What really happened in New Orleans....sad,but true...

(From Gene, our correspondent in Washington Heights.)

In case you aren't familiar with how our government is SUPPOSED to work:
The chain of responsibility for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans is:

1. The Mayor
2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of
the Governor who reports to the Governor)
3. The Governor
4. The Head of Homeland Security
5. The President

What did each do?

1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced
a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to
provide transportation for those without transport even though he had
hundreds of buses at his disposal.

2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan
for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames
the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political
appointees)

3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS
BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal
troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit.

4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be
ready when the Governor called for them

5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a
disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal
assistance, should the Governor decide to use it.

Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the
local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt
(democrat) government going all the way back to Huey Long.

Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city
for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicos
and their friends.

Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self
reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for
every little thing.

Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the
single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang
violence to flourish.

The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died
needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them.

For those who missed item 5 (where the President's level of accountability
is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune
article dated August 28:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a
mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray
Nagin.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded
tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last
resort for people to go, including the Superdome.

The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave
the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because
airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said
President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation
for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

(emphasis mine)

The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin's court to carry out the evacuation
order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all
services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city
emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing
to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his
administration f**ked up.

Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal,
mind boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina.

As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief
should resign as well. That city's government is incompetent from one end
to the other. The people of New Orleans deserve better than this crowd of
clowns is capable of giving them.

If you're keeping track, these boobs let 569 buses that could have carried
33,350 people out of New Orleans-in one trip-get ruined in the floods.
Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been
if they'd bothered to follow it.

As for all the race-baiting rhetoric and Bush-bashing coming from
prominent blacks on the left, don't expect Ray Nagin to be called out on
the carpet for falling short. You want to know why? Here's why:

It's more convenient to blame a white president for what went wrong than
to hold a black mayor and his administration accountable for gross
negligence and failing to fully carry out an established emergency
preparedness plan.

To hold Nagin and his administration accountable for dropping the ball
amounts to letting loose the shouts and cries of "Racism!". It's sad, it's
wrong, but it's standard operating procedure for the media and left-wing
black leadership.

Mark my words: you will not hear a word of criticism from Jesse Jackson
Sr., Randall Robinson, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, or Kanye
West being directed toward Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. Why? Because he is just
another black politician instead of a responsible elected official who
happens to be black. In the mindset of more-blacker-than-thou blacks,
black politicians who are on their side can do no wrong.


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posted by Patrick at Sunday, September 18, 2005