Mayor Nagin transcript
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/
NAGIN: I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. And that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we're outmanned in just about every respect. (Listen to the mayor express his frustration in this video -- 12:09) You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had most of our resources saving people, thousands of people that were stuck in attics, man, old ladies. ... You pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and they're standing in there in water up to their freaking necks. And they don't have a clue what's going on down here. They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn -- excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed. WWL: Did you say to the president of the United States, "I need the military in here"? NAGIN: I said, "I need everything." Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people. WWL: What do you need right now to get control of this situation? NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here. I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans." That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy. I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish. It's awful down here, man. WWL: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it but can't do anything until [Louisiana Gov.] Kathleen Blanco requested him to do it? And do you know whether or not she has made that request? NAGIN: I have no idea what they're doing. But I will tell you this: You know, God is looking down on all this, and if they are not doing everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price. Because every day that we delay, people are dying and they're dying by the hundreds, I'm willing to bet you. We're getting reports and calls that are breaking my heart, from people saying, "I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out." And that's happening as we speak. You know what really upsets me, Garland? We told everybody the importance of the 17th Street Canal issue. We said, "Please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do. Figure it out." WWL: Who'd you say that to? NAGIN: Everybody: the governor, Homeland Security, FEMA. You name it, we said it. And they allowed that pumping station next to Pumping Station 6 to go under water. Our sewage and water board people ... stayed there and endangered their lives. And what happened when that pumping station went down, the water started flowing again in the city, and it starting getting to levels that probably killed more people. In addition to that, we had water flowing through the pipes in the city. That's a power station over there. So there's no water flowing anywhere on the east bank of Orleans Parish. So our critical water supply was destroyed because of lack of action. WWL: Why couldn't they drop the 3,000-pound sandbags or the containers that they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that just couldn't be done? NAGIN: They said it was some pulleys that they had to manufacture. But, you know, in a state of emergency, man, you are creative, you figure out ways to get stuff done. Then they told me that they went overnight, and they built 17 concrete structures and they had the pulleys on them and they were going to drop them. I flew over that thing yesterday, and it's in the same shape that it was after the storm hit. There is nothing happening. And they're feeding the public a line of bull and they're spinning, and people are dying down here. WWL: If some of the public called and they're right, that there's a law that the president, that the federal government can't do anything without local or state requests, would you request martial law? NAGIN: I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans. We did that a few days ago. WWL: Did the governor do that, too? NAGIN: I don't know. I don't think so. But we called for martial law when we realized that the looting was getting out of control. And we redirected all of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dead-tired from saving people, but they worked all night because we thought this thing was going to blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources, and we hold it under check. I'm not sure if we can do that another night with the current resources. And I am telling you right now: They're showing all these reports of people looting and doing all that weird stuff, and they are doing that, but people are desperate and they're trying to find food and water, the majority of them. Now you got some knuckleheads out there, and they are taking advantage of this lawless -- this situation where, you know, we can't really control it, and they're doing some awful, awful things. But that's a small majority of the people. Most people are looking to try and survive. And one of the things people -- nobody's talked about this. Drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me, and that's why we were having the escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this, but I'm going to talk about it. You have drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix, and that's the reason why they were breaking in hospitals and drugstores. They're looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will. And right now, they don't have anything to take the edge off. And they've probably found guns. So what you're seeing is drug-starving crazy addicts, drug addicts, that are wrecking havoc. And we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it. We can only target certain sections of the city and form a perimeter around them and hope to God that we're not overrun. WWL: Well, you and I must be in the minority. Because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law that says the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people, that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it can possibly be. NAGIN: Really? WWL: I know you don't feel that way. NAGIN: Well, did the tsunami victims request? Did it go through a formal process to request? You know, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important? And I'll tell you, man, I'm probably going get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get in so much trouble it ain't even funny. You probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over. WWL: You and I will be in the funny place together. NAGIN: But we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq lickety-quick. After 9/11, we gave the president unprecedented powers lickety-quick to take care of New York and other places. Now, you mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world, everybody's eyes light up -- you mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on, man. You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly. And I don't know whose problem it is. I don't know whether it's the governor's problem. I don't know whether it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now. WWL: What can we do here? NAGIN: Keep talking about it. WWL: We'll do that. What else can we do? NAGIN: Organize people to write letters and make calls to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous. I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count. Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country. WWL: I'll say it right now, you're the only politician that's called and called for arms like this. And if -- whatever it takes, the governor, president -- whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes, I bet that the people listening to you are on your side. NAGIN: Well, I hope so, Garland. I am just -- I'm at the point now where it don't matter. People are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time. WWL: We're both pretty speechless here. NAGIN: Yeah, I don't know what to say. I got to go. WWL: OK. Keep in touch. Keep in touch. |
they played some of that on CNN - he was angry and righteously so. above and beyond all else, the response was the federal government's ball and they dropped it completely. from the Dept. of Homeland Security website:
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edit: btw, where's Cheney? he hasn't been seen in public for a while... |
Well, if nothing else you know who to point the finger at, not that it accomplishes anything in the short term.
