Joe Scarborough: "We Deserve Answers Mr. President, Mr./Madame Governor"

[NATO AIR]

and I can't agree more...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6330851/

We deserve answers, Mr. President (Joe Scarborough)

As one who has seen these hurricanes up close as a Gulf Coast resident, news reporter and member of Congress — where I got a behind the scenes look at how to run relief operations — I have been trying to connect the dots for those of you who have not been so intimately involved in hurricane recovery efforts.

With so many trying to figure out why so few acted professionally in the first days of this epic crisis, I offer an insider's view of who is to blame for this national disgrace.

We begin with Harry Truman who famously declared that the buck always stops at the president's desk. For those who now define the term conservative as unwavering support for George W. Bush, even this suggestion is maddening.

But the bottom line is that despite the fact the president was strapped with two governors who bungled this crisis badly, in the end it is the president who sends in the National Guard and FEMA relief.

The president's suggestion that the size of this storm caught all by surprise just doesn't get it. His administration was 48 hours late sending in the National Guard and poor Americans got raped and killed because of those mistakes.

A painful assessment from a supporter of the president, but also true.

Secondly, the first responders in any hurricane are local and state officials. When Florida was struck by four hurricanes last year, Governor Jeb Bush was nothing short of spectacular. Louisiana Governor Blanco was breathtakingly clueless as were other Louisiana officials. The deaths of many lay on their doorsteps.

FEMA’s Michael Brown also shoulders the burden for the suffering in New Orleans. His claim that no one knew of the suffering on the ground until Thursday defies logic. America knew the crescent city was drifting toward chaos on well before Tuesday. Why didn't the man in charge of disaster relief know the same thing?

One state over, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour continues to claim that Katrina caught him by surprise, telling one reporter that it was after all a cat one storm after crossing Florida. That useless fact doesn't erase the fact that the entire Gulf Coast was put on alert as early as Friday that this storm would be historic.

If Barbour thought Katrina would be little more than a category one storm, then he is not to be trusted organizing his sock drawer — let alone the most tragic natural disaster to ever hit his state.

As for those politicians hell-bent on claiming all went well over the past week, don't waste your breath. People died in New Orleans because of incompetence. Not because of racism, or poverty, or any other social ill. They died because the political leaders we elected were not up to the task of protecting the innocent from the most savage among us and from dehydration, starvation and heat exhaustion. Deaths, that I learned from the Terri Schiavo death-watch, are most painful to endure.

Mr. President, Governor Blanco and Governor Barbour, all is not well with your relief teams. We deserve answers sooner rather than later.

 

[sitarro]

and I can't agree more...

I think Scarborough is either playing dumb or purposefully distorting the facts. The blame game usually does very little to solve problems . The analysis of the things that worked and didn't is much more productive.
One would have to be a typical uninformed dolt to not be able to figure out what happened. First you would need to go all the way back to the dumbasses that put a city there in the first place. Then blame the developers that added to it knowing how stupid it is to have a city under sea level so near the coast. To add to the stupidity there is a BIG lake 3 feet above sea level north of the city. Add, just for good measure, a huge moving body of water running through the city, the Great Old Mississippi River(A mile wide in some places and deep with a strong current and a mind of it's own).
Then one must consider a political history of corruption within every department state wide. Bring in almost three decades of mayors who have been elected purely because of the color of their skin and the corruption not only continues but escalates. Then you have to consider the election of a Governor who seemed perfect to the politically correct but has proven to be just as incompetent and egotistical as the worst of them all.
When the hurricane looked like it was definitely going to hit New Orleans the mayor suggested to the fools that had outside communication with the world and hadn't already left to go ahead and evacuate, good move but, he didn't follow his own evacuation plan. On page 13 paragraph 5 of that plan it states to use city and school busses to evacuate those that have no mans of getting out. I'm sure there was a lot of grumbling about the possibility that they would spend the money evacuating that many people and the storm would dissipate like so many before had. Hoping for the best the city opened the Superdome and the Convention center to many thousands of people that tend to not understand the idea of helping yourself and each other in times of emergencies. Instead, a great number of these people are totally dependent on Govrnment for everything, they had very little survivor skills but the city didn't think that would matter, they would only be there a few days at most. The storm hit, the damage was bad but not as bad as it could be and people started wiping their brows stating that they had avoided the "big one'' once again. Then levee failure surprised everyone 2 days later. After that a full scale disaster was happening now, the Governor should have recognized this and jumped on the red phone to the White House, she didn't. Relief agencies had already assembled for the relief effort needed before the levees broke. The red cross and the Salvation Army were ready to go in with food, water, and hygenic kits. . . the State said no, theydidn't want the Dome and Convention Center to be magnets for the rest of the egg heads that didn't see a reason to flee a category 5 hurricane. After that, pride and lack of knowledge took over completely. The President met personally with the Mayor and Governor and received no plea for help, the Governor needed another 24 hours to sign the declaration that basically stated that the situation was out of her control and she needed the Federal government to come in and rescue her. The media was there reporting on the violence being perpetrated by those that do it for a living or were going through withdrawals so bad that they felt that the rescue helicopters were some kind of paranoid dillusion, this made the people worried about tourist dollars very nervous. They couldn't afford to let the world know what a cesspool the city had become. When mother government didn't show up to feed the helpless in the Superdome and Convention Center the standard racist accusations started to errupt from the crowd and it was time to revert to the riot mode to get attention. Rape, murder, destruction. . . because you haven't had anything to eat in a few days? A lot of blame needs to be placed on the citizens that came empty handed to the evacuation center thinking they would be serviced like they were on an airliner. What in the past would make them confident that the local goverment would do much of anything for them. Add to the many in one space, hunger, thirst, outragous heat, no lights, no sewerage system and nothing provided to keep them busy and you have a recipy for total lack of civilization.
Help was everywhere and the Governor has nobody to blame but herself. Once the Feds were allowed in they kicked ass and are continueing to kick ass.The buck stopped at the state lines.

