FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e..

FEMA turns away experienced firefighters
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048

FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec..

FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec..

FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm

FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=...

FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826

FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509..

FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale..

FEMA turns away generators
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470

That last one is real -- not satire but straight from FEMA's website.

 

It's all Bush's fault!!!!!

 

You've said something like this a bunch of times already. How about engaging in the thread's discussion rather than drag a stinky red herring across the argument's path?

Without government accountability, what type of democracy do we live in?

Thanks, Psoper, for the educating links. I hope heads roll in that organization after this.

BTW, my wife attends Emorys School of Public Health (shares campus with the CDC). She heard the CDC's director speak yesterday and the hurricane, as you could imagine, has left major public health concerns in the devastated areas.

I've been putting it off but I need to sack up, dip into my paltry savings, and give some more luv to those in need.

 

On the last story it seems that they were covering their bases. Had the feds stormed the state borders like a lost cause then the State would have lost all control. Quite selfish if you ask me. But had Bush allowed the Feds to storm LA then the people that bash Bush for sport would be up in arms on how he broke the law by doing so. You can't just pull out your federal ***** as the President. There's congress and the State granting power, etc, etc, etc. It's enough to make you sick.

Bush talked about how bureaucracy is to blame and id have to agree to a large extent. The red tape on everything that needs to be done is huge. Take the military... I only talk about the military because I lived it in recent times.

The amount of micromanaged redtape you have to deal with is outrageous. Here you have a bunch of men aged 17-40+ that just want to train and get dirty. Not anymore... influencing powers from the civilian world have turned the military into a bueractatic, PC laughing stock. When people talk about the "kinder, gentler Army" and "Hurry up and wait" they speak the truth. People in the civilian world laugh about it but try living it. It's enough to make your nose bleed as you pull-out your hair.

According to the old timers I served with, you used to do damn near anything you wanted as far as training and garrison behavior went. But now getting training time and ammo is like putting in for a lottery. Not to mention the amount of wet signatures required is ridiculous. You'd think an 03 and E8 would be given liberties to sign for a few LMTVs (troop trucks) and a few thousand rounds of ammo as needed? It got to the point in my 4th year that old timers of 10-15yrs in were signing statements to get out of the Military (you can do it if it’s past your first enlistment, if you’re squared away, and have the means of employment lined up *usually LEO*). They had a handful of years till retirement! Most of them went straight into local LEO. If the military is that bad then image how bad the civilized government is that influenced the kinder & gentler Army?! Think about it.

Not sure about the other stories though...

 

Well you're apparently not familiar with sarcasm so there is an introduction. I am actually glad I said that before someone that classifies themselves as democratic or liberal could use it because they should in fact have "anti-Bush" on their voting card. I would appreciate if everyone for conversations sake would enlighten themselves on how emergency relief works. Just to touch the surface it starts from the bottom. For instance, the federal gov't sends nothing until the local authorities inform them on what they need. This is exactly how the military works. A General is not going to speculate or assume what needs to happen on the front lines until his 11B and scouts relay the information on status so he can make an informed decision on what needs they have both logistically and physically. Haste makes waste. Was there a fault on behalf of public officials? Absolutely, the local ones that halfway enforced an evacuation and didn't prestage supplies. The same ones that neglected to create a levee sufficient of withholding a hurricane that in due time, would and did come.

 

(I'm replying to Salty's post) Salty you make some excellent points. Politics and those that embody them make it very hard for those that do that do the actual WORK to get the job done. For instance, Governor Blanco wouldn't federalize her states guard because she "didn't want to loose control". ***** envy got in the way here. Wanting to be in the spotlight and getting rank happy caused massive delays. Another thing is that these looters went rampant because of the media. Our commanders knew that regardless of whether or not they had shotguns and pistols or SPECOPS and WMDs if we blasted them in any sight of the media it would be blown so far out of proportion (as it already has been) that it would overwhelm further operations to the point of a complete lack of progress. This all bases back to the voting polls. The black community would have been outraged (more so than now) if any number of return-fire/engagement events had been publicized. I'm not trying to support any party over the other. All I'm saying is that this problem is a culmination of many gov't organizations dropping the ball in their respective areas. Could Bush had done a better job? Sure, hindsight is 20/20. Everyone can do better when they look back and see the mistakes that were made and the status in real time but that isn't an oppurtunity were afforded.

 

He had the oppoirtunity to go to San Diego and get a guitar though,

good thing our C in C has his priorities straight!

And I see the VP today finally is done with his vacation, Dick is down there talking about all the environmental regulations that need to be considered and respected before they do anything.

I am so glad to see that grown-up's are taking care of the situation.

 

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