some info for the bush bashers
some info for the bush bashers :)
This is a post from Bill Weiler, freelance journalist, over in
Merritt Island, FL,
who has been researching what went on before the storm hit.
These
are the authors comment - I find them very interesting.
.................................................. ........................
Politics over Duty
I think all of Mayor Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him
hard in the near future as the lies and distortions of his
interviews
are coming to light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National
Hurricane
Center took the unprecedented action of calling Mayor Nagin and
Governor Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY
evacuation of NO and they said they'd take it under consideration.
This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves
before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with
his advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork
required for a state to request federal assistance (and not be in
violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the
Insurgency Act). Just before
midnight
Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with
her
to
sign the request papers so the federal government and the military
could
legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that they didn't
think
it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet. After
the
President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her
staff
to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces.
It
was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it
look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would
not
be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Gov. Blanco
and Mayor Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting
federal assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area,
and begin mandatory evacuation. After a personal plea from the
President, Nagin agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be
a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign
the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration
the President declared the area a national disaster area before the
state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin
some advanced preparations. Rumor has it that the President's legal
advisers were looking into the ramifications of using the insurgency
act
to
bypass the Constitutional requirement that a state request federal
aid
before the federal government can move into state with troops - but
that
had not been done since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was
called
into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to NO for
levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a
marina
and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will
look
into
why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal
government
for
funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and
in
fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional
federal
funding as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan
were never contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the
document implies that they were.
The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as
do
we
all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the
multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday
which
further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from
adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President
should
have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to
his
own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses
at
his
disposal to use between the local school busses and the city
transportation
busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate
them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all
but
been
destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of
thousands
more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be
pointing
fingers
and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and
incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start
their
lives
anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid
them in the future.
Please pass this on so the World will know another point of view.
