Excellent post. And now there are here in Houston with us.

Leftards. I am so stealing that name.

The leaders and emergency planners of the city of New Orleans, according to their own officials, knew that approximately 100,000 of their citizens would not have the means (transportation or money) to evacuate themselves. There were a significant number of people who, if given the opportunity to get on a school bus and be evacuated prior to the storm, would have. With a mandatory evacuation, central sites could have been set up - say at bus stops, and people could have boarded city busses for evacuation.

I think major attention needs to be focused--relentlessly--on Mayor Nagin. He waited until less than 24 hours before the expected landfall to order the mandatory evacuation. Now he's pissing on the FEMA tree, expecting instantaneous response. He's overseen a city that everyone--EVERYONE--with even a scintilla of sense knew was a sitting duck, and apparently didn't have a viable evacuation plan in place. Stupefying lack of foresight. No excuse. I think his barking at FEMA is partially intended to allow him to wash the blood off his own hands in the shadows.

It also bothers me to no end that they are calling Bush "racist"-- that his response would have been quicker or different if this population was white. Hmmm - the last I checked on New Orleans demographics - 67% of the population was black. Two thirds! Could that possibly have anything to do with why there was a predominance of blacks on TV?

No, no, no, Valerie: it's clearly all because of racism run rampant in the Bush administration.

Kanye West for Mayor New Orleans!!! If they ever have another election...

Cute. I count 2 parts blame-the-victim, three parts it-was-someone-else's fault, and one one part smirk at the dead, seasoned with because-I-can political bashing.

This is what it means to be a conservative these days? It clearly isn't the party of Barry Goldwater, or even Daddy Bush.

I'm frankly disgusted.

FB-personal responsibility, end of story. When you've got a category 5 hurricane headed straight for you, what should you do? Get the hell out of the way. Poor planning by the mayor has cost the lives of many. President Bush is not aware of the exact assets and liabilities of New Orleans, Mayor Nagin is. It was his responsibility to lead his city and he failed terribly. I'm sorry but I don't care how broke I am when it means getting myself and MY CHILDREN out of harms way. But yes, this is the entitlement crowd, isn't it? They have to have someone hold their hands. Enjoy your disgust.

Stacy,

You are a perfect example of how conservative acts and feels. If you ever wonder why the Left hates you, just think. I know that it is very difficult for a conservative to think, but please try. Maybe, with some luck, you'll see your true form. (A warning: it's neither beautiful nor compassionate.)

Personal responsibility? Maybe, the government should not have given one cent to the 9/11 victims' family since they could have bought life insurance. How about the hurricane at Florida last year? Why did our gov't paid $20 billion to people who build homes too close to the shore. Maybe, we needed to taught them a lesson (by making them homeless and extremly poor).

You people disgust me.
And oh, by the way, I am also getting sick of paying taxes that helps ingrate people like you. I'm sick of subsidizing telephone and electricity at the rural areas, farm subsidiary, drought relief, tornado relief, medical care, trade barrier that goes against the Capitalism, etc.

Just take fu&king good care of yourselves and pray desperately to God that mishaps never happens to you.

+++RIP New Orleans+++

**Anonymous coward**

You're making ZERO sense dear. When one relies upon the government for everything, then you WILL get screwed at some point in time. Shit happens, everyone knows that; but not taking responsibility for things for which you do have control? That is pure stupidity.

>President Bush is not aware of the exact assets and liabilities of New Orleans, Mayor Nagin is. It was his responsibility to lead his city and he failed terribly.

Ok. But how about the action Bush took after the hurricane has already hit? Is he too dumb or too ignorant (most likely) to see that a city of population 100,000, whose many residents relied on public transportation exclusively and couldn't have gotten out of the city during the storm, would soon face hundreds of deaths because the city is 10-15 feet below the sea level and the levees are no longer intact?

heartless field.

Those people couldn't get out of the city because many of them did not own car. Maybe, they should face death for not owning car?

One more thing:

I don't want Stacy to represent all conservatives. So, I am retracting the statement that "You [Stacy] are a perfect example of how conservative acts and feels."
I know some conservatives and they are much smarter and more humane than you and your pathetic friends are.

