September 08, 2005 08:00 AM UTC
Sorry, But Hurricane Katrina IS a Political Issue
62 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
Congresswoman Diana DeGettes proclamation that “there has to be heads rolling” over the governments response to Hurricane Katrina is just one of a slew of responses from Colorado politicians over the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in American history. Weve thus far avoided the topic of the political ramifications of the response to Katrina, but as talk heats up about the response to Katrina and it’s political ramifications, weve decided to join in.
There are a lot of cries from observers (most of them Republicans), both on this website and elsewhere, who say that nobody should use Hurricane Katrina for political gain although it is not just Democrats who are pointing fingers (Rep. Tom Tancredo and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are just two Republicans who have spoken out).
We dont agree, and heres why: the response to Hurricane Katrina IS a political issue, whether you like it or not. You dont have to “make this into a political issue” – it already was one.
You may disagree on who is to blame, but nobody is going to disagree that the response was handled poorly. Whenever there is a botched response to a major crisis, it is the responsibility of elected officials to figure out what went wrong and how it can be prevented in the future. Thats the way it is. Its absolutely wrong to say that elected officials should just keep their mouths shut when something goes wrong. If you believe that, then whats the point of having elected leaders?
Jon Stewart summed it up best when he said, “A quick observation: When people do not want to play the blame game, theyre to blame.” Call Stewart a Democratic shill if it makes you feel better, but hes right.
That isnt to say that some cries border on ridiculous. To criticize President Bush for having a Coast Guard helicopter in a photo op because that helicopter could have been used to help people is a little silly. But the President of the United States, whatever his name or political party, is going to take some of the blame when things go wrong in the aftermath of a big crisis such as Hurricane Katrina. Thats also the way it is. You cant escape it.
What will be interesting to watch, from a political perspective, is how much damage this causes President Bush and the Republican Party as a whole. When things go wrong, people look to see who was in charge; President Bush and the Republican leadership have rightly been taking a lot of heat. And since mid-term elections can become referendums on the President (not always, but often), another plummet in the ratings could really benefit Democrats in Colorado…
Colorado politicians, meanwhile, arent waiting until 2006 to speak out.
Senator Ken Salazar (and Rep. Mark Udall) has called for the resignation of FEMA Director Mike Brown as criticism comes down that Brown might not have been qualified for the post (he was previously Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, which he apparently was forced to resign from).
From 5280.com:
“Specifically, Mr. Brown represented to the public that he could not have imagined the levees being breached in New Orleans, even though he had been briefed by federal government experts nearly a day and a half before Hurricane Katrina made landfall that those levees could indeed be breached by the hurricane surge. Having received such information, Mr. Brown should have acted more quickly than he did” and should not have suggested to the American public that he was given contrary information,” Salazar said in the letter.
Rep. DeGette, meanwhile, is looking ahead to prevent further trouble, suggesting that FEMA be separated from the Department of Homeland Security:
“FEMA is our nations primary emergency response agency. How quickly and well it responds to a disaster can mean the difference between life and death for Americans. As an independent agency in the 1990s, FEMA was a model for disaster relief and assistance,” said Rep. DeGette. “Now, as part of DHS, it is mired in bureaucracy and a backwater for political appointees. We can start addressing the failures of our governments response to Hurricane Katrina by restoring FEMAs independence.”
The proposal would follow the plan that made FEMA a successful agency under the leadership of Director James Lee Witt by establishing FEMA as an independent agency, whose director reports directly to the President, allowing the director to better coordinate emergency response with other agencies and departments and to establish clear lines of accountability. In addition, it would require the director of the agency to be an emergency management professional.
Locally, Rep. Mark Udall has asked Governor Bill Owens to help Colorado plan ahead in case of a similar disaster:
Rep. Mark Udall has asked Gov. Bill Owens to call a summit of emergency service providers to make sure that Colorado is prepared for a large-scale disaster similar to the catastrophe facing the gulf states.
Whatever your thoughts on who is to blame for the troubles with the Katrina aftermath, theres no denying that this has not been a good month for President Bush. As The Denver Post points out:
At last, after four days of a halting federal response and mounting political criticism, the president was on the scene, demonstrating compassion and commitment…
In an address to the nation Saturday, Bush reminded Americans of his encounter with the Bassier sisters and announced he was dispatching more than 7,000 troops to the ravaged gulf region.
“Many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need,” Bush acknowledged. “This week, we’ve all been humbled.”
Seven weeks ago, Bush stood beaming in the East Room, introducing Judge John Roberts as the man who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
It’s been downhill ever since.
Gasoline prices are soaring. August was one of the bloodiest months of the war in Iraq. Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, haunted the president’s Texas vacation. And all these events took place against a backdrop of economic stress. American families are working harder, the Census Bureau reported, yet household incomes are declining.
Bush’s approval ratings were at their lowest ever. Then Katrina came ashore.
“It is … four days into this and we’ve realized what we were doing was not adequate,” House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said Friday.
“What has been lacking this week is the sense of urgency, the judgment and the action needed to save lives,” added House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. “We should have been here four days ago.
“A failure of leadership, I think, is a strong term to use at this point,” Pelosi said. “But … any objective observation of what has happened in the first four or five days in the gulf states would say that this is not a success.”
