| Friday, October 07, 2005 |
| Juxtaposition of Republican Humility |
There are so many things wrong with this; I almost don't know where to begin.  I received this pic via email earlier today. It's supposed to be...well, you can see what its purpose is. Now the most obvious problem is that they didn't occur relative to the same event, so to reason that some sort of equal comparison can be made is downright absurd. In the pic labeled "Democratic Leadership" (note the 'ic' at the end of Democrat, oops, though the 'leadership' in quotes is a nice touch) we see the seeds of a controversy plucked and passed-on throughout the Classic Media, as well as throughout the blogosphere, prior to Rita's evacuation. Galveston officials would have been well aware of these pictures of buses in New Orleans, and to allow for similar pictures in Galveston would have been...well, you get the point. You can't really compare the two. But here is the most notable problem I have with the comparison. Really, how would having these buses available to move out evacuees have improved the situation in New Orleans? All levels of government failed in the response to Katrina; federal, state, and local, but there is little debate as to who should have been running the show. A Cat 4 hurricane is a massive storm with the potential to unleash massive devastation (as we witnessed). States are not equipped to deal with such events, which is why they declare a State of Emergency. The federal government (DHS and more specifically FEMA) is responsible for coordinating all response/relief efforts. There was little in the way of supplies staged and waiting for the post-hurricane response (as we witnessed). There was no coordinated relief effort between state/local and federal officials (as we witnessed). Where were those buses to take evacuees, exactly? Maybe to another Superdome or Convention Center like facility? How would those buses have addressed the problems that occurred at the Convention Center or at the Superdome?
Which officially designated hurricane shelter was the one FEMA chief Mike Brown had no idea evacuees were at until 4 days after the storm had passed? Who appointed him? Who controls the congress that confirmed him? Under which administration did he serve? Are you kidding me? Republicans should be staying as far away from finger pointing here as possible. Now my intent, in no way, is to imply that these buses shouldn't, or couldn't have been used. They absolutely should have been. But for systematic failures so far-reaching, this "bus issue" is relatively insignificant.
As for any budding Republican apologist who feels they would like to participate in the finger-pointing (blame-game), please see this. |
posted by MindSquash the Brain Worm @ 7:48 PM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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First of all, They are the same event. Both are Katrina. Second, I think being Republican or being a Democrat has nothing to do with it. It was the STATES responsibility to call a national emergency. Had they done this, people would not have died in the numbers they did. Second, it was the mayors job to get those buses loaded and out of there. Sure there were some problems with FEMA, but they aren't first responders. They are just organizers, now; they failed on some level. However, it was the mayors job to make sure there was food. Not the federal government. The fact that the mayor did not allow help from the red cross immediately tells you something is up. Anyways, other than the fact that I don't agree with what you are saying (or the picture), I do like your post. Although I run a Conservative blog; I would like to ask you if you would like me to link to you. By the way, the Media is Liberal...lol. If you want me to, just comment on one of my posts saying you would like to. Here's to free speech!
Goggalor
The Young Conservatives
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Goggalor,
Allow me start at the back and work my way forward. Free speech is awesome, and its part and parcel to what makes this the great country that it is. The Classic Media, which is what I like to refer to them as, as I see us being on the cusp of a new media revolution, is in almost all cases just an extension of a multinational conglomerate. Their best interests are very often in direct contradiction to the People's interests. Which has quite a bit to do with why they are so well regarded these days by the People. Liberal? Conservative? They do a shitty job, which is to hold my attention while some company tries to sell me their product/service. Mayor Nagin appears to me to be just barely less incompetent then Mike Brown, and Gov. Blanco, just a teensy bit less incompetent then Nagin. Nobody was on the ball here and what’s worse is that as New Orleans was descending into chaos, nobody stepped up to the plate. They all deserve to lose their jobs. I believe its what the military refers to as "dereliction of duty" or in civil terms "negligence". The juxtaposition is just silly, and that’s really my point. Now we may disagree on the specificities, such as whether they are the same hurricane, if and when a State of Emergency was called, or how much loading up those buses with evacuees would have helped, but it appears that we do agree in the main. Thanks for commenting, I'll stop by your site and feel free to link.
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First of all, They are the same event. Both are Katrina. Second, I think being Republican or being a Democrat has nothing to do with it. It was the STATES responsibility to call a national emergency. Had they done this, people would not have died in the numbers they did. Second, it was the mayors job to get those buses loaded and out of there. Sure there were some problems with FEMA, but they aren't first responders. They are just organizers, now; they failed on some level. However, it was the mayors job to make sure there was food. Not the federal government. The fact that the mayor did not allow help from the red cross immediately tells you something is up. Anyways, other than the fact that I don't agree with what you are saying (or the picture), I do like your post. Although I run a Conservative blog; I would like to ask you if you would like me to link to you. By the way, the Media is Liberal...lol. If you want me to, just comment on one of my posts saying you would like to. Here's to free speech!
Goggalor
The Young Conservatives