It's a sign of the times when the political response to a natural disaster is swifter than the relief efforts. Passing the buck is the American political system's highest art form. |
I, the formerly un-jaundiced human rights advocate, have finally come to see my country for what it really is. A monstrous fraud.
Sure, blame America for the distruction of New Orleans. Heaven forbid we blame this disaster on the hurricane, where's the satisfaction in that? |
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still on vacation perhaps? :dunno: |
fuck the planet
dont blame it on a fossile fuel hungry society or other damage that humans have done to the environment..or anything
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/ (october 2002) / blame the flying spagetti monster |
Or maybe forget blaming people for a while and attend to the situation at hand.
Mayor Nagin more optimistic about future of New Orleans President Bush meets New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin following a news conference at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Friday, Sept. 2, 2005. Bush is touring the Gulf Coast communities battered by Hurricane Katrina, hoping to boost the spirits of increasingly desperate storm victims and exhausted rescuers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) |
yeh ...sit back and watch the underclass of new oreleans get kkkulled in their own little version of a holocaust
seig fucking heil ! no looken peepers ! free speech is now verboten! send in the storm troopers and empty choppers while thousands cry for food force them to go scrounging and get shot on sight witholding aid from these people is criminal witholding those 500 boats and ambulances is fucking unbelievable is it going to be that all these folks in nola are going to be labled drug crazed murderers and rapists or is it going to be anyone decent is already dead so kill em all? when i saw some australian survivors of this thing, that were sitting there being interviewed the guy kept wanting to talk about all the different disinformation they were seeing and hearing but the interviewers kept taking turns in shutting him up i dont want to even think of what that might of been about |
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I would't worry about him too much. Besides, it seems the people want him at ground zero rather than just flying over for a quick peek. |
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You'll find no greater critcism of Bush and his administration than in the German media. Some even claim that the president caused the hurricane. I wouldn't believe a word they or any other European journalists print.
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ah, i see. the german media is the problem. think we can relay that on to the people of Mississippi and Louisiana? i'm sure they'll perk right up once they understand that thier problems are perceptual in nature.
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the most shallow and callous politics taking place right now is not those who are asking for accountability - it's those who are avoiding it. |
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- js. |
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Accountability!!!!!!!!!!! yea Mayor how making your ass "accountable". Louisiana disaster plan, pg 13, para 5 , dated 01/00 'The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating'... |
I had been wondering why school/public transit busses had not been used to aid in the evacuation of the city before the hurricane made landfall.
