Clinton didn't screw up FEMA bureaucracy- which is the bureaucracy that matters at this point. According to numerous sources, response from FEMA during the Clinton Administrations was second to none. There was an emphasis on collaboration between the Federal government and state and local governments; an emphasis on gathering the disparate forces together to deal with a crisis *as the crisis struck*- not after.

Secondly, not only did FEMA hesitate once a state of emergency was declared by Gov. Blanco, an unnamed administration official went as far as to declare that FEMA was hamstrung by Gov. Blanco's failure to declare a state of emergency. This was picked up and reported- erroneously- by the Washington Post and Newsweek. Thankfully, we live in the age of technology, and there is a *.pdf file of the letter from the Governor to the President specifically outlining what she believed the needs of the state of Louisiana to be and declaring her state of emergency. Go figure.

Additionally, FEMA, in its great wisdom, turned down assistance from a number of sources, including several states. And these were offers made *before* the hurrican actually struck, before the mayhem, looting and disintegration into lawlessness. If this assistance had been accepted- or if FEMA had gathered together National Guardsmen, and whatever other uniformed, trained and available security forces, one could reasonably argue that the state of lawlessness that occurred could have been prevented.

Where is Karl Rove? Perhaps he could have stopped the President from declaring that he- and the rest of the government- were woefully ignorant of the state of the levees surrounding New Orleans. If he'd asked anyone in Louisiana, they could have provided him the crib notes on the down low. When National Geographic covers the problem, you know it's huge. When the Army Corps of Engineers complains about a lack of funding, you know you have a problem. Aren't these guys the MacGuyvers of the US? Can't they fix anything with a stick of gum and a paperclip? But it's not just funding: it's time that's necessary to fix these types of long-term damages. But even if we'd devoted the time and the money to fixing the levee, we weren't devoting enough time or money to making it safe to withstand a Category 4+ hurricane- which is what Katrina turned out to be. I can definitely say that the budget crisis we're facing- the miles of red ink attributable to Iraq and tax cuts- is definitely part of this equation.

If Bush- and the rest of his family- had liquidated their assets to help, it would have started to make up for the comments of his mother. Yes, most of the evacuees from New Orleans are underprivileged; but in what scenario are they now "better off"? Better off in the immediate sense of the words, as in, they're no longer stranded in a tainted cess pool of a stadium in a tainted cess pool of a city, but how is being homeless, jobless, lost and far from home better than being impoverished but in understandable and familiar territory?

Wellstone's funeral degenerated into a free for all because rude and disgusting ignoramuses like yourselves couldn't bear not to show up, even though they had been specifically asked not to. This is not forgiving Democrats' behavior, but offered as a semblance of an explanation.

Bush is even now failing to accept responsibility for any of this fiasco. It's on the states' heads and shoulders. Never mind that Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are three of the most impoverished states in this country all with per capita incomes (in 2004 dollars) below $30,000. The states bearing the brunt of the burden of taking in evacuees, i.e., TX, AR, OK- at or around $30,000, but in most cases, just below. With their already strained social service systems- strained because of Bush tax cuts, job losses, rising gas prices- what the hell are the people going to do? Why is the estate tax cut even still on the table? Why is no one discussing an early sunset to some of these tax cuts to pay for this? Why would Bush even mention individuals' giving to charity? Did he think we wouldn't think of it ourselves? "That's why I called the Cabinet together." Oh, yeah? Where was Condoleezza? Too busy watching 'Spamalot' to get on the line and start thanking our allies for offering to help even though we have strained relations with most. Why is he congratulating the job "Brownie" is doing, when much of this mayhem was preventable- which is what FEMA is designated to do? Why is gas $4/gallon when ExxonMobil is scheduled to post a profit of $10B? And please, for the love of God, can someone tell me what experience George W. Bush has had that would lead him to believe that he "understands" what these people are going through? When was the last time he squatted and shat in a corner? When the entirety of his life's work was lost in one fell swoop under a wave of dirty fucking water?

If his first priority was saving lives, he and FEMA would have made more of an effort to get people out of the way. If his first priority was saving lives, a coordinated effort from the feds on down would have started well before Katrina struck land. He would have accepted help offered from Mayor Daley, Loudoun Cty, VA, from Florida, from Wal-Mart who had tankers of water available- and you know Wal-Mart just doesn't give things away. He would have gathered up the governors from the surrounding states and had the discussion about who's going to do what and when while he was hanging out at the ranch. And when his mama basically said, "Let them eat cake," he would've backhanded her and sent her and his wife and his girls down to the nearest location they could volunteer and get that on camera to mitigate some of the damage her statement caused.

Global warming is a real thing. Instead of mockingly referring to the Kyoto Accords, perhaps we should pull our heads out of our asses and at least make an attempt at doing less damage to the planet we all must share until we're sure. How about exercising a little discretion every once in a while? Or is discretion hard to come by in your SUV? Why don't we err on the side of caution, instead of ignoring the signs all around us? And when, oh, when can we get this boob, this bumbler and all his little ass-kissing friends out of office so we can get some real work done?

Hello? Who is it that has authority to give orders to EVERYBODY involved? Apparently, only one person. Well, yes, that's a clear sign of a totally screwed-up bureaucracy, and much of the blame for that no doubt lies with the Clinton administration and with Congress. But that's why the founding fathers created a strong president with almost unlimited authority in short-term emergencies; so that the president could step in and make decisions when faced with a crisis.

I've seen eight presidents now, and this is the first time I've seen one refuse to step in and take charge when faced with a national emergency that demanded his leadership.

Excuse me, Mr. President, but in the days before the hurricane struck, there were several news reports about the likelihood that the levees would fail, and the consequences to the city if that happened. Furthermore, when I was a university student 30 years ago, it was well known among people in the water resources and civil engineering fields that New Orleans was vulnerable to just the sort of catastrophe that occurred this week.

News reports in the last couple of days have indicated that the failed levees were known to be weak, funds had been requested to repair them, but the Bush Administration had drastically reduced funding (nationwide) for this type of work.

In this speech, the President came across as clueless. I don't expect the President to have technical expertise on coastal flooding, but his level of cluelessness gives me zero confidence in the administration's ability and resolve to meet current and future challenges in protecting the nation against the very real threats of flooding, sea-level rise, etc.

He said "Our efforts are now focused on three priorities: Our first priority is to save lives.... Our second priority is to sustain lives by ensuring adequate food, water, shelter and medical supplies for survivors and dedicated citizens -- dislocate...

That, of course, would have the benefit of promptly ensuring that no further major hurricanes would hit, once the full impact of Kyoto is felt.

But until then, every day w/o Kyoto makes Baby Jesus cry, and His tears lead to massive killer hurricanes.

/sarcasm

It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.

-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002331.html

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA [Southeast Louisana Urban Flood Control Project] dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20050606/ai_n14657367

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20050207/ai_n10176537

I'm still trying to figure why anyone with any sense would buy a copy.

Today's dose of NIF - News, Interesting & Funny ... It's Stop the ACLU Thursday, and Katrina Relief Day!

Does any one seriously believe that wetlands could have possibly stopped this train wreck? They need their heads examined.

Infrastructure decay? Wouldn't the revered Clinton, during his eight years in office, be just a tiny bit implicated? Or do things decay all that rapdily?

When, oh when will these Dumbocrats stop their whining? How can they sleep at night, using the suffering of millions to push their agenda?

I'm just sayin'