And again, its not just Democrats doing the criticizing. Read again what House Republican Whip Roy Blunt said: “It is … four days into this and we’ve realized what we were doing was not adequate.” There’s more:
…But by then Republicans had joined in the chorus of criticism. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the government response was “an embarrassment,” The Associated Press reported.
Rep. Tom Tancredo has also spoken out, calling on aid to be withheld from Louisiana officials because of what he says is corruption.
Well have to wait to see if President Bush and the Republican leadership can make good on a situation that has gone very wrong. There may still be time to change that perception of a botched response, but the angry sentiment is growing. And dont cry foul that this is a political issue; this should never happen again, and EVERY political leader should be looking for ways to make sure that it doesn’t.
BushCO blew it for two solid days and people died as a result. Bush play guitar and golfed, Cheney was fishing, Condi was buying shoes and taking in a show, and most of the junior staff was at a wedding in Europe. This was a colossal fuckup caused by indifference, cronyism and a “starve the beast” approach to government. It is hard work governing when you don’t really belive in government.
I would have thought Homeland Security would have pre-positioned tents, food and water to deliver aid as soon as disaster happens around every major population center in the country. Homeland Security has done nothing to plan for a mass evacuation of even a medium sixed US City and substantial displacement of a large population.
The only difference between Katrina and a major terrorist attack is that we had a weeks warning with Katrina. What the hell is BushCO spending our money on anyway? Is anybody in this adminstration up to the job? Chertoff can’t keep the country secure, Rumsfield is losing the Iraq War, and Bush is on vacation. WTF?
It has been incredible to witness Rove and Bartlett herd the sheep from last week’s near universal and nonpartisan outcry for the federal government to DO SOMETHING! To this week’s (starting on the Sunday talk shows – incredible in and of themselves – Chertoff and Brown’s nearly complete disregard for demonstrable fact) GOP party line – blame the locals.
The disaster, its aftermath and the reaction, or lack thereof, by those who based this entire presidency, reelection and 2nd term on keeping America safe, is not a partisan issue. It is not simply Democrats attacking George Bush for his idealogy or political agenda. It is Americans, everywhere, of both parties, of all races, of all education levels and classes outraged that the President, his Administration and his post-9-11 commitment to preventing another ‘attack’ on the American people. They failed to keep an entire U.S. city safe from a deadly biological agent, water.
We can certainly call Colorado Pols Democrat shrills. Wait, that does feel better. Thanks.
I’ve been warning Democrats not to make this a political issue because firstly, its not good for the country to point fingers instead of solving problems and secondly because I think that it will backfire on them.
If blame is to be assigned than the first place to lay it is at Democratic feet. The mayor of New Orleans failed every chance he got. Look at the school buses that were left there, it was his job to use those resources. I could go on, but the fact is that on the failure o’ meter he scores a 9 out of 10.
The second place to assign blame would be Democratic Governor Blanco. First, the state plan put responsibility for moving “special needs” individuals at the feet fo the Deptment of Health and Hosptials. NOWHERE DOES IT SAY FEMA HAS PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY TO MOVE ANYONE. Second, and perhaps most daming is the fact that the Red Cross was ready to go into N.O. after Katrina but they were blocked by the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security…A State Agency…they didn’t want the Red Cross at the Superdome because “they didn’t want to create a magnet” that would attract more people to the area. They wanted the people to leave.
As for the feds, FEMA has no control over the national guard. BLANCO has control. She failed. FEMA has 2500 full time employees. 4000 part time on stand by. That isn’t very many. FEMA asked Blanco for control. She refused to give it to them.
Blame lays squarely at Blanco’s hands. Between her and the Mayor’s screw-ups tens of thousands have become endangered. They are the failures.
Come on, defend the Dems in Louisiana. Tell me why they aren’t to blame. Tell me why in a Federal Republic the Federal Government has PRIMARY responsibility. Why even have state and local goverment. This wasn’t an attack upon the nation, you can’t move the military in to enforce local laws.
I can tell by Kenevan’s comments that he isn’t running on all cylinders. Most of his points are just rabid personal attacks. His comments on Homeland Security show that he doesn’t live in the real world.
Matthew knows that the locals are to blame. That is why he went off on that weird tangent in his second paragraph.
Be logical. No one is going to smell like roses after this thing is done, but the Dems in LA will get more sink on them than the GOP.
This entire Hurricane thing is a disaster. But how can someone say that it’s one thing or another. The President in all honesty did not to a good enough job in quick response, there was too much time and not enough of an action plan. But it’s not entirely his fault either. Louisiana should have fixed their leevy’s before something like this happened. Looters should not be looting and rappers should not be using the T.V. as their political soapbox.
The American people have come together despite what many think. Tons of money has been donated, kind souls are donating they’re extra rooms, as well as food and clothing. The problem is there is no order, people aren’t obeying laws, people are being shot, raped etc. This is insane and sad. But in the end it cannot be blamed on one single thing or person. All we can do now it try to help and make the best of a situation that could have been prevented if we were prepared for this.
It’s called an action plan and Lousiana needed a better one.