First thing first JD, your comments are always welcome here. The only thing I ask is to keep it cordial. Being anonymous? That's improper. Can dish it out, but can't take it.

Second, you have no idea of my own personal history and the struggles I have faced and conquered. I am not understanding of individuals who make poor decisions in a crisis that is literally a question of life or death. My family if from the Mississippi/Alabama coast, they know that when the hurricane is headed straight for you, you leave. They were by no means wealthy people.

Humane? Me inhumane? WTF? I'm one of those teach to fish rather than give them fish kind of people. Does this apply in this situation? No, absolutely not. It was a state of emergency ignored by many. Did you see the school bus picture? How many neurons must you have to put two and two together?

You obviously haven't read my blog. I have stated that I indeed am furious over what happened in New Orleans, and especially the Superdome. Why weren't there more police in the dome? Whose responsibility was it to make sure the dome was secure? The President? Please, that's a local government issue.

And you seem to not know that some of my relatives lost everything in that hurricane.

Lastly, if you choose to remain anonymous, you will be banned. I do not accept anonymous comments, but I've let you slide for a bit.

Anonymity makes it difficult to launch personal attacks and forces the other side to use either reason or (less effective) curse. Call me JD. You don't have to know me personally to argue/converse with me. Afterall, I am not a bit interested in making friend online.

That being said, the difference between your hypothetical poor family near the Mississippi/Alabama coast and a black family in New Orlean is that you would still have a truck but the poor black family in an urban setting would most likely have to rely on public transportation.

Yes, I am also for "personal responsibility." But there's a line. When thousands of people in danger of drowning from a hurricane, you cannot claim personal responsibility. You have to look at the situation objectively rather than blurting out insane AND ignorant statements.

I am angry not at your lack of thought but because of your attitude. Those people are people too and they deserve respect and compassion just as you and your family would if you were in trouble. Take a clear look at the comment history. I'm going to give you a translation in case you are still suffering from the conservative hypocrite syndrome.

Karen wrote "And now there are here in Houston with us." = I can't believe those stupid negros will be at Hudson at my taxpayer's expense.

Jeff H = Let's blame the black mayor for the black problem.

Jeff forget to mention that President Bush cut FEMA's budget a lot. The levee was in bad condition and an request from Army Corp's plan to upgrade the levee was largely neglected. A local mayor on local budget simply doesn't have the resources to prepare for such diaster.

Valerie = We CANNOT criticize President Bush because as we all know he can never do any wrong.

Bush is not guilty of hurricane - a natural diaster. But he is largely responsible for the delayed response. (Unlike Florida, Louisiana was not a swing state and unlike Cubans, 9 out of 10 blacks vote Democrats.) Thousands of troops arriving a week later is ineffective. It's largely PR. Much more intense mobilization should have taken place within 2/3 days - when we could have saved a lot of lives.

I am angry that an American can neglect another American with such contempt. This is a silent racism.

JD-you might want to take back the delayed response thing. Five minutes ago we saw on the news, a liberal newscast, that there was military nearby before Katrina even hit.

I'm insulted that you're calling my family, hypothetical. Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, Gautier, Ocean Springs, Mobile, Theodore and New Orleans. These are all locations where I have family. My parents are from the south you moron. My aunt in Jackson lost the backside of her house because of Katrina.

I live in an area where we have many tornadoes. We've spent many summer afternoons camped out in the basement because we where under tornado warnings. That's being responsible, that's using common sense.

You can take your Columbia education and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Socialism might look good on paper, but in the end it screws society.

Actually, I am a Capitalist, not a Socialist.

Government does have the responsibility to protect its people. Let's face it: if something bad happened to you (or even if only the possibility exists), you too would want the government's help.

The difference between your family and a family in New Orlean is the fact you face the threat of tornado on a semi-regular basis. Residents of New Orlean did not had the "opportunity" to get used to their city being drowned by hurricanes on a regular basis. These are rare, but catastrophic events that citizens and even the local government can not handle. It is the responsibility of Federal government to ensure citizen's safety because it has the mean to do so.

