Ponder This
“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?” Newt Gingrich
Contrary to what some Bush supporters think, that his critics are now trying to blame him for the weather, no one has said that President Bush is responsible for Hurricane Katrina. The criticism is related to the slow response to the crisis, at the expense of human lives. In times of crisis, the president’s job is to lead and set the tone, neither of which he did when it would have counted most.
Frank Rich of the New York Times writes, “The president’s declaration that ‘I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees’ has instantly achieved the notoriety of Condoleeza Rice’s ‘I don’t think anyone could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center.’ In fact, there were documented warnings for both and neither excuse holds up.
Reporting from New Orleans for the nightly news last night, John Roberts was asked, “Is there anything good happening there?”
“There’s a lot of good,” he answered and went on to talk about the large numbers of newly arrived National Guardsmen. “But it’s too late,” he added, sounding frustrated. “There are no people here now.”
The majority of the people are either dead – an estimated 10,000 another reporter predicted – or they have moved on to makeshift shelters.
Below are a few quotes culled from the last few days of news to ponder. Decide for yourself what part President Bush played in the slow response to the Hurricane Katrina:
“It took him most of a week to get there” …and then “…he launched a rescue mission to restore his own image after mounting criticism of an apparent shortage of federal leadership.” Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times staff writer.
“A president who flew from Crawford to Washington in a heartbeat to intervene in the medical case of a single patient, Terri Schiavo, has no business lecturing anyone about playing politics with tragedy…” Frank Rich from “Falluja Floods the Superdome” New York Times.
“They can go into Iraq and do this and do that, but they can’t drop some food on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, right now? It’s just mind-boggling.” Martha Madden, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
“And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection — or at least amelioration — against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological. It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water. …Anybody seen the Vice President lately? The man whose message this time last year was, ‘I’ll Protect You, The Other Guy Will Let You Die’?” Keith Olbermann MSNBC
“Race is perfectly appropriate to talk about. 88% of all black people didn’t vote for Bush, so maybe the slow response was payback?” Comment found on http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/achenblog
“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. … Whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chainsawed off and we’ve got to start with some new leadership. It’s not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now…” Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans (pictured above, broke down and crying uncontrollably, being interviewed by Tim Russert).
Post Note: For two informative articles on this subject, which deal with FEMA’s role in the disaster and at what point a state of emergency was declared, see “Time to Take the Blame,” and “Trying to Avoid the Finger,” both found at Capitol Hill Blue. My sister also has a post on her blog “A Particularly Persistent Point of View,” which ties in and is a well worthy read.
September 7th, 2005 12:15 pm
Michele sent me, and personally, I think more blame needs to lie on the mayor or New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, and the people of New Orleans who didn’t evacuate prior to the hurricane hitting like they were told to. JMO.
September 7th, 2005 12:57 pm
Indigo, not to differ, but I hope we aren’t refereing to the thousands of poor, elderly, and ill people who HAD NO WAY to leave.
September 7th, 2005 2:06 pm
Good Job, Colleen.
September 7th, 2005 4:04 pm
Colleen, Thanks for linking your Wednesday entry to my blog, “Particularly Persistent Point of View.” I’ve spent the better part of the week researching this upside down and sideways, and I must say, as Indigo has indicated; there’s plenty of blame to go around -although upon closer inspection, it can’t be easily denied that our president was not fast enough to help the poor (as your quotes also indicate). Colleen wrote me privately to tell me my links did not light up for her. I hope other readers didn’t have the same trouble. If so, and if interested, email me @ Mz.Oz@verizon.net and I will give you the links to Barbara Bush’s insenstive words at the Houston Astrodome and the link to Scott McClellan’s press conference. Thanks
September 7th, 2005 4:09 pm
Colleen, Thanks for this blog. I agree and believe me, don’t hold much respect for our present top leaders. However, as I blogged about today, with the needs of the moment being so great, now is the time to hold a hand, not point a finger. I think that there are many unsung heros in this. Just your average citizens and small charities making huge contributions of both their time and their resources to help. Grassroots efforts are seeming to outshine those of the bureaucrats presently. There will be a time for examination but so many basic survival needs must be met immediately. I hope that we can all maintain a focus on that and worry about the other at a later date.
September 7th, 2005 5:01 pm
It isn’t just cream that rises to the top. It appears that ignorance and careless thought also floats!
September 7th, 2005 5:02 pm
It isn’t just cream that rises to the top. It appears that ignorance and careless thought also float!
September 7th, 2005 8:07 pm
Great post.
Indigo: Please tell me you are not serious about the need to blame the poor, most of whom had no way to leave New Orleans.
What is really strange is to expect that somehow the average person living in New Orleans should have predicted this disaster and evacuated … while somehow the federeal government had just no idea it might occur.
September 7th, 2005 9:15 pm
I can’t help but wonder, in the back of my mind, how long it will take most of the country — prompted by censorship — to forget the criminal negligence here, as the negligence in the days after Hurricane Andrew seems to have been “forgotten”.
A few days ago I was pointed to this:
http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/627/1/
in which Bush is compared, quite aptly it seems, to Nero.
September 7th, 2005 9:30 pm
Many thanks Colleen–
September 7th, 2005 9:37 pm
Colleen – great post. I also agree wholeheartedly with Elissa’s comment regarding the comparison of Bush to Nero.
I pray that after the waters recede and calm returns that people will remember what happened and hold those responsible accountable.
September 7th, 2005 11:25 pm
I’m floored that what I said is being implied as the ‘poor people who had no where to go’ and ‘the thousands of poor, elderly, and ill people who HAD NO WAY to leave’.
Please don’t put words in my mouth, because that’s not what I wrote.
September 8th, 2005 12:10 am
“I think more blame needs to be put on…the people of New Orleans that didn’t evacuate prior to the hurricane hitting like they were told to”. That’s basically why I thought you were saying that. Sorry, I didn’t mean to put words in your mouth and I’m really glad I misunderstood you. Sorry, Indigo. My bad.
September 8th, 2005 12:56 am
Thank you for the research you have done.
September 8th, 2005 8:30 am
An excellent timeline that puts perspective on how/who responded and when:
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2005/09/04/katrina-response-timeline/
A blurb from the beginning of the timeline:
“IT IS NOT MY INTENTION TO PLAY THE “BLAME GAME” BY PUBLISHING THIS TIMELINE.. In fact, if you have a link to a story that contradicts or adds to this timeline, I urge you to send it along. My sole purpose is to place this timeline on the record to dispel the rumors, the spin, and the outright falsehoods being flung about by both right and left bloggers and pundits.”
September 8th, 2005 10:28 am
Thanks for all the feedback, tips, and links. I appreciate everyone’s comments… and the timeline (above) was very informative.
September 10th, 2005 12:11 pm
Amen!