name" former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani "as the point person for relief efforts," the AP reports.

Gingrich said the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina "puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?"

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

I never thought I would see a day when the support I have for my President wavered..

But I guess I was wrong..

Read this statement that the Senator for Louisiana Mary Landrieu has made to our President..

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
09/03/2005

Landrieu Implores President to "Relieve Unmitigated Suffering;" End FEMA's "Abject Failures"

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., issued the following statement this afternoon regarding her call yesterday for President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts within 24 hours.

Sen. Landrieu said:

"Yesterday, I was hoping President Bush would come away from his tour of the regional devastation triggered by Hurricane Katrina with a new understanding for the magnitude of the suffering and for the abject failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency. 24 hours later, the President has yet to answer my call for a cabinet-level official to lead our efforts. Meanwhile, FEMA, now a shell of what it once was, continues to be overwhelmed by the task at hand.

"I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims -- far more efficiently than buses -- FEMA again dragged its feet. Offers of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.

"But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast -- black and white, rich and poor, young and old -- deserve far better from their national government.

"Mr. President, I'm imploring you once again to get a cabinet-level official stood up as soon as possible to get this entire operation moving forward regionwide with all the resources -- military and otherwise -- necessary to relieve the unmitigated suffering and economic damage that is unfolding."


http://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/05/2005903E12.html

There are also reports coming out now of several Emergeny Medical Aid and Water and Food stations in NOLA, that were created SIMPLY for the arrival of the Presidential entourage, and then abandoned after they and the reporters dispersed..

" Dutch viewer Frank Tiggelaar writes:

There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF. "

Have we all been played??

What the fuck is really going on there? Do we even know?

We're sitting here being told that the 17th street levee breach was UNDER CONTROL, the BIGGEST break in the levee, 9which is why NOLA flooded in the first place) was being plugged up. And now you hear from Lousiana's own SENATOR, that all of that long awaited equipment was removed as soon as the politicans and cameras left..

I am just stunned and so very angry right now..

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Originally Posted by DirtNap

http://www.overspun.com/video/MTP.AaronBroussardX.wmv

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I really want to know what exactly was on the agreement the Louisiana Governor refused to sign when the president told her she wouldn't get aid without it. After 9/11, the previously independent (and effective) FEMA agency was gutted and put under homeland security, Why are there so many stories of the new FEMA stopping people and disrupting rescue operations, sending away needed supplies, boats, busses, ambulances, etc.

What exactly was that standoff about? What did Bush want that she refused to hand over to him?

I'm still diggin, but this is what its appears Gov. Blanco was refusing to do, and why she was issued an ultimatum by the President:

" The National Guard is trying to enforce civil law in the hurricane zone. It was pressed into service by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

A true state of martial law would also put the active military in a law enforcement role. That rarely happens. Martial law was declared during labor strikes in the early 20th century and during the Watts riots of 1965 in Los Angeles, said John Baker, constitutional law professor at Louisiana State University.

At all other times, the U.S. system of government is set up to give the states and their own police the primary responsibility to protect residents, with the federal government being called on only as a backup when a state is overwhelmed.

"If a governor will call and say, �I no longer have the ability to secure my state, I need help,� the president could invoke the Insurrection Act and the military could assist in law enforcement activities," said a U.S. Northern Command lawyer who spoke on the condition that he not be identified. "That is not what we are doing."

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporlea...09.html#076771

[AlKilyu]

Is it possible they set all that up to fool him into thinking they had their shit together when they didn't? This is a man that in the past has demanded camera crews turn off their equipment so that he could console with victims of 9/11 in private, and overstayed his time when he first visited there. Drives the Secret Service nuts. Remember: When he arrived in Florida for the last debate, he and Laura chose to visit with the vicitms of that storm (I forgot the name already :P ) while Kerry was at a spa.

He's not perfect, but he's not cold blooded either.

