Blanco and Nagin have been pointing fingers in every direction save their own.
As we watch the blame game unfurl, and probes get under way, a key point to remember is this: in emergencies like Katrina, state and local officials, more than anyone, are in charge. Looking at the events preceeding this horrific catastrophe, is it easy to render where and when things fell apart. Governor Blanco's weak stand at acknowledging the impending disaster in a timely manner, combined with the city of New Orleans' Mayor (Negligent) Nagin's lack of pre-disaster planning are prime and initial reasons this event has become so much worse than it needed to become. In preparing for — and responding to — the storm, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco blew it.
I couldn't help but notice what Mayor Nagin was wearing while he was walking with President Bush when they met to discuss the plans of action following the destruction of Katrina. He was wearing a spotless white t-shirt emblazoned with the word: DESIRE (obviously he is a man who thinks very highly of himself).
photo courtesy of AP Susan Walsh
He showed his DESIRE (lack of) to protect and shelter his citizens by not providing supplies; there should have been water, food, and security personnel, medical supplies, and janatorial basics inside the Superdome. Instead, his citizens were herded into the Superdome, to a B.Y.O.B. type situation. Expected to bring their own food, water, bedding, and yes, to even have to protect themselves. So was staged the HELL on Earth the Superdome became.
Where was his DESIRE to provide transportation out of the city to those in need? Buses that could have been used to help citizens of New Orleans to leave their watery wasteland were left to drown in parking lots.
Negligent Nagin has not acccepted responsibility for any lack of planning, lack of provisions, for any of the difficulties, the tragedies the citizens in New Orleans have experienced. At first he blamed the President and the U.S. government, now he is turning on Governor Blanco. He regained some composure after meeting with President Bush. He stated President Bush "looked him in the eye" when interviewed about what was in the plans to aide the city. He stated he was feeling better about their circumstances, but needed to see consistent proof. A realistic DESIRE. His assessment of his talk with Bush and feelings of relief can be read on the transcript from the CNN interview with Soledad O'Brien.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - billy
in emergencies like Katrina, state and local officials, more than anyone, are in charge.
LIE, fema's own handbook says the state plays no role in the evacuation.
nice try, next time read the fema handbook before you post.
2 - billy
"Governor Blanco's weak stand at acknowledging the impending disaster in a timely manner,"
another LIE the wahington post already retracted this statement. Ehy was bush giving a campaign speech in san diego AFTER the tragedy and AFTER Blanco's declaration of emergency, and preached medicare and never mentioned the tragedy?
sounds like its the boss' fault to me. and judging the polls, most agree with me. shame on any political party that acts like it deserves power, then cant accept responsibility for things it is in charge of.
3 - steve
if anyone understands how a government works...it is a heiracrchy. The mayor (local) was first responsible. he sat on his thumb. then there is state govt. Blanco dropped the ball. after state, you obviously have federal. your local and state governments share a blame with dubya.
dubya should have seen how nagin and blanco's heads were up their arses and deployed assistance immediately. he should have known better than to rely on democrats to do the work.
4 - Dave Nalle
>>LIE, fema's own handbook says the state plays no role in the evacuation.
nice try, next time read the fema handbook before you post.<<
Billy, maybe YOU should read the FEMA handbook, rather than just believing what Kos is telling you is in it. I've read it. Or more specifically, I've read a number of handbooks, including ones which address local government responsibilities. There is no single handbook as such. It's broken down into separate books for different groups, which you would know if you'd actually read something other than a talking points memo.
Perhaps this quote from the disaster procedure guide will help you out:
"First Response to a disaster is the job of local government's emergency services with help from nearby municipalities, the state and volunteer agencies."
It doesn't get much clearer than that.
To summarize, the procedure is that initial evacuation and response are in the hands of local responders. FEMA requires every municipality to have a disaster plan with evacuation procedures which depend solely on local government for initial evacuation, because FEMA cannot be expected to respond nearly as quickly as local groups can.
Once FEMA gets there the local coordinator briefs the ICS teams and FEMA takes over coordination, still relying on state and local resources as well as whatever else the federal government feels is necessary to send in.
In New Orleans the local government did not follow the FEMA mandated disaster plan, and as a result little effective was done aside from some press conferences until FEMA showed up.
Any other 'lies' you'd like to identify, Billy?
Dave
5 - Dave Nalle
>>another LIE the wahington post already retracted this statement. Ehy was bush giving a campaign speech in san diego AFTER the tragedy and AFTER Blanco's declaration of emergency, and preached medicare and never mentioned the tragedy?<<
Because he had already declared a disaster and sent in FEMA and it is not the president's job to be on the ground personally supervising emergency services.
Dave
6 - Adam James
Jewels, you know precious little about New Orleans. I'm hoping you didn't waste any time researching this topic, because, if you did, it didn't help.
