Mayor Nagin transcript

[Mazer]

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.

Seems to me they could land the president without interrupting air rescue operations, even during a period of crisis, when a good commander is in control of the airspace. There's an other airport in town too, and though it's partially submerged, it might be a better place to fly refugees out of there 'cause it's closest to the most damaged parts of the city.

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.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by Mazer

Seems to me they could land the president without interrupting air rescue operations, even during a period of crisis, when a good commander is in control of the airspace. There's an other airport in town too, and though it's partially submerged, it might be a better place to fly refugees out of there 'cause it's closest to the most damaged parts of the city.

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.

like the last four years, every appearance by the Prez is a scripted, stage-managed, orchestrated show. under normal circumstances, it's to be expected, but in this case, the photo ops have either pre-empted recovery efforts or simply faked them. from a press release issued yesterday by Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu:

"But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment."

or if the fake levee repair didn't warm your heart, how about the fake food giveaway?

Dutch viewer Frank Tiggelaar writes:

There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.

ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.

that's your leader in action - how proud you must be.

[Mazer]

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.

Why bother the German people with all the details? And why even try to get into the minutia of how disaster relief is organized along local, state and federal lines in the United States when it is so easy and ideologically satisfying to tell the German people that the Bush administration is fully at fault? After all, it's much easier to pose as brilliant reporters of the "objective" truth by convincing one another that they were collectively too bright to fall for Bush's cheap attempts to hug and comfort people.

Link

[theknife]

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.

Originally Posted by mazer

And why even try to get into the minutia of how disaster relief is organized along local, state and federal lines in the United States when it is so easy and ideologically satisfying to tell the German people that the Bush administration is fully at fault?

your blogger doesn't quite have his facts in order: major disaster relief is organized along federal, state, and local lines - in that order. it starts from the top down... perhaps you missed this above:

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

your government has had primary responsibility for relief. that's where the criticism is righteously leveled. yes, it's political - it's also relevant, valid, and it's not a minute too soon to ask what the fuck went wrong here?

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.

[JackSpratts]

Originally Posted by theknife

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.

de-nile, meet de-mississippi.

- js.

[jcmd62]

Originally Posted by NAGIN

I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man.

You mean busses like these that YOUR Hypocritical dumbass ordered locked up in their secure razor wire topped fenced yards when you called for the evacuation, instead of USING them to move the poor residents that COULDN'T leave, as your OWN disaster plan calls for?????????

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'...

[Drakonix]

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.