 

[Mr. P]

If my closet looked like this, I sure wouldn't be making demands on the Prez.. This guy is an idiot..
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/lori_klausutis.htm

 

[pegwinn]

The reality is that if stupidity, slowness, incompetence, failure to act, and political scheming IRT Hurricane Katrina were put between two slices of bread................

The shit sandwich would be so big that there'd be no danger of anyone in authority at any level of government starving.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Originally Posted by sitarro
A lot of blame needs to be placed on the citizens that came empty handed to the evacuation center thinking they would be serviced like they were on an airliner.

lol...if they had only known airliners have reduced service to peanuts...but you make a good point...even the poor should figure on helping themselves to some extent in an emergency...what has happened to American independence?

 

[Mr. P]

...what has happened to American independence?

HA! Minute by minute, day by day, year after year, they are becoming DEPENDANT.Sad but true, that ole frog in the pot of water story is TRUE, TRUE, TRUE!!!

 

[Adam's Apple]

Excellent post, Sitarro. Only thing of significance that you left out was that governors of other states called Blanco offering to send their National Guard troops to assist with security and were put off. Our state was one such. Our Guard is now in Mississippi providing security for that state.

 

[NATO AIR]

Excellent post, Sitarro. Only thing of significance that you left out was that governors of other states called Blanco offering to send their National Guard troops to assist with security and were put off. Our state was one such. Our Guard is now in Mississippi providing security for that state.

Secondly, the first responders in any hurricane are local and state officials. When Florida was struck by four hurricanes last year, Governor Jeb Bush was nothing short of spectacular. Louisiana Governor Blanco was breathtakingly clueless as were other Louisiana officials. The deaths of many lay on their doorsteps.

he did not single out bush or anyone else for criticism, he's blamed them all. and they all share blame. quit trying to absolve the federal government of its incompetence. not everyone who criticizes the federal effort is "out to get bush". we're out to get those who put woefully unqualified dolts like brown at FEMA, and out to get those who stood around with a thumb up their butt while people suffered and died.

 

[KarlMarx]

Another lesson can be learned from this....

Those who advocate expanding the government's role into all parts of our lives should take this episode as a word of warning (are you listening Senator Clinton? Does the "Nationalized Health Care" ring a bell?).

The government, like any other institution, does only a few things well. One of them being defending the country. Expansion into things that clearly are not only outside of the government's power but outside its domain of competence is a recipe for disaster.

One can only imagine if there were nationalized health care and what would happen if there were a Hurrican Katrina sized health crisis.

Limited government.... public good.... they are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Adam's Apple]

Contrary to what you say, Scarborough is casting blame on Bush. The title of his article is “We Deserve Answers, Mr. President/Madame Governor.” Doesn’t that imply that Bush has the answers? If Scarborough wasn’t blaming Bush, he could have entitled his article simply “We Deserve Answers”, which would have been far more appropriate considering the known facts.

Scarborough left out many important facts, such as the fact that the President sends in the National Guard and FEMA only after it has been requested by state and local governments. That is the law. Scarborough also did not mention the fact that FEMA is not a first responder. This agency exists to assist state and local governments with money and supplies as it is requested by them. By law, the federal government has no right to take over any state or local responsibility unless requested to do so by the legal local authorities.

As far as blaming Bush goes, prior to the hurricane’s striking, was it Bush who forbade the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to enter New Orleans? Was it Bush who declined the offer from Amtrak to assist in evacuating those who did not have transportation out of the city? Was it Bush who chose not to use thousands of available buses, some located only one mile from the Superdome, to take citizens out of the city prior to Katrina’s coming ashore?

The best I can recall, it was President Bush who issued the call to evacuate the city on Friday before Katrina came ashore in the early hours Monday morning. What did the state and local governments do following President Bush’s call on Friday and the hurricane coming ashore on Monday?

There will be an investigation, and the truth will come out. Perhaps that is why the Democrats have declined to participate in a bipartisan, investigative commission because they know where the incompetency lies in this fiasco and who was responsible for it.