[ source: http://www.americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_tshirt_named_desire/ ]
LOCAL COLOR/A T-shirt named Desire
Sep 1, 2004 12:00 PM
Wendy Angel
New Orleans creates a product line to bolster community pride.
[...]
To recast the city's image and create resident pride and tasteful souvenir choices for tourists, this spring the city started its own product line, Desire. Reminiscent of the blue and white tiles used to spell out street names in the French Quarter, the T-shirts are attempting to generate a positive image for New Orleans.
[...]
The understated T-shirts simply brandish the word Desire, hinting at the famed Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire," which is set in New Orleans. The marketing department wanted to appeal to residents as well as tourists. who otherwise have raunchier T-shirt choices with slogans such as "New Orleans: Proud to Crawl Home."
7 - Jewels
Thank you Dave Nalle; Billy, you need to settle down and do some real reading and research, my laddie, let's get you an official FEMA handbook, not some smark off a site of 'wishful thinking'.
Besides, the Louisiana Gov. and her past buddy Nagin were saying initially, they had a plan. Their plan was B.Y.O.B., or more accurately, "Bring Your Own Butts" to safety.
8 - Jewels
Adam James, thank you for taking the time to post to my opinion. Actually I do know the background for the t-shirt. I was just amazed with the timing and all, that Nagin chose to wear it during this meeting with Bush amidst all the chaos, and DESIRES of his citizens NOT being met. Just a little irony, chalk that up to my twisted way of thinking.
9 - billy
if you think republicans will dig out of the whole by pointing fingers at people at levels below them i think you are mistaken. regardless of any "technicality" you might cite, when the team loses, the coach gets fired. when the coach points at players and blames them, not only does he get fired, he loses his respect forever, which is what we are seeing happen to republicans as we speak.
10 - Dave Nalle
So Billy, now FEMA procedure which you were so excited about before is a 'technicality' when you're proven you have no idea what it actually is?
Dave
11 - Jewels
Hello Billy, a partisan debate this is not. What this is, is simply my opinion garnered from the information at hand concerning the lack of local support and responsibility. I feel such a sadness for the people of New Orleans. I have made many visits to the city, one of my favorite hang-outs away from Texas, and I grieve for the people I knew there, for the places I frequented that are possibly no longer there. I am sad to think that some of the folks and 'characters' that made that city so great were some of those herded into that hellhole called the Superdome. I am in complete disgust at the state of Louisiana's handling of this crisis and of Negligent Nagin's "it's not my job" approach.
12 - Dave Nalle
Jewels, for what it's worth, I think that Ray Nagin was out of his depth and just panicked. It's negligent, but I don't see incompetence in it so much as inexperience and fear.
Dave
13 - billy
well jewels, im sure theres blame all around, but what is a mayor to do? the way i saw it his initial tirade is what got people really to understand how bad help was needed. it isnt like the mayor can do much in the case of a full scale evac.
No Dave, wrong again. once again you are the one with the facts wrong. i read it straight out of the fema manual today, but i dont know where to find the quote and im not going to do 2 hours of research to prove you wrong.
in essence it says, a disaster like this is NATIONAL and it is FEMAs job to get people out, not the mayor in his wheelbarrow pushing people out by hand, but the fed.
14 - Adam James
BLAME YOURSELVES
When it's time for blame, there's more than enough of it to go around.
You can start by blaming everybody that thinks that government at whatever level are morons that you should trust with your life.
In New Orleans, at least, there are/were plenty of people that disbelieved the warnings from the various elected officials and bureaucrats about this possibly being the 'Big One'. It was another round of the boy calling wolf. You go through a few years of hurricane season on the Gulf and it gets to be like a sport, or, more precisely, off-track betting.
So, what happens when the monkey suits get something right? Some of those same people turn into sniveling, helpless children. And, yes, even so, it's still tragic.
You can blame Nagin for not following the emergency plan (where city buses would be used to "evacuate persons unable to transport themselves") and for melting down to a tantrum (though that seemed to be the most effective thing he did).
You can blame Blanco for not securing federal assistance for evacuation and search and rescue and then refusing to take charge when the city plan didn't materialize.
You can blame DHS and FEMA, because this is their game. They can't really be held responsible for the poor coordination. That is, until Wednesday night, when it was apparent to the world that everybody but the Coast Guard had their heads up a different evacuation route. After September 11th, we sold out a lot of our individual liberties to make sure that, when the situation called for it, DHS and FEMA would be the shadow government that made sure all the trains ran on time. The were the cavalry that was propmised to show up no matter what happened where and they were apparently off polishing the horse.
But it doesn't stop there, you can blame congress for buying into the war on terror(ism) as a better investment than another of the infamous Louisiana pork projects. And there's plenty of blame to heap on the Administration for conducting two wars leaving the National Guard spread too thin to be "the National Guard".