I thought that FEMA couldn’t even enter a state without being formally requested to do so by the gov. Now, MS and AL recieved that request before Katrina hit from what I’m told, but LA submitted that request late. Does anybody know any different, that’s just what I heard from some Emergency Mgtmt people here in Denver.
I like how Republicans conveniently ignore the fact that other Republicans are criticizing the relief efforts of the federal government. But NO, it must all be a big liberal conspiracy. The government f’ed up. Get your head out of the sand.
Heavenly-
Not LA’s fault for the levvy. Army Corps of Engineer’s has primary responsability over “waterways” and it was their responsability.
IF anyone wants to donate food, money, clothing, etc. there is a great drive going on right now at the State Capitol, on the East Steps. I think Leg Council is putting it on, but I could be mistaken. I was just down there and they said it was going to be open until five or so.
Please pardon my idiotic spelling of the word responsibility, twice.
In federal races, I could see the hurricane response being a big issue. But, in state races? I’m not so sure. All a GOP candidate for Governor or state legislature has to do is distance himself from FEMA and say that he or she could have done better. The only candidate who could be tarred and feathered by the issue at the state level is Beauprez, and he is sufficiently junior, as a rank and file Congressman without much seniority, that it will be hard to make that issue stick to him.
There aren’t a lot of federal races on the ballot in 2006. DeGette and Udall are secure in their seats in 2006. The hurricane may provide a boost to John Salazar, not that he needs it. His maverick voting record already puts him in a sweet spot in the 3rd CD.
So where could the Colorado impact come in? Certainly, the 7th CD will be vulnerable. It is hard to say how this would impact Beauprez. Does he artful skip over to the Governor’s race, avoiding a strong challenge in the 7th CD, or does he drop the race for the betterment of the party, knowing that the 7th CD is vulnerable if it is an open seat in a year when there may be backlash against the GOP?
I’d like to say that the 4th, 5th or 6th CDs are vulnerable. But, I honestly have a hard time believing that. The incumbents who will be running again in the 4th and 6th won those races last time despite more than token opposition. And, does anyone seriously think that the hurricane is going to flip Colorado Springs? I just don’t see it.
Hmmm,
Thank you for correcting me. I didn’t realize that it was Army Corps of Engineer’s responsibility. I heard it was the cities. I guess that’s just another group of people that adds to why this is such a mess.
Funny how ColoPols didn’t mention anything about the local, state, and elected officials in LA bearing any responsibility.
If anyone still wants to check the FACTS on who is responsible, on paper, go check out the city of NO’s website; it is there for all to see.
Many repub’s have criticized the fed’s and W, myself included. You lib’s need to get your timeline straight and go by the book though, then we can have a legitimate debate on who did what and where they went wrong.
As to the supposed intent of the initial post, I don’t think it will hurt either party too much, unless you factor in all the people that are not going to go back to LA, and will live elsewhere–that may change the tally a bit next election cycle.
Dick Morris has an interesting take on this.The first three days may have been ugly, but the next seven months will make the President look very, very good. I agree, too. Click on my name below to link to the article.
If your going to blame the Army Corp of Eng. then blame is going to go back fifty or 100 years.
The real questions are these. (1) Who was responsible for evacuating the city? (2) Who was responsible for taking care of those who could not evacuate?
Go here for a look at Blanco’s Executive Order No. KBB 2005-18.
The blame is on a lot of different people, not just the Army Corp of Eng.
Was there an evacuation order? Yes. But it must be considered that many of the people in these districts did not have a car to evacuate or the money to buy a plane ticket. Where they supposed to try to walk out of the city. That’s the part that kills me, knowing that many of these people could not get out on their own, someone should have done something to create a way to leave the city. Such as buses and mass transit. National, State and local government could have all helped with that.
Here, here, Heavenly. I’m so tired of these elitists who sit back and say, “Why didn’t they just evacuate when they were told?” If you don’t have a car and don’t have any relatives or friends that you can go stay with, what are you supposed to do? Not everybody has it so easy.
Here, here, Heavenly. I’m so tired of these elitists who sit back and say, “Why didn’t they just evacuate when they were told?” If you don’t have a car and don’t have any relatives or friends that you can go stay with, what are you supposed to do? Not everybody has it so easy. You have to be a pretty callous bastard to say that people should have left when the warning went out.
Now, I agree that there are definately a lot of people that got stuck in N.O. because they were too poor to get out, didn’t have the means, phsyically/mentally disabled or disadvantaged, etc.
But there were also THOUSANDS that chose not to leave. I talked with a lady on Monday in Atlanta (she had just been rescued in N.O.) who said that most of her neighbors chose not to leave because they didn’t think it was going to be that bad.
For those people, I say bummer. Call me a jerk, but I think that some manner of personal responsibility has to come into play here – just in those cases though.
For those that didn’t have the means to leave, I think a great deal of that blame falls on the mayor of N.O. What about the 180 school busses that the Mayor of New Oreleans just let sit there? (they’re still there) Could have used those to evacuate thousands of people. Maybe it just didn’t cross his mind or something.
For Phoenix, Dan Willis, and all the rest of you “Blame Bush because every American’s life isn’t a zen-like utopia” crybabies.
