On Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:59:05 +0000, D Peter Maus wrote:

Dave wrote:
dxAce wrote:


It's RIDICULOUS to blame the mayor of New Orleans for something
that's Bush's fault.

Not ridiculous at all. The dumbass mayor and the dumbass governor were
derelict in
their duty.


Quit making these baseless accusations. It makes you look like a
right-wing tool


It's you who're making baseless accusations.

FEMA trucks were at the staging area 48 hours before Katrina hit New
Orleans. Bush was on the phone 48 hours before the storm hit with both
Kathleen Blanco and Ray Nagin asking, and then begging, to let the
trucks into New Orleans to being the evacuations. (FEMA has to have
local permission in order to roll.) He specifically cited the levees as
a reason to let him help before the storm had hit, because the Corps of
Engineers had said decades ago that the levees were insufficient to
withstand a category 5 storm. Something that Louisiana had known as
well.

They knew it because federal funds had been released specifically for
shoring up the levees years before, and the Governor and City
administrations had spent the money on other things. Like improving the
blocks around the Casino boats.

Both Blanco AND Nagin refused Federal assistance with the evacuation.

After the storm had begun, FEMA trucks were STILL turned away from
New Orleans by Louisiana National Guard soldiers.

Even while Ray Nagin was crying on TV for assistance, FEMA Trucks
were being turned away.

It wasn't until the damage had been done that FEMA trucks were
finally permitted into the City.

All of this is on the record. It was reported, albeit quietly, by
mainstream press, and then quickly buried.

Then it should be very easy to provide a link to these accounts. I read
the Times-Picayune throughout the incident and remember no such events.

On the other hand:

"As Katrina threatened the Gulf Coast, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco
issued a state of emergency on Aug. 26 and on Aug. 28 sent a letter to
President Bush requesting a disaster declaration for the state in order
to release federal assistance.

"I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and
magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the
state and affected local governments and that supplementary federal
assistance will be necessary," Blanco wrote in her letter.

The letter had to travel through points in FEMA before the federal
government could respond. FEMA deployed regional responders before
Katrina made landfall, but a major federal response wasn't evident until
days later. The hurricane crippled many state and local emergency
agencies in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama leaving them unable to
respond without federal help.

"What happened was that essentially, the demolishment of that state and
local infrastructure, and I think that really caused the cascading series
of breakdown," said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in a New York Times
interview.

President Bush and FEMA Director BrownFrom the local level, officials
complained of communication breakdowns and the lack of leadership from
the federal government, particularly from FEMA Director Michael Brown.
Reports of FEMA turning down personnel and supplies offered by police
forces and emergency crews further drew fire from Congress and others who
said the agency failed to respond adequately.

On Sept. 9, 2005, Chertoff pulled Brown from the role of managing
Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Blanco's office blamed bureaucracy and layers of red tape for blocking an
effective emergency effort.

"We wanted helicopters, food and water. They wanted to negotiate an
organizational chart," Blanco's press secretary Denise Bottcher told the
New York Times.

The delayed federal response prompted politicians to question FEMA's
organization and leadership."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/weath...dec05/katrina/
fema_background.html