But really, in the final analysis, everybody has to be responsible for themselves and their "people": family, friends, pets, and so on, because relying on the government to save you makes less sense than giving a stranger the keys to your house to make sure no one makes off with your stereo.
15 - Jewels
Dave, you're probably right on the mayor, that is the opinion I garnered from his presentation regarding the initial mandatory evac. order. Had to be scary, but I think it goes to show we have got to be very careful who we elect to 'run the show'.
16 - Jewels
Billy, you're right, the mayor cannot command a scene like this by himself. I do appreciate your trying to keep all of us 'honest'.
17 - Richs
James,
Good post I agree with most all of it except for people who could not help themselves.
Rove is good at getting the people (Reeps and Dems) to beatup on eachother.
--Rich
18 - Jewels
Adam James, Your remarks, "You can start by blaming everybody that thinks that government at whatever level are morons that you should trust with your life." Completely on target. As I posted earlier. We have got to be very careful who we elect to represent us in office. This disaster can teach us many things.
Nagin did perform well in the tantrum department. *hands clapping*
It's like what Bill O'Reilly keeps saying over and over again; if you look to government to take care of you, you'll be always be disappointed; Gotta look out for yourself.
19 - Dave Nalle
>>No Dave, wrong again. once again you are the one with the facts wrong. i read it straight out of the fema manual today, but i dont know where to find the quote and im not going to do 2 hours of research to prove you wrong.<<
I suggest that you read it wrong or took it out of context.
>>in essence it says, a disaster like this is NATIONAL and it is FEMAs job to get people out, not the mayor in his wheelbarrow pushing people out by hand, but the fed.<<
If that were the case then NO ONE did anything wrong. But it's not, as my quote demonstrates.
Dave
20 - Rich
Dave Nalle,
You want a job to head FEMA?
You at least read the book.
21 - Liberal
"It's negligent, but I don't see incompetence in it so much as inexperience and fear."
How dare the citizens of New Orleans elect a mayor who doesn't have any experience evacuating a city of half-a-million people! We should let them die for that.
22 - Michelle Doran-Pisciotta
Where did all the money from the gambling casinos go? Why was that not used to fix the levees from breaching in New Orleans, LA to make them stronger for even a category 5 hurricane could not breach it? There were rumors along time ago if the levee was not reconstructed in some areas if a real bad hurricane came in the whole city of New Orleans would be in trouble how come this became a real life story? People from Mississippi and Louisiana knew they were do for a hurricane why wherent there security measures in place? An very thorough and thought out evacuation plan? Buses ready to be pulled for the people to have some where to go when it started flooding? Where was the Civil Defense Plan CDP? Why did they rely solely on the government to help them like children in hot water?
23 - Riclen
I read all yours, now my viewpoint. THINK - If a terrorist attack or other national disaster hits us, The National security and FEMA are where our comfort lies. THINK AGAIN - do you feel comfortable with the actions of Chertoff and Brown? Even if the Mayor and Governor had a plan, not knowing the magnitude of the storm, and the plan was not as big as the storm, don't you think after 24 hours our governments responsible departments should be well into action. This disaster was heard around the world, several times, before any mega department ever showed any action. I don't pay any taxes in Louisiana, but I do pay federal taxes, and I expect responsible positions to be held responsible. Or quit reaping my tax dollars. I would have never agreed to pay even minimum wage to a horse breeder in security clothing.
24 - billy
thats the absurdity of pointing fingers down the chain. even if you are right, after a day or two the fed should have taken over. where were they? if everything in this post is true, the fed is even more to blame because if it was obvious state officials couldnt handle the problem, the honus was on the fed to help, and their help was slow and uncoordinated.
25 - Jewels
I agree, Riclen, the feds should have gotten there sooner. As I said, it was not a time for protocol or 'proper procedures' to be observed. I agree in my main posted article that the U.S. government needs to re-vamp their approach.
Michael Brown, the horse breeder; who incidentally was tossed from his position in the I.A.H.A., International Arabian Horse Assoc., of which I have been a member, is under question regarding the creditials submitted for holding his current position. I am NO a fan of his that is for certain.
My point was that even in the very early days prior to Katrina hitting landfall, knowing that New Orleans very well would get hit this time, knowing the condition of the levees (for decades), the Mayor made no provisions for the citizens, no cots, food, water, security force, nothing. It was fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants in a city sitting below sea level... Children, the weak and the elderly suffered at the hands of some of the beasts inhabiting that hellhole of a shelter because of the lack of organization and protection. It just kills me.
Governor Blanco had to be prodded by the Pres. Bush to take the action she did...not when he suggested she do it though; belatedly. But Bush, when seeing that events were not taking place in a timely manner should have moved in and taken over.
President Bush has declared he is creating his own investigation and will make the changes needed to help prevent this disasterous scenario from repeating, but that is no help now to the children and others of New Orleans who experienced the Hellish Superdome.