I am not implying that the Bush administration has the power to stop a storm. But he did neglected the crisis - both long term (inadequate funding for the levees) and short term (delayed effective immediate help). I believe when hundreds of people dies, government should be held accountable rather than blaming ordinary citizens for being "stupid."

Dear john doe:

I know full well about FEMA's funding. But FEMA is not responsible for taking over in local disasters--local governments are. I suspect you also think Bush orders the National Guard around domestically--you'd be flat wrong. It is, by the legal charter of the National Guard, the sole responsibility of the individual state's governors to deploy National Guard troops domestically.

Mayor Nagin holds sole legal responsibility for both planning and implementing disaster response, particularly evacuations and shelters. He failed miserably--not because he's black, but because he failed miserably. You seem to be having some difficulty understanding some pretty basic facts here, j.d. ol' buddy ol' p.a.l.

Who owns the 500 buses that are now sitting underwater, when they could have been--indeed, were supposed to be--used for an evacuation, according to New Orleans' own emergency disaster preparedness plan? Not the feds.

Who has the sole responsibility of declaring a state of emergency in times of local disaster, and of ordering evacuations in same? Not the feds.

Who f***ed up royally, failing in a morally inexcusable fashion to fulfill their duties according the legal framework of our federalist system of government, which you might understand better if you had stopped smoking crack long enough to attend a civics class? Not the feds.

Get over your life-destroying hatred of Bush, and put your anger to use holding the feet of the deadly duo (Nagin and Blanco) to the fire for the blood of the thousands that now clings to their hands, like Pontius Pilate.

JD-I still remain with my original thought. Balls were dropped and it wasn't the President's fault. When the time comes to discuss fault, and the President is indeed partially responsible, then yes I will point that out. If you had actually read my blog this is something you would have known. You cannot come in here and classify me and my blog off of one post. That's what a troll does.

p.s. Still pissed at you about calling me a liar. My aunt and uncle in Pascagoula lost EVERYTHING. Even a car they left sitting in their driveway and they are without flood insurance. There is much suffering everywhere. We had family friends that died in Pascagoula. Quit trying to classify this as a race thing, that is far from the truth.

Monsier J.D. seems not to be playing with a full deck, Stacy. Anybody who even thinks you're a liar should be horsewhipped and dropped naked in the middle of nowhere (or Afghanistan--same thing) and left to fend for themselves. Shameless moonbat.

Tornado season here is short lived. There are years that there are many and years there are not. Being aware of the natural disasters that exist in your area should be common sense. When we are told by the meterologists that there's a blizzard coming, everyone runs to the store to stock-up. A few years back we had a storm so bad we were stuck in our house for a week. It took an act of God to get to my chickens. Skiers and backpackers here continuously go into the off-limits backcountry in the mountains and die in avalanches. They play with their lives when they choose to do that.

The fact remains that New Orleans knew they had a Category 5 hurricane headed straight for them, period. Not heeding the warning is indeed, stupid. Earthquakes are a different story (we've lived in Southern California too), although you are not forewarned, you should have an earthquake preparedness stash. That is trumpeted EVERYWHERE in California. We weren't in the state but a few weeks when we first that.

I forgot to mention the lightening too. Colorado ranks #2 in the nation for most lightening strikes. People are killed in the mountains and out on the golf courses all the time because they do not take the threat of lightening seriously. My sisters FIL was killed by a lightening strike. He was working his farm, storm came in and he hid under a trailer. Her MIL drove out to pick him up from the field and in his dash from under the trailer to the car he was struck and died on the scene.

FB-personal responsibility, end of story. When you've got a category 5 hurricane headed straight for you, what should you do? Get the hell out of the way.

Sure. Simple.

Poor planning by the mayor has cost the lives of many. President Bush is not aware of the exact assets and liabilities of New Orleans, Mayor Nagin is.

That's a strawman. Nobody expected Bush to get on the phone and start directing traffic. I don't know what you know about it, but emergency response is something my family has done for some time. Since 1927, FEMA has been charged with coordination of local resources - that's exactly their job. For almost 80 years, the way this has worked is that the school board calls FEMA, says "we've got 80 busses. Tell us where to send them." The mayor calls FEMA and says, "I need 200 people out of this damaged building." FEMA does it. They haven't always been perfect, but this was an unmitigated, flat on their face failure.

