The American Red Cross was Ready and Able to Feed, Clothe, and Assist those Trapped in the Superdome and Convention Center on Monday, August 29
But they were prevented by none other than the Governor of Louisiana, Ms. Kathleen Blanco. Please make sure to check out the chat transcript, here. Or check out the video of the story, here.
I am not going to post all of the stories about what has gone-down in the bayou since the hurricane, however, I must say that I have been appalled by the level of complete incompetence of Louisiana's Governor. She failed to lead her citizenry in a time of crisis - both before and after the hurricane. She did nothing to make it easier for the people of Louisiana and New Orleans to evacuate - failing to follow basic SOPs in a time of crisis. When chaos rained down upon the city, she did nothing to make it easier for the Louisiana National Guard, the American Red Cross, and FEMA to assist survivors, or the President to coordinate relief efforts.
A lot of noise is being made about the equal incompetence of the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, and the head of FEMA, Michael Brown. However, if even half of the stories about Governor Blanco are true, then there was nothing the Mayor of New Orleans, FEMA, or the President of the United States could do. That is because the primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center. The Mayor can only control the municipalities resources in a time of crisis, and the federal government and agencies cannot perform any action until so requested by the state government. Here, no request was timely made by Governor Blanco, until well after the catastrophe had overwrought the entire city of New Orleans.
If any person's head is to roll for this catastrophe, it should start with her. What a dumb-dumb.
Posts
2 comments:
A real enlightening blog. Don't stop now. Here's the resolve a lot of people are searching for; how to buy & sell everything, like wine making on interest free credit; pay whenever you want.
"If any person's head is to roll for this catastrophe, it should start with ... "
----
My rational young friend,
Ah, but heads have already started to bloat and roll off. Real heads. Heads of human beings, just like the living people you know...
After a few days in the water, you better pick up those bodies very carefully or else they fall apart on you. So dissect the situation. Blame. Make your self judge and namecall. But don't kid yourself that this is helping anyone. And take care in what you say, because lots of heads are already rolling in the water, and bobbing and rotting too. Get it?
You're kind of exploiting those people in making your political after-the-fact remarks.
Post a Comment