 

[pegwinn]

The reality is that if stupidity, slowness, incompetence, failure to act, and political scheming IRT Hurricane Katrina were put between two slices of bread................

The shit sandwich would be so big that there'd be no danger of anyone in authority at any level of government starving.

After rereading the article and going thru the responses I have concluded that....... drum roll........... I was right.

In all seriousness. Doe anyone believe that the LAW will be changed to allow the FED to intervene and override the states interest? If so will it be for better or worse?

 

[Adam's Apple]

Consideration should be given to changing this law. I think in situationswhere we have catastrophes the size of Katrina, the feds should have the authority to go right in with all the resources that might not be available at the state and local levels. If the law were changed, this would save valuable time lost by the feds having to show proper respect for the authority of the local and state governments and would do away with the political fights of "territorial" domain. Maybe local, state and federal governments would then be able to work together without political considerations entering into the picture.

 

[CivilLiberty]

HA! Minute by minute, day by day, year after year, they are becoming DEPENDANT.Sad but true, that ole frog in the pot of water story is TRUE, TRUE, TRUE!!!

That's the problem with the nanny state mentality.

 

[pegwinn]

Consideration should be given to changing this law. I think in situationswhere we have catastrophes the size of Katrina, the feds should have the authority to go right in with all the resources that might not be available at the state and local levels. If the law were changed, this would save valuable time lost by the feds having to show proper respect for the authority of the local and state governments and would do away with the political fights of "territorial" domain. Maybe local, state and federal governments would then be able to work together without political considerations entering into the picture.

As soon as you rewrite that law won't the states rights advocates come out of the woodwork? Most reasonable people no longer worry overmuch about states rightst ever since:

The civil war.
The direct election of senators.
The income tax
The interstate commerce clause

 

[Annie]

Consideration should be given to changing this law. I think in situationswhere we have catastrophes the size of Katrina, the feds should have the authority to go right in with all the resources that might not be available at the state and local levels. If the law were changed, this would save valuable time lost by the feds having to show proper respect for the authority of the local and state governments and would do away with the political fights of "territorial" domain. Maybe local, state and federal governments would then be able to work together without political considerations entering into the picture.

I'll wade in here, I don't think the states, incompetant though they may be, should subsume themselves to the fed. Then we are the dream of some of the EU. Don't want to go there. I'm saying this, from one of the most corrupt, incompetant states in the Union.

This should be, but probably won't be a wake up for the states.

 

[KarlMarx]

It is settled wisdom among journalists that the federal response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was unconscionably slow.

"Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever during a dire national emergency," wrote New York Times columnist Bob Herbert in a somewhat more strident expression of the conventional wisdom.

But the conventional wisdom is the opposite of the truth.

.......

"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."

........

Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.

So they libel as a "national disgrace" the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.

......

A better question -- which few journalists ask -- is why weren't the roughly 2,000 municipal and school buses in New Orleans utilized to take people out of the city before Katrina struck?

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm

 

[Annie]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm

That is the picture that is emerging in my reality, via both MSM and blogs. Now in the alternate reality of the far right and left a different picture I'm sure.

 

[Adam's Apple]

I like the local, state and federal structure as it currently exists except in times of national emergency. That is the part that needs to be changed. As I understand it, the federal government can implement the Insurrection Act (don't know if that is actually what it is called) and take over at such times. While this was discussed and considered by the Bush Administration with regard to Katrina, they decided not to go that route. Seems to me if the feds had had the authority to take over right from the beginning--from the time Bush asked that New Orleans be evacuated on Friday--then in all likelihood we would not have had the mess that developed and gave this country such a black eye in the eyes of other countries. It's becoming increasingly clear that Louisiana did not have the local brainpower, manpower, or resources to deal with Katrina.

 

[theim]

I'm just sick of all the Bush this Bush that. The man is the PRESIDENT of the COUNTRY. It's not his job. This is what LOCAL government is for. Why the hell editorials are written critiqing Bush and ignoring Nagin and Blanco is beyond me. They are not equally responsible either. In most debate topics, this one included, I cannot stand the "plague on both your houses". New Orleans is not Bush's jurisdiction. Bush does not propose laws having mainly to do with NO, and Bush does not enforce laws applying mainly to NO. The local executive branch, Nagin and Blanco, were the biggest screw-ups I have ever witnessed.

Is the President supposed to respond to local disasters? No. Having the Federal government simply sideline local government everytime something goes wrong flies in the face of the principle of a Republic.

 

[pegwinn]

I like the local, state and federal structure as it currently exists except in times of national emergency. That is the part that needs to be changed.

Some are saying that once an area is declared a federal disaster area, that the feds may step in. I don't know. The only problem with your idea is that it would destroy forever any concept of States Rights.

Honestly I don't give a *&^%^ about states rights. That issue was settled during the civil war, as well as the sixteenth and seventeenth amendments, and of course the commerce clause. But; If W had done that....... the firestorm would have really gotten out of whack. It's a no-win situation.

Believe it or not, I like the idea of declaring martial law and simply moving in. But as a realist I have to look at all the angles and I just don't see this as happening.