And the system (that has been this way for ages) where they have to request monitary aid, and he in turn has to request it from Congress (like ANYONE would say no) is still in effect. I think a lot of red tape could be eliminated...

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

And if that wasn't enough, the Times Picayune Newspaper, the biggest paper in NOLA, issued this open letter to the President:

OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President

Dear Mr. President:

We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we�re going to make it right."

Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism.

Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It�s accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718.

How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks.

Despite the city�s multiple points of entry, our nation�s bureaucrats spent days after last week�s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city�s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.

Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city.

Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning.

Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach.

We�re angry, Mr. President, and we�ll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That�s to the government�s shame.

Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don�t know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city�s death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher.

It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren�t they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn�t suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials?

State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn�t have but two urgent needs: "Buses! And gas!" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially.

In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn�t known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We�ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they�ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day."

Lies don�t get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President.

Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You�re doing a heck of a job."

That�s unbelievable.

There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too.

We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We�re no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued.

No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn�t be reached.

Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again.

When you do, we will be the first to applaud."

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporlea...09.html#076771

" The president of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana, Aaron Broussard, appeared on Meet the Press this morning in an interview you can watch on Crooks and Liars.

Broussard reported FEMA officials who refused entry to shipments of water, turned back diesel fuel, and cut emergency phone lines:

" We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. "

http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/n...ur-own-country

~President Broussard Jefferson Parish, Lousiana

[MrMaelstrom]

Alkilyu, it is possible that someone's trying to pull one over Bush's eyes in order to cover their own incompetence, but surely by now the shit should have hit the fan.

It just occurred to me that some US troops deployed in Iraq must surely have families in the affected area. Does anyone know if servicemen have access to information regarding their loved ones?

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Originally Posted by MrMaelstrom

It just occurred to me that some US troops deployed in Iraq must surely have families in the affected area. Does anyone know if servicemen have access to information regarding their loved ones?

From what I have read the troops in Biloxi, Misssissippi are being shipped back to the Army base that was destroyed there in order to help their stranded family members. Troops from that area are also being shipped back from Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea, to help with the recovery and clean up efforts.

I have not heard anything yet on those soldiers with familiy in NOLA..

[AlKilyu]

Originally Posted by MrMaelstrom

Alkilyu, it is possible that someone's trying to pull one over Bush's eyes in order to cover their own incompetence, but surely by now the shit should have hit the fan.

Yeah, and O'Reily said today that calls made to certain FEMA numbers went unanswered and said that it was possible that some people chose to keep their vacation plans (today is Labor Day, a national holiday where you do no labor) although I can't see ANYONE that coldblooded.

He also (correctly) noted that at this point it is a blame game, with state officials blaming the feds, the feds blaming the local goverment, and so on.

I'd like to know why that levy that engineers warned for years would more than likely break in a category 2 storm (Katrina was a 5) went unfixed for so long. Yes it was a $20bil project, but if you must look at the financial aspects of it at this point, it would have been a well made investment. But that's me armchair quaterbacking, so I will stop here.

[Bodnoirbabe]

okay, i'll reiterate what i said in that other thread here: I wish they would stop making this into a political agenda and start helping those people.

[MrMaelstrom]

It's both their fault, Al.
Local government's fault for not taking care of their corner of the woods.
Federal government for not stepping in quickly enough.

You know me: I'll always blame Bush, so I'll argue that maybe local government couldn't afford to invest on the levees on account of major funding being diverted to anti-terrorist efforts and the war effort.

One thing I'm pretty sure of though, it's both their fault for bickering over jurisdiction on the 6th day of the tragedy.

[AlKilyu]

NEW ORLEANS FLASHBACK: OFFICALS WARNED RESIDENTS 'YOU'LL BE ON YOUR OWN'
Mon Sep 05 2005 18:57:15 ET

Before residents had ever heard the words "Hurricane Katrina," the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE ran a story warning residents: If you stay behind during a big storm, you'll be on your own!

Editors at TIMES-PICAYUNE on Monday called for every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be fired. In an open letter to President Bush, the paper said: "Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's shame."