In Case You Missed It
Fox News’ “Special Report,” 9/7/05
Fox News’ Brit Hume: First, the focus of all of the attention has been FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, what is FEMA?
Fox News’ Major Garrett: Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2,500 full time employees, 4,000 stand by employees. The mission statement very
simple: prepare, respond, help, recover, reduce risk. How does it do it?
By coordinating with state and local entities and other groups The Salvation Army, Red Cross, dedicated to helping the needy when disaster strikes.
Hume: So FEMA is relatively, it isn’t very labor intensive it mostly works through other agencies?
Garrett: It works through other agencies. But it has been moved into the Department of Homeland Security. And in this crisis, It is a bit a victim of its own bureaucratic boastfulness. Earlier this year the new national response plan released by the Department of Homeland Security promised this – “seemless integration of the federal government when an incident exceeds local and state capabilities.” In the minds of many Americans, this one did. And FEMA, at least initially, in the minds of some, did not respond enough.
Hume: The words seamless don’t exactly spring to mind. But look, they are down there, The Red Cross, for example, is there.
Garrett: Standing by, ready.
Hume: Standing by, ready. Why didn’t FEMA send The Red Cross into New Orleans when we had all of the people there on that bridge overpass and elsewhere. Why not?
Garrett: First of all, no jurisdiction. FEMA works with The Red Cross, The Salvation Army and other organizations but it has no control to order them to go one place or the other. Secondarily, The Red Cross was ready. I got off the phone with one of their officials. They had a vanguard, Brit, of trucks with water, food, hygiene equipment, all sorts of things ready to go where? To the Superdome and convention center. Why weren’t they there? The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security told them they could not go.
Hume: This is isn’t the Louisiana branch of the federal Homeland Security? This is —
Garrett: The state’s own agency devoted to the state’s homeland security. They told them you cannot go there. Why? The Red Cross tells me that state agency in Louisiana said, look, we do not want to create a magnet for more people to come to the Superdome or convention center, we want to get them out. So at the same time local officials were screaming where is the food, where is the water? The Red Cross was standing by ready, the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security said you can’t go.
Hume: FEMA does, presumably at some point, have some jurisdiction over some military forces. Of course, the first responders there are the National Guard. Why didn’t FEMA send the National Guard in? You heard that cry from many people.
Garrett: FEMA does not have jurisdictional control over any state’s National Guard, only the governor does. The governor in this case, Kathleen Blanco, A democrat, did use the Louisiana National Guard for some purposes, did not deploy them in massive numbers initially and they were not used to move any of these relief organizations in and they could have been for the very same reason I talked about earlier, the state decided they didn’t want the relief organizations where the people needed it most because they wanted those people to get out.
Hume: But even today we know that Governor Blanco has now decided that a mandatory evacuation may not be necessarily after all. But we can go into that later. What about the use by her of the National Guard to impose law and order during the early looting and all of that?
Garrett: She had a choice, as I am told. She could have taken up the offer from FEMA to federalize all of the activities in Louisiana, meaning that FEMA would be in control of everything. Not only law enforcement, but everything else. She declined to give them that authority. So essentially FEMA was trapped between two bureaucracies.
One the Department Of Homeland Security where many of its decisions have to be reviewed and in some cases approved, and a recalcitrant state bureaucracy that wasn’t going to give them the authority they needed to make things happen, among them, the National Guard.
Hume: What about this evacuation problem? It’s clearly was something that New Orleans faced, knew it faced to some extent.
Garrett: And the city [sic] of Louisiana. They have a whole plan that contemplates dealing with an evacuation in the effect of a hurricane three, four or five. Their own plan says, 100,000 residents minimum from the New Orleans area will have to be evacuated. This plan makes it clear …
Hume: You mean, can’t get out on their own.
Garrett: These people will have not have their own vehicles. Not only that, It stipulate that these people are disproportionately poor, sick and in need of special transportation assistance. Brit, I think in these circumstances, bureaucratic language is important. Let’s go to this.
This is what the state says: “the Department of Health and Hospitals has the primary responsibility for providing medical coordination for all of the special-needs populations, i.e. hospital and nursing home patients, persons on home health care, elderly persons and other persons with physical or mental disabilities.” Brit, I don’t think you can come up with a better description of the people we saw, day in and day out, at the Superdome and the convention center, than this very population that the state’s own plan said needed to be transported to a safe place and provided services.
Hume: Apparently no plan, no provision, no facility for doing that.
Garrett: No facility for doing that. Not only that, those who reviewed the plans the state put together before were critical of it. In 2002 the New Orleans Times Picayune had a whole story about this saying no one believes the evacuation plans are possible, feasible or will be carried out. They proved to be accurate.
Hume: It sounds like the state will have much to answer for in the investigation coming before Congress as well as the federal government.
Garrett: It appears to be.
Try to understand how state and federal government agencies interact and overlap before you start pointing fingers. More importantly, try and remove yourself from the I will bash Bush for everything that goes wrong with the country camp for one second and realize there is more important work to be done. ColoradoPols, I’m talking to you too.