It's been a while since I have been in New Orleans, I think that is the bus yard near the convention center, which has about 200 school busses. When the 17th street levee gave way on Tuesday, the flooding made the busses useless. There is also apparently a matter of Louisiana Governor Blanco refusing Federal aid in the evacuation because she did not want to allow the Feds to take control of the evacuation efforts. Governor Blanco also apparently did not request mutual aid assistance until Wednesday. I think Louisiana residents need to look closer to home for most of the "unpreparedness" problems. |
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but perhaps FEMA and the Dept of Homeland Security were lulled into a false sense of complacency by these photos of the prez, taken Monday the 29th, and Tuesday the 30th. he wasn't worried about it - why should they have been? |
Mayor Nagin had some interesting things to say today, it's not getting any play though, i wonder why. :shf:
video here In a harried, fast-moving interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien this morning, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin had many words of praise for President Bush, while pointing much blame at Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco: Nagin>> I got promises too. I can't stand any more promises. I don't want to hear any more promises. I want to see stuff done. That's why I'm so happy the president came down here because I think they were feeding him a line of bull also. They were telling him things weren’t as bad as it was, he came down and saw it and he put a general on the field. His name is general Honore. When he hit the field, we started to see action. What the state was doing, I don't friggin' know but I tell you, I am pissed. It wasn't adequate. The president and the governor sat down. Air force one, I said, Mr. President, Madam governor, you two have to get in sync. If you don't get in sync, more people are going to die. O’Brien>> What date was this? N>> I don't know. O>> When did you say that? N>> Whenever air force one was here. O>> Okay. N>> And this is after I called him on the telephone two days earlier. And I said, Mr. President, madam governor, you two need to get together on the same page because the lack of coordination people are dying in my city. That's two days ago? Easement I don't know the exact date. They both shook their head, said yeah. I said great. I said everybody in this room is getting ready to leave. There was senators and his cabinet people, you name it, they were there. Generals. I said everybody right now, we're leaving. These two people need to sit in a room together and make a doggone decision right now. O>> Was that done? N>> The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, no, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane and we're going to make a decision. He called me in that office after that and he said, Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor. I said -- I don't remember exactly what -- two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision. O>> You told me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision? N>> Yes. O>> Regarding what? Bringing troops? N>> Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was advocating a clear chain of command. So that we could get resources flowing in the right places. O>> The governor said no? N>> She said she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left air force one, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen. And more people died. http://newsbusters.org/node/953 |
probably just the insurgents speading rumors..but
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http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/ |
I'll make one last post on this subject. For me, beyond this point any more discussion is futile.
For those who think President Bush and/or the Federal Government is to blame for a poor relief effort in the wake of hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, this post is for you. New Orleans Mayor Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of his city in advance of hurricane Katrina's landfall. See the picture of the busses in the post by jcmd62 in this thread? These are the busses that Mayor Nagin could have, but did not use to evacuate people from New Orleans. He could have used them to help evacuate people that had no other means to leave the city. They could have been taken to the superdome or convention center, or other shelters. Now, many of those people are DEAD. As I understand it, chartered busses were used to evacuate people to places like the Astrodome. The use of public transportation for such evacuations is in the emergency plan of every city with such resources available. I have been a volunteer disaster service worker in Alameda County, California for over 30 years. I also worked for a large public transit agency for 10 years and have first hand knowledge of how such emergency arrangements work, because I have been a part of them. Now, look at the post by daddydirt above and see how Louisiana Governor Blanco refused to cooperate with the Federal Government. The Governor of a State has command of National Guard and Local Emergency Services - but not Federal Emergency Services. The Feds want to assume command of the overall effort so it can be uniformly coordinated. Governor Blanco has so far refused to allow that to happen. Why is Governor Blanco doing this? According to reports I have read by MSNBC, Governor Blanco is afraid of Federally declared martial law and the fear of local officials being "blamed" for inadequate action by the Federal government. Hmmm... I thought the restoration of law and order is one of the things Blanco wanted. I would be willing to wager most of her population wants this as well. As for the "blame" befalling local officials (such as herself) I think Blanco is doing a pretty good job at attracing blame without any assistance from the Federal Government. Trying to avoid martial law where it may be necessary and avoiding blame do not sound to me like valid reasons to withold vital emergency services from the population after a major disaster. So, while Governor Blanco "thinks" about what to do next, more of the people she has sworn to protect are dying. When people are dying it's usually not a good idea to get into a pissing contest about who gives the orders - especially when Louisiana State Emergency Services is not capable of handling a disaster of this magnatude by itself. Emergency Services personnel are supposed to undergo training and familiarization with procedures so that when real disasters happen, they know what to do and can inter-operate with other agencies in an efficient and effective manner. Apparently, "key personnel" missed that type training. I can excuse most of Mayor Nagin's unprofessional demenor and language. The guy is human like the rest of us, and he's going through unimaginable distress seeing his people dying and in need and not being able to help them. However, I find it considerably more difficult to excuse his failure to use resources available to him for getting everyone possible out of the city before the hurricane hit. If Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco had done what they were supposed to do, many lives could have been saved, and the disaster relief efforts would have had better coordination from the start. I would criticize President Bush if I felt he had done something wrong in this matter, but I prefer to place blame where it is due. |
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