But the TIMES-PICAYUNE published a story on July 24, 2005 stating: City, state and federal emergency officials are preparing to give a historically blunt message: "In the event of a major hurricane, you're on your own."

Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported some 7 weeks before Katrina: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."

"In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation.

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you."

[DirtNap]

Originally Posted by AlKilyu

NEW ORLEANS FLASHBACK: OFFICALS WARNED RESIDENTS 'YOU'LL BE ON YOUR OWN...

If it was just the Hurricane, the city of New Orleans did pretty well. Mississippi was in the worst shape, but the levee break and subsequent flood is a different problem all together. One that requires a different sort of responce.

[MrMaelstrom]

Er....does anyone believe that before this tragedy, I had no idea what the song When The Levee Breaks by Led Zep was all about?

Here's my sign...

[AlKilyu]

Originally Posted by DirtNap

If it was just the Hurricane, the city of New Orleans did pretty well. Mississippi was in the worst shape, but the levee break and subsequent flood is a different problem all together. One that requires a different sort of responce.

How long after the storm did the levy break? In other words, if they were evacuated for one, they wouldn't have been around for the other.

The point is the city told them this was a way of life and to prepare for this sort of thing. Were they right in doing that? I don't know, but I do know they (city officials) are doing the blame game and they shouldn't be.

[Spazik]

Republians are already lambasting others for blaming bush, because they know it's true and it's how they write off other people's opinions. Hello, our National Guard (Translation: people that are supposed to be guarding our nation) are sitting their asses on a sand dune against their will right now, that's why they couldn't respond as effectivly as they could have. And suprise suprise, the federal budget that was supposed to be used to fix the flood control (Just like it does on the Folsom Dam out here) out there was cut to pay for the War in Iraq. Suprise suprise, another thing to blame Monkey Boy for.

[AlKilyu]

Wow Spazik, to think I originally wrote off your opinion in the past! You're a damn genius, what with the research and all you have displayed here! I only wish you could vote!

[Spazik]

Originally Posted by AlKilyu

Wow Spazik, to think I originally wrote off your opinion in the past! You're a damn genius, what with the research and all you have displayed here! I only wish you could vote!

Thanks! I don't vote though, I'm morally opposed to America's current political system

[Spazik]

Originally Posted by Spazik

Thanks! I don't vote though, I'm morally opposed to America's current political system

Oh right, sarcasm. Bleh, go back to the Ivory Tower and keep plugging your ears, then, so you don't hear me laughing during the 2006/2008 elections.

[MrMaelstrom]

It's ok Spazik, Bush can't run again...


You think we'll get Jeb Bush next?

Ahhh, shit.....

[AlKilyu]

Generalized opinions based on no solid evidence and dripping with bias isn't the way to make your point.

Robert Kennedy Jr suggested that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, when speaking of her politics, said "Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast."

Comments like that are uncalled for and tasteless now or ever. But he comes by in naturally (THAT can be proven, at least his uncles, cousins and grandfather) but shit like that is why the party is no longer what it was, which used to stand for something.

But you yourself said you won't vote. And you won't denounce that type of thing (like we denounce godhatesfags.com) so by your lack of actions we are guaranteed another win in 08.

[Spazik]

Originally Posted by AlKilyu

Generalized opinions based on no solid evidence and dripping with bias isn't the way to make your point.

Robert Kennedy Jr suggested that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, when speaking of her politics, said "Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast."

Comments like that are uncalled for and tasteless now or ever. But he comes by in naturally (THAT can be proven, at least his uncles, cousins and grandfather) but shit like that is why the party is no longer what it was, which used to stand for something.

But you yourself said you won't vote. And you won't denounce that type of thing (like we denounce godhatesfags.com) so by your lack of actions we are guaranteed another win in 08.

I don't even know what you're asking me to denounce? That's such a common republican trick: "So and so said something obscure that most people don't even know about and blah blah blah. Why do Democrat's hate America!?!?"