I am watching the relief and recovery efforts from 9/11 and then I listen to the MORON who is the Mayor of New Orleans and I am stunned by your assult on Bush. In his latest media presentation,Nagin claims there will be "10,000 bodies" in New Orleans and there are not.
The funny fact may be that while there were a few tense days there after the storm moved on, that there are so many survivors is a testament to what worked.
Louisianna, nay, New Orleans, had defective levees, no evacuation plan, poor leadership and a history of problems long before GW was President.
You may be "funny", but you have lost all credibilty as an "analyst" of the events of Katrina.
Without agreeing with your overall assessment (or conclusion), I'd like to point out that in your first paragraph, you claim that Nagin is a "moron."
In your second paragraph, you essentially praise what may turn out to be -- thankfully -- a substantially lower death toll as "a testament to what worked."
But then, in your third paragraph, you return to assaulting the preparedness of Louisiana and New Orleans (which I don't necessarily disagree with -- politics and politicians in Louisiana have long been corrupt and embarrassingly inept) and lay all blame at their feet.
So which is it? In your description of events, shouldn't "the testament to what worked" -- again, on the local level since you exempt the president and the federal government for a poor response -- be reason to praise the locals?
Sorry to be such a stickler for consistency ;)
Seriously, though, I appreciate that you took some time to post and add to the discussion.
I don't see a consistency problem at all. In my post I simply failed to assign credit. Thank you for allowing me to clarify.
I credit the "success" - the fact that so many got out alive - to the resiliency of the human spirit. We watched those people fight to find their way. And they did so without any halp from their local government.
That is the miracle of Katrina.
And when I ever want to wonder what Bush or FEMA could have done, I remember the aerial photo of all those school buses - over 200 of them - (with 300+ city buses in another depot) - sitting in Katrina water. All those buses that could have been used by the city of New Orleans to evacuate its residents.
If we are going to blame - let's start at the beginning.
We agree on something important, and that's the resiliance and creativity of people. Perhaps we disagree on the role government should play. Because one lesson of Katrina, I think, is that government failed to do what we fund it to do, and in particular, failed to help those who most needed help. And that's not an issue of partisanship or blame, but rather, something that should be central to the post-Katrina debate: The 25-year anti-government campaign has not only reduced people's faith in politics and government -- simply by hearing candidate after candidate bash the very notion of government -- but it's also reduced the effectiveness of the government they've left in their wake.
I like to paraphrase Einstein when describing the role I think government should play: Government should be as small as possible, but no smaller. By contrast, the conservative message of the last quarter-century has been more along the lines of "government should be small, and even smaller, and perhaps even smaller if possible." The danger of that message, carried to its extreme in current federal policy and priorities, is becoming increasingly clear. And troubling.
I'd like my government to feed and burp me, then put me in my bed and cover me, and maybe sing a few tunes softly to me and rub my back as I fall asleep. And then when I'm older I'd like a car and a job and a boombox and health care and free Mets tickets and maybe a souvenir Statue of Liberty statue. I don't think that's too much to ask.
I don't care about all that other stuff, but I'd sure like a job and health care.
I take it from your sarcasm that you think jobs and health care are privileges?
It's this 'everyone for themselves' mentality that is partly to blame for this country's current problems. Although I don't care for the pervasive 'victim mentality' of a lot of people, I'd gladly pay more so that we can we can all have health care.
7 Comments:
I am watching the relief and recovery efforts from 9/11 and then I listen to the MORON who is the Mayor of New Orleans and I am stunned by your assult on Bush. In his latest media presentation,Nagin claims there will be "10,000 bodies" in New Orleans and there are not.
The funny fact may be that while there were a few tense days there after the storm moved on, that there are so many survivors is a testament to what worked.
Louisianna, nay, New Orleans, had defective levees, no evacuation plan, poor leadership and a history of problems long before GW was President.
You may be "funny", but you have lost all credibilty as an "analyst" of the events of Katrina.
CT:
Without agreeing with your overall assessment (or conclusion), I'd like to point out that in your first paragraph, you claim that Nagin is a "moron."
In your second paragraph, you essentially praise what may turn out to be -- thankfully -- a substantially lower death toll as "a testament to what worked."
But then, in your third paragraph, you return to assaulting the preparedness of Louisiana and New Orleans (which I don't necessarily disagree with -- politics and politicians in Louisiana have long been corrupt and embarrassingly inept) and lay all blame at their feet.
So which is it? In your description of events, shouldn't "the testament to what worked" -- again, on the local level since you exempt the president and the federal government for a poor response -- be reason to praise the locals?
Sorry to be such a stickler for consistency ;)
Seriously, though, I appreciate that you took some time to post and add to the discussion.
I don't see a consistency problem at all. In my post I simply failed to assign credit. Thank you for allowing me to clarify.
I credit the "success" - the fact that so many got out alive - to the resiliency of the human spirit. We watched those people fight to find their way. And they did so without any halp from their local government.
That is the miracle of Katrina.
And when I ever want to wonder what Bush or FEMA could have done, I remember the aerial photo of all those school buses - over 200 of them - (with 300+ city buses in another depot) - sitting in Katrina water. All those buses that could have been used by the city of New Orleans to evacuate its residents.
If we are going to blame - let's start at the beginning.
P.S. I don't agree with you at all, but you do have a rather snazzy site.
We agree on something important, and that's the resiliance and creativity of people. Perhaps we disagree on the role government should play. Because one lesson of Katrina, I think, is that government failed to do what we fund it to do, and in particular, failed to help those who most needed help. And that's not an issue of partisanship or blame, but rather, something that should be central to the post-Katrina debate: The 25-year anti-government campaign has not only reduced people's faith in politics and government -- simply by hearing candidate after candidate bash the very notion of government -- but it's also reduced the effectiveness of the government they've left in their wake.
I like to paraphrase Einstein when describing the role I think government should play: Government should be as small as possible, but no smaller. By contrast, the conservative message of the last quarter-century has been more along the lines of "government should be small, and even smaller, and perhaps even smaller if possible." The danger of that message, carried to its extreme in current federal policy and priorities, is becoming increasingly clear. And troubling.
Thanks again for posting. --B
I'd like my government to feed and burp me, then put me in my bed and cover me, and maybe sing a few tunes softly to me and rub my back as I fall asleep. And then when I'm older I'd like a car and a job and a boombox and health care and free Mets tickets and maybe a souvenir Statue of Liberty statue. I don't think that's too much to ask.
In response to anonymous...
I don't care about all that other stuff, but I'd sure like a job and health care.
I take it from your sarcasm that you think jobs and health care are privileges?
It's this 'everyone for themselves' mentality that is partly to blame for this country's current problems. Although I don't care for the pervasive 'victim mentality' of a lot of people, I'd gladly pay more so that we can we can all have health care.
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