"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 14:55:34 -0400, "ATP*" wrote:
"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 3 Sep 2005 09:37:34 -0400, "ATP*" wrote:
So No mate..my opinion would not have changed. And quite honestly..I
HAVE lived down there, and while there, made preps for just such a
situation. Its called Situational Awareness and personal
responsibility. Unfortunately..the vast majority of those remaining in
danger are professional victims who have been indoctrinated in
waiting, hand out, for someone to come fix their booboos.
Have to agree with you on this one, Gunner. Personal responsibility is
the
key here and these whiners should be blaming themselves first. OTOH, the
response was poorly organized and inadequate. If we are supposed to be
able
to respond to terrorist attacks effectively they better get their act
together on ALL levels of government. There is usually little or no
warning
before an attack.
When was the last attack scenario (since the Cold War) war gamed that
involved a terrorist attack on an area the size of the British Isles?
Gunner
How about terrorists blowing up a dam or destroying a levee during flood
conditions? Throw in a few hostile cells shooting at rescuers and you've
got
New Orleans.
Yes and? Getting The Beast (federal government) rolling will still
take a relatively long time. Which is why local governments are
mandated to be First Responders. Its simply impossible to collect
peole and materials from all over the place, survey the situation, and
get the ball rolling in anything less than a couple days..at best.
The only possible way to speed things up, is to institute a Police
State with troops garrisoned in each town and hamlet. Do you REALLY
want a government that can swarm a town or city in only a few hours?
Think hard about that...
Local government is tasked with the responsiblity of being the first
line of response. Fact of life, and common sense. In Nola..they
****ed the dog. Shrug. Its obvious to anyone with more than a couple
braincells functioning. No amount of blaming the Feral govenment will
change this factoid. And I as a right wing fringe kook survivalist am
hardly the appologist for Big Government.. But facts is facts and
logistics is logistics.
The sad part is that so much public attention and outrage (misdirected
intentionally by the Left) has been given to Nola, a minute fraction
of the problem area, that other areas muchmuchmuch harder hit are
still without aid of any significance. But then too..in those other
areas..local govenerment and the citizens themselves are acting as
First Responders. The old boy who is governor of Mississippi is gonna
be a very popular fellow in years to come, as he DIDNT hide for 4
days, DIDNT go on the tv whimpering about how they are being
discriminated against yada yada yada..and he is right smack dab in the
middle of the rescue operations, and doing a damned fine job of
organization and red tape cutting, from all reports
Gunner
I agree with most of what you're saying. Local government was dysfunctional
in this case, and definitely not prepared. It will take some time to sort
through the facts and analyze the response. On the federal level, look who's
in charge:
Knight Ridder Exposes Horsey Background of FEMA Chief
By E&P Staff
Published: September 04, 2005 10:00 AM ET
NEW YORK So who is Michael Brown, now catching all kinds of criticism for
his handling of the catastrophe in New Orleans? It seems his primary career
experience before nabbing a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) post
was running a Arabian horse association. An article by Matt Stearns and Seth
Borenstein for Knght Ridder Newspapers observes, "there was little in
Michael D. Brown's background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane
Katrina."
The reporters quote Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade
emergency management chief: "He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not
aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm. The world that this
man operated in and
the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not
have the experience."
During the 1990s, Brown served as judges and stewards commissioner of the
International Arabian Horse Association. His job was to ensure that
horse-show judges followed the rules and to investigate allegations against
those suspected of cheating. "I wouldn't have regarded his position in the
horse industry as a platform to where he is now," said Tom Connelly, a
former association president. The reporter refer to Brown's stormy years
with the horses as a "rocky tenure." Some have claimed that he was fired
from his post.
But Brown knew Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's 2000
campaign manager. Allbaugh took over FEMA in 2001, and hired Brown as
general counsel.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1001054585