[Tom Earp]

Here is another spin on the saga of New Orleans. You make up your own mind.


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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 appointe of
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).

Then 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.



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? They were the responsibility of
the local landowners & the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.



The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt
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.



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.



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 dropped the ball.



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.