If you want to change the rules now, fine. I'll save that tax money. But fewer would have died if FEMA hadn't been gutted and left to be run by an incompetent attorney with no ER experience.

But yes, this is the entitlement crowd, isn't it? They have to have someone hold their hands. Enjoy your disgust.

Hardly. I used to work as an EMT; I'm a little too old now, so I run a business now. And yes, I'd do everything in my power to get my family out. Don't think I don't have supplies and plans. You can cast aspirsions as all the squishy liberals you want, but you're missing the mark here. (I also usually voted Republican, until 2004. Not like I liked Kerry, but the devil I didn't know, this once, was more appealling than the one I knew too well. That I do so in Brooklyn probably doesn't help your opinion of me, but I think it is fair to say we're just a little bit tougher than some like to think.)

That this was an unmitigated disaster is *precisely* because FEMA failed to meaningfully respond, because it doesn't know how to do so anymore. You can try to shift institutional failure elsewhere, but it comes from the top.

I still disagree, and that's fine if we don't agree. Local officials are SUPPOSE to act first, the more I'm hearing the more it's looking to be the fault of both the mayor and governor. President Bush called the governor and asked her to declare the mandatory evacuation and she didn't do it until it was too late. My understanding of FEMA is that is has to go through a bit of bureaucracy before it can act, that is obviously ridiculous. Hopefully this disaster will change how FEMA functions.

Why can't anybody seem to get it through their heads?

Local disaster planning is, by law, the responsibility of local government. FEMA cannot just march in without being asked. Bush offered FEMA help days before the hurricane hit--Governess Baby Blank-O REFUSED, fretful of allowing the appearance of martial law in her beloved and now ravaged state. Minor Naggin' knew for days a hurricane was bearing down on his beloved now swamped city, yet didn't order an evacuation until 10:00 AM Sunday morning, less than 24 hours before the storm was scheduled at the time to hit land. He failed to implement his own Office of Emergency Preparedness evacuation plan, leaving over 500 city-owned buses sitting. The National Guard is under the direct control of Governess Baby Blank-O, not President Bush. They were not mobilized until after the levee broke BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR DID NOT ACTIVATE THEM.

My God, how can people STILL not understand these elementary school civics lessons?

Fair enough; we'll have to agree to disagree.

I still maintain that the primary fault lays with FEMA's failure to respond correctly. (Locals goofed up too - don't get me wrong - they could have done much better.) But you have to understand that this was a very, very long-time arrangment - to look at it from the political dimension, states ceded large-scale disaster management to the government a long time ago. And it mostly worked. To have it spectacularly fail now tells me much more about the state of FEMA than it does the locals.

As I said, if we're burning federal response down, fine. Just #@$#@ say so. Quietly gutting what became a vital agency and not telling people they couldn't count on it is unforgivable.

And Jeff H pretends that a very complicated, very expensive layered force built by the federal government is understandable with high school text books. Respectfully, I suggest you go volunteer - even folks without specialized skills can (don't know if that applies to you: I'm just saying) - and learn a little bit about how this sort of thing works.

Or, at least used to work.

Heck, go talk to a fireman or an EMT who's dealt with them in a serious event.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, even massive car accidents and explosions were all handled far more efficiently in the past than this one was. There was a change. I can point out the obvious, but that's not worth while; you've seen it.

I heard stories of hospitals in New Orleans getting chemical incident kits. Other stories of _exactly_ what FEMA needed - boats, water, etc. - being turned away, because they didn't or couldn't communicate effectively amongst themselves. (And were doing things like photo-ops, but that's an entirely different story.) This is not a response from an organized team.

I think that one thing we CAN all agree upon here is that this disaster was unprecedented. It was perhaps too much to fathom, who would have thought that this magnitude of destruction was possible? We live in an unstable environment, the earth has always been that way; it's not a 'global warming' issue. In fact the frequency of hurricans have lessened in the past 50 years. But just as we know California will have the 'big one', we should expect an occassional category 5 hurricane.