However, realizing that is utterly impossible for most of you…if you want to point fingers at an administration, how about the Democratic Governor of LA, and Democratic Mayor of NO, who failed to do anything except point fingers while the people they were elected to represent and protect died. The very same people, mind you, which the state emergency disaster plan identified as the ones who would need assistance being evacuated in case of a natural disaster such as this one. Anyone else notice that after Bush met with the mayor and Governor that their insistent blame eveyrone but us tactics stopped? My guess is that they were pleasantly reminded that everyone’s actions at the end of the day are going to come under scrutiny, and they will be first in line to drop trou and grab their ankles.
It seems there is plenty of blame for everyone. Yes, Nagin should have made it a mandatory evacuation instead of voluntary. Blanco also made mistakes.
But as Scott McClellan said earlier today, the responsibility ultimately is the administration’s, specifically DHS and FEMA. I don’t think that anyone would disagree that both failed their responsibilites and that Michael Brown should be removed. Not only is he incapable of making the U.S. any safer, he obviously – as recorded all over the news – made this disaster worse by failing to quickly and boldly act.
This is a failure of leadership at every level of government and from both political parties.
I wonder, though, had a Cat. 3,4,or 5 storm devastated Houston, how long would it have taken for the president and his Cabinet to put down the guitar, the playbill for SPAMALOT or the fishing reel and get to ground zero.
And Heavenly, if you look at the PLAN, it specifically states that those unable to leave on their own will be transported by the city, even says using buses and all public transportation available.
Check out USA Today online, they’ve got it there too.
Anybody hear about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927? It precipitated the mass shift of black Americans’ loyalties from Pubbie to Dem, not to mention the rise of populism and the New Deal.
James Carville himself wrote on it in Salon Magazine back in 1997:
The incompetence in the Katrina aftermath has shaken what remains of my naive confidence that plutocratic self-interest will keep things from getting too bad for non-capitalists like me. I don’t know how that might translate into my own electoral choices at the local level.
Bush looked pretty slow and inept during the first few days of the Katrena rescue efforts, but since then the shill Democrats have been making such big fools of themselves that Bush has nothing to worry about.
What’s amazing is that the blacks tried to play the race card on this disaster, but as it became clear that the politicians and bureaucrats who were saving the victims were mostly white and that the race card wasn’t playing well, that nonsense has virtually disappeared.
Then the Left tried to make Iraq an issue, but they soon saw that that wasn’t selling well.
Next they tried to make FEMA the fall guy, but it soon became clear that it was the stystem stupid, not necessarily the FEMA director. And who created the system? CONGRESS!
As for the FEMA director, Brown, he’s been through four prior storms and disasters and is more qualified than most anybody to manage the Katrina project. Another dead end for the Left.
So the mayor and governor turn out to be the real incompetents in this story. They didn’t execute their plans. They got in people’s way as they protected their turff and control. They said stupid things, made bad decisions.
And who will be the hero? George Bush. He’s got his team rolling. Things are getting done and the president is leading the charge, now that he has a pretty clear idea of what the problems are and what needs to be done. Who will be the fall guys: Congress, the mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of Louisiana.
Pretty clear, eh?
Don
HA! Quoting FOX News as an answer to Bush not taking the blame for Katrina is ridiculous. Everybody who reads this blog knows full well how biased FOX is.
Donald,
I generally disagree with your politics, but have read your posts with some level of interest as you seem to be one of the semi-informed on this site. But that is truly the stupidest post you have put up on this board.
speak for yourself there teddt…Fox is great, and them kicking CNN’s Ars all over the place proves you’re in the minority.
Check your liberal papers out too, the post, many others..they are all saying the same stuff about this that fox is.
The Democrats are right on the hurricane. In fact I have realized that they are right on almost everything. Republicans have caused the destruction of America. Republicans have ruined the economy, Republicans have destroyed education; Republicans have purposely invaded other countries only for personal benefit; Republicans have willingly killed innocent people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama. Republicans want to take away every freedom that anyone has ever had; destroy every symbol of tolerance; install a theocracy; and kill all blacks. In fact, I have come to realize from the liberals and Democrats, that the only good Republican is a dead Republican.
The last truth I have learned from the Democrats is that there is no hope for America… And with all of the hatred that I hear from the Democrats, I am starting to think that they are right.
YouPeopleAreStupid (a.k.a. lying piece of shit)
Can the Republicans stop lying? I don’t think it is physically possible. I can’t trust Fox News to give me the facts so I have to research it myself. The President can legally deploy troops regardless of the request of the state to and I quote from the following US Law Code “to provide assistance to either the Federal Government or a State in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe.”
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00012304—-000-.html
Lying is still a sin and is against the Ten Commandments. PLEASE STOP LYING! It just pisses me off; you can make your points without lying.
What Would Jesus Do?
Marshall,
Two things.
First, you should act more professional. Calling people liars and POS is no way to win an arguement. It just makes you look bad. I respect you guys. Please keep the speech civil.
Second. I checked your source. You aren’t quite right.
Section C, subsection 1 reads in full
“No unit or member of a reserve component may be ordered to active duty under this section to perform any of the functions authorized by chapter 15 or section 12406 of this title or, except as provided in subsection (b), to provide assistance to either the Federal Government or a State in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe.”
Section 12406 shows the flaw in your arguement. It reads in full:
National Guard in Federal service: call
Whenever?
(1) the United States, or any of the Territories, Commonwealths, or possessions, is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation;
(2) there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or
(3) the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States;
the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws. Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.
Basically, Bush would have had to declare N.O. in rebellion in order to federalize the national guard. Once the American people become more informed they will see the truth of the matter. The simple fact that you are faulting Bush for not federalizing Blanco’s forces shows the weakness of your position. Blanco dropped the ball big time. 90% of the blame rests with her and Nagin.
As for the “natural disasters” provided for in subsection B, here is B in its entirety…
(b) Support for Responses to Certain Emergencies.? The authority under subsection (a) includes authority to order a unit or member to active duty to provide assistance in responding to an emergency involving?
(1) a use or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction; or
(2) a terrorist attack or threatened terrorist attack in the United States that results, or could result, in catastrophic loss of life or property.
Katrina doesn’t qualify for either of those.
I look forward to the coming investigations. Right now Blanco has a media blackout as far as the Louisiana Nat. Guard is concerned. Sure looks like she is hiding something.
He doesn’t have to federalize the troops to deploy them to the states. Why don’t you just repeat the good Republican talking point that was another LIE about Blanco not declaring a state of emergency when she did it on August 28th.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
Back to my point.
The complete section reads
(c) Limitations.?
(1) No unit or member of a reserve component may be ordered to active duty under this section to perform any of the functions authorized by chapter 15 or section 12406 of this title or, except as provided in subsection (b), to provide assistance to either the Federal Government or a State in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe.
It is defining the limitations of President Bush’s power in reference to chapter 15 or section 12406 that you just quoted except as provided in subsection (b), to provide assistance to either the Federal Government or a State in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe.
It is saying Bush can’t do anything in chapter 15 or section 12406 under this section except to provide assistance to either the Federal Government or a State in time of a serious natural or manmade disaster, accident, or catastrophe.
subsection b is below –
(b) Support for Responses to Certain Emergencies.? The authority under subsection (a) includes authority to order a unit or member to active duty to provide assistance in responding to an emergency involving?
(1) a use or threatened use of a weapon of mass destruction; or
(2) a terrorist attack or threatened terrorist attack in the United States that results, or could result, in catastrophic loss of life or property.
This isn’t that complicated but I am sure Republicans will just keep doing what they do best and lie, and lie and lie until Fox News has repeated the same lie so many times that it becomes fact. It worked in the past for them and it will probably work again. Jesus would be proud.
You are telling me that Blanco is ordering the national guard troops. That is just laughable.
See how fast the Republicans move when their political ass is on the line. That is the only thing that gets these people moving.
And last time I checked Blanco didn’t appoint a FEMA director with ZERO emergency management experience. Just keep the lies coming.
Well, Kean and Hamilton, bipartisan EXPERTS in disaster prevention, management and recovery have now blown away the Republican leadership’s smearing of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.
http://go.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=9601266
If Katrina can’t bridge the partisan gaps in our nation, it seems truly nothing will anymore.
Blogicus,
You are a lying POS, and Marshall was making that fact explicit. You fly the elephant higher than the Stars and Stripes and should be called on it. Bush has displaced Buchanan as the worst President in history, and the United States is going to be cleaning up Junior’s mess here and abroad for the next 30 years. Try being an American first and a Republican second; you might cleanse some of the Republican vitriol from your system.
As we all sit in the comfortable spaces we have. Nitpicking someone’s words. Take a moment to think about all the hard earned money we have thrown at the problem of security since 9/11. We thought we would be better prepared.. money well spent..after all..so much energy and hard work is going in to making us safe from harm. Politicians of late ran on that platform. Didn’t mind the long lines at the airport. Justifying searching babies. Having the wrong name that might flag you for secondary searches. Hey no problem.. We are doing our part. What did it buy you??? Absolutely Nothing…Katrina was a hardball and a wakeup call.. It is the awful, inadequate response to our citizens that is the message. We look like a ship of fools to the world and it matters. We were once powerful citiznes of this world. Our leadership has once again divided us instead of grasping the opportunity to unite.
What a f*cking liar…
http://www.time.com/time/
Remember Bush is the CEO president. Evidently the CEO of Enron. Guess the only qualification you need to work in the Bush Adminstration is that you be a Republican hack.
Even to this casual observer, it is obvious that the “Blame Game” is the lynchpin of the Democratic Party’s strategy for the 2006 and 2008 elections. Does anyone know what the Democrats stand for anymore? I know what they’re against, but what is it they want to accomplish as a national party?
As a party, the Democrats have had few original ideas since their “hey-days” of the New Deal era. In response to their lack of effective leadership (e.g. Howard Dean), new ideas, and party unity on any issue except raising taxes, their only option is to cry foul, place blame, and throw temper tantrums at everything President Bush accomplishes in hopes of dividing the American electorate and swaying the “undecided voters” into their camp.
Did anyone acutally think that the Democrats would not try to use a catastrophic even such as Hurricane Katrina to their advantage? Even though it now appears that much of the response problems lie with the state and local governments (under Democratic control), the Democrats and their willing partners in the media, continue to beat the blame drum in an attempt to further divide the country and divert focus away from their own failures.
The next time the Democrats start blaming President Bush for something, go ahead and ask them, “how would you do it better”? The silence you hear might be startling.
DeadGuvs, ColoPols, I move to ban Jonathan’s ISP from this blog. Show some courage and do something about a person who thinks it appropriate to wish another American dead. If you don’t do that, you’ve lost your credibility with me and many for that matter.
Oh and by the way, where are all the democrats here who think it’s wrong of him to post something like that? Your lack of response to his crazy post is deafening.
Marshall,
It’s the lying POS again. Did you happen across the article in today’s DP about why the White House didn’t do what you are crying about? Maybe you should check it out…they didn’t do it because of crybabies like you. And their reasoning is sound. Gee, let’s seize federal control of the situation from a female governor of the opposite party…my guess is you and your ilk would have been screaming then too. “The Republicans are just trying to make themselves look like heroes and make Democrats look incompetent.” Well, not taking control of those troops has proved to better emphasize that point. Funniest thing, at the end of the article their is a perfect example of why the Governor should be first on the gallows.
“Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area before the order was restored. But they also say they were desperate for help and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers.
(This seems to be quite the contradictory stance to me, but nonetheless).
“‘I need everything you have got,’ she acknowledged she told Bush on Aug. 30 when New Orleans flooded.
“In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers they should be.
“‘ Nobody told me that I had to request that. I thought I had requested everything that they had.'”
Nobody told me that I had to request that? Now that, my friends, is Deomocratic competence at it’s best.
I’d end with a name calling session like the one you afforded me, but your ceaseless crybaby sessions on here do you and your character enough injury as it is.
Good grief. Every liberal on here seeking to blame Bush is absolutely clueless as to how to interpret the law. Not only do you not stand for anything, you can’t even understand the law, and you have no conception of how our federal republic functions.
Even stupider, the only reason you are incorrectly citing the law is that you think it helps your case against Bush. I’m not sure how much more stupid you could make yourselves look. Your fellow democrats ought to be telling you to shut your traps.
Does any Dem on here think that it’s George W. Bush’s responsibility as president to, in advance of a natural disaster or immediately thereafter, summarily displace the legal authority and powers of a state governor and a mayor and use federal troops to do so, without having federal law to support it? Are you out of your freaking minds?
Any Dem think that Blanco and Nagin are not responsible for anything? The level of your stupidity in this matter shocks the senses, and it’s just plain childish. I’m actually a little suprised that you lemmings are not rallying to Bush – the man is a strong leader, and mindless followers are usually attracted to a strong leader regardless of his actual competence.
From Paul Krugman’s 9/9 column: Point Those Fingers:
As Bloomberg News puts it, the agency’s “upper ranks are mostly staffed with people who share two traits: loyalty to President George W. Bush and little or no background in emergency management.” By now everyone knows FEMA’s current head went from overseeing horse shows to overseeing the nation’s response to disaster, with no obvious qualifications other than the fact that he was Mr. Allbaugh’s college roommate.
All that’s missing from the Katrina story is an expensive reconstruction effort, with lucrative deals for politically connected companies, that fails to deliver essential services. But give it time – they’re working on that, too.
Its really not an either or. Its the city and state that could have gotten vulnerable people (like the 32 that died in a nursing home) out before the storm. They failed miserably. But once the city infrastructure had been destroyed and much of the state hammered, it was only the feds that could do a lot quickly. And clearly, FEMA did not have in place (i.e., already thought out and provided for) the means of quickly moving people, food , etc. into a devastated area and handling a large displaced population. In theory, preparing for just such a need has been a priority of FEMA since 9/11. What if it had been a nuke in L.A. instead of a hurricane in N.O.? The displaced population might have been many times as large.
Clearly, the planning had not been done and the infrastructure was not in place. They are making a lot of this up as they go. I don’t give a shit about Louisiana politics, and for all I care the mayor and governor can get run out of town on a rail, because they screwed up. I do care that the federal administration that sold itself as the great protector of America has neglected this agency, appointed political hacks to run it, and then wants to escape accountability when the agency fails to perform as it should in its first big test since 9/11 – a test that it had four years to prepare for. I’m one of those who’s fared pretty well under the Bush tax cuts, but you know, I wish they’d kept the damn money and used it to protect my country.
Actually Brio, if it had been a nuke the number of displaced people would have been much less. The proper term in that case would be “unburied remains”.
I do agree with the problems with FEMA senior personnel… They are political lackies instead of Emergency Management Leaders. A huge storm like Katrina shows the basic problem with FEMA at the Federal level: The department works great when the scope of damage is small. Recovery and rebuilding then is more a political job. But when it is this big and a major American City gets shut down like with Katrina, we had to call in the Military.
But lets think about this for a second… At the Federal level, what pool of executives do we have to draw from to staff FEMA? The National Fire Department? We don’t have one of those. Forest Service? Not quite the same skill set to deal with New Orleans. The FBI? CIA? About the only reliable talent pool is the Military… Big change from what we have had up until now though. But this is what we need to do, the head of FEMA needs to be a Military general officer.
Actually, Iron Mike, the sort of low-yield nuke terrorists could likely get there hands on would leave unburied remains in a relatively small radius (which could still be a whole lot of remains in an urban area), and an insane number of people running like hell from fall-out from within a much bigger radius.
But you raise again point about the potential leadership pool. It is more of a challenge in this area. That said, don’t forget about state and local leaders. I’ll bet the head of NYFD has overseen a lot of disaster planning. Or promotion from within, for that matter. But given how much of it is in the nature of preparing for a massive logistical operation in adverse conditions, looking to people with military experience is a good idea – there’s probably a thousand ex-MAC officers more qualified to run FEMA than those currently in charge.
Okay so Michael Brown is an idiot and needs to be replaced… Fine.
But in the last few weeks Colroado appointed the Douglas Sherrif, Mike Acree, to the #2 spot for Colorado’s version of FEMA. This is a smart move as the Douglas Sherrif’s office spends so much time cleaning up minor disasters on I-25 each winter when a blizzard rolls. ALso he had a major role in fighting the Hayman Fire.
So it looks like we are doing the right thing here in Colorado, but while we are reaming out Brown, what does the personnel makeup of Louisiana’s FEMA look like? I mean as much as we bitch about the FEDs, did the State of LA do anything other than roll over and play dead?
Holding people accountable for their actions is now considered being a crybaby.
Bush is such a strong leader that he needed to take an entire month of vacation to recuperate.
I swear passing the buck must be somewhere in those Republican loyalty oaths that they make people say to see our President. Who us…we aren’t running the country…it is those Democrats.
Here is a revolution concept from a Democrat with no ideas – how about hiring a FEMA director with emergency management experience that hasn?t cooked his resume and caring when hurricanes hit in off election years. We have seen the Republicans culture of death in full display over the last two weeks.
Okay Brio, NBC debates are all conjecture until you apply a footprint chart and valid METT message. In many ways though, Katrina did much more damage than any single nuclear weapon. You might not have the nuclear winter, or fire damage, but the storm effect looks a lot like blast effect, and the latent water damage is nearly as bad as fallout. It just means the tear down will be easier and safer.
As far as the leadership pool question… I am pleased and surprised we agree. The modern Military runs on machines. Indeed if we believe Clauswitz, every senior military leader needs an inherent feel for the logistics of moving people and material, as well as PRIORITISING tasks when everything is critical and everything has gone wrong… Skills that don’t always come from experience running horse shows and being a political lacky.
CNN is reporting that Mike Brown has been sacked in his role of running the Hurricane relief on the ground and is being replaced by the Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard.
I know, I know, I’m a REP so I should be watching FOX… But FOX sucks.
Good move Mr. President! Just please close the loop on this one by giving Mike his pink slip.
Iron Mike – I think you are dead on regarding the damage of this storm. My example was focused on displaced population, which is why I used L.A. (along with the fact that any terrorist scoring a nuke obviously would want to get it to the largest population center possible). Given the tenor of this blog, I can see why you’d be surprised by anyone paying enough attention to what someone else is actually saying to realize they may agree with some of it. But how could I not – projecting aid may not be the same as projecting force, but a lot of the complications surely are similar.
Switching topics to political ramifications in Colorado, its silly to think that any voter will consciously not vote for Beauprez (or anyone else) because he’s a Republican, and the Republican administration wasn’t well-prepared for Katrina. I do think that a big piece of Republican success the last two cycles has been their success in convincing voters that as a party they are more decisive, competent, and able to deal effectivley with threats and emergencies. I do think that Katrina and Iraq, together, give Dems the opportunity to undo that advantage. So in that way, it can have an impact on federal races in Colorado.
Wow, “projecting force”… My kind of language.
I also think Beauprez is not going to get touched by this… DeGette and Udall might get traction umong their base by calling for heads to roll, but the sitting GOP delegates to Congress won’t gain or lose anything from Katrina. The water just didn’t come up that high.
it’s not just Democrats pointing fingers, so get over it Bush lovers. Colin Powell himself says the response at all levels of government was a disaster.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/09/katrina.powell.reut/index.html
daisycutter,
Obviously you did not read my post carefully. If you read it again you will understand that I was being factious. I will explain it simply so you can understand. The Democratd are spewing so much hatred and so many lies that it seems to me that THEY think the only good Republican is a dea Republican.
Please let me know if you understand this time, if not please do not jump to conclusions, just ask for clarification.
My sincere apologies Jonathan. I did go back and read it, and it does look like you were demonstrating absurdity by being absurd.
Good post, so good it got me because we’ve all seen some of the left on this blog post basically the same thing, but SERIOUS about it.
Again, my apologies to you. I retract my previous post 😉
Oh woe is me,
so elite, so liberal, so angry.
Dumb Republicans all around,
can’t find their ass
much less high ground.
If only the world would listen to me,
there would be no attack from the sea.
Though I am better and smarter than all of you,
it seems that voting has gone askew.
The house, the senate, the executive branch
have left this country without a chance.
Come hell with high water we have today,
cause dirty Republicans have their say.
Oh woe is me.
Cute Keith…Real Cute.
http://weeklyradioaddress.com/WRA20050910.htm
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