Schakowsky Responds
ArchPundit
At the Huffington Post
There Are Heroes
I’m pretty angry right now, but I did want to mention one group that hasn’t received the praise they deserve–the United States Coast Guard was first in and continues to run an amazing and astounding rescue operation. Dangling out of helicopters isn’t my idea of a fun profession, but I’m damn glad those heroes do.
And let me add the State of Texas. Even if they overpromised too many beds, that’s erring on the side of trying to do too much and Governor Goodhair has been done an incredible job trying to demonstrate an amazing level of hospitality and compassion.
It Just Doesn’t Stop
3:32 P.M. Ben Morris, Slidell mayor: We are still hampered by some of the most stupid, idiotic regulations by FEMA. They have turned away generators, we’ve heard that they’ve gone around seizing equipment from our contractors. If they do so, they’d better be armed because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them deprive our citizens. I’m pissed off, and tired of this horse$#@@.”
The President must act to change FEMA leadership now, there is simply no way that the loss of continuity could be worse than what is happening now.
I think Kathleen Blanco made some terrible mistakes in the beginning, but with these assclowns running the show I wouldn’t have turned over operational control either.
Race and Class
Given the disastrous response in Jefferson, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines I’m having a hard time believing that it was the race of the people who delayed the federal response. It appears it was a staggering level of incompetence. That said, there is such a strong relationship between race and class, the impact of poverty and one’s ability to be safe are critical issues to address.
I don’t believe those responding at any level are racist, though some are pretty fricken incompetent.
Okay, Honore should Be SEC DHS
I was giving Chertoff some room until I say this:
Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, ?New Orleans Dodged the Bullet.? Because if you recall, the storm moved to the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing worse. It was on Tuesday that the levee ? may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday ? that the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city. I think that second catastrophe really caught everybody by surprise.
From 2:15 Monday on the Time-Picayune breaking news
New Orleans, 9th Ward, 2 p.m.
Wes McDermott, from the office of emergency preparedness in New Orleans, said officials have fielded at least 100 calls from people in distress in the Lower 9th Ward and eastern New Orleans.
People report they are waiting on roofs and clinging to trees, he said. But McDermott said the city cannot send rescue crews out until the wind drops below 50 mph.
Angela Chalk, a lieutenant with the community emergency response team in New Orleans, said her niece, Brandi Hyde, is one of those people stranded and awaiting rescue. She said her niece is stranded on a roof of a three-story apartment building on Bundy Road, along with other tenants.
Meanwhile, City Hall confirmed a breach of the levee along the 17th Street Canal at Bellaire Drive, allowing water to spill into Lakeview.
What’s even more bizarre is that much of the Mayor’s information was coming from FEMA flights to survey damage if you listen to his Monday night interview.
I knew about the levee breach before Michael Chertoff.
There was an Absolute Failure of State and Local Officials for one Hurricane
It was Ivan. Below are several articles on how Louisiana and the City of New Orleans coped with the lessons learned from Ivan and the evacuation.
There are several striking things in the material–just go back a few posts to see the full articles over the last year.
One is that the City was acutely aware of the problem of evacing the poor and others who couldn’t get out, but didn’t have the resources to do it. Even with the claims on Drudge, the reality is the City didn’t have 200 bus drivers to volunteer to drive them. The young man who comandeered a school bus was great, but imagine just grabbing two hundred drivers and sending them in heavy traffic to evacuate–the number of problems involving accidents would only make a difficult evacuation harder. City resources were focused on securing the city and moving people within the city to shelters including the Superdome. An action that save innumerable lives.
During Ivan, only 1200 people showed up at the Superdome. Since Ivan, the City improved it’s plan and had city buses run routes for people without cars to places where other special bus routes ran people to shelters. This time, 20-30,000 people got there. If there was a mistake, it was not designating another shelter of last resort–such as the Convention Center (this would have helped additionally because there would have been some real security planned).
The State and the City were acutely aware that a Mandatory evacuation would still leave at least 100,000 behind. There simply is no infrastructure to solve that problem anywhere in the nation. Knowing that, the City was working to make the Superdome retrofitted in its rehab to provide exactly the kind of improvements that would have alleviated the suffering–power sources and sewage modifications.
Overall though, those who vote have their concerns most addressed and in Ivan’s case the contraflow system was very poorly managed. The State fixed that plan and those with the means to leave certainly had a lot of traffic to deal with, but it moved relatively fast other than the Mississippi border which was a whole other problem.
Those who vote are those people who could evacuate and politicians responded. What’s stunning is that even in the case of the worst off, the City of New Orleans still worked to improve the shelter intake and provision system to give a last resort.
What is unbelievable is the federal government didn’t have a contingency for evacuating those left in the City after the storm. The problem was known and the City did what it could do to alleviate those concerns and in the long term had plans to alleviate the problems even further. Katrina beat them to it though.
There are going to be thousands of mistakes to identify and problems to identify over the next few years. Everyone in the situation make some understandable mistakes given the breadth of the crisis. Some of those mistaked are not understandable and at a minimum we are seeing a flood of bullshit out of Mike Brown’s mouth that seriously questions whether he is in touch with reality. Replace him now–put Honore in charge so you lose no continuity and then deal with other problems later.
Tidal Wave of Compassion?
Errr…that’s a really inappropriate phrase, but also the least of our worries.
It Wasn’t Just the City of New Orleans
Jefferson, St. Bernards and Plaquemines were not receiving help either. It wasn’t until Friday that there was any contact with FEMA in St. Bernards and Aaron Broussard’s break down is well known by now.
There’ll be lots of blame to go around, but it’s pretty clear one clusterfuck is centered right on Mike Brown.
How Big of An Asshole is Alan Keyes?
This Big:
Dear friend,
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As we pray and work for the recovery of our people in Hurricane Katrina’s wake, please read this message from a great American, my good friend Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.
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For more information about Jim Gilchrist, who is running for Congress to help secure our borders, visit his website at: www.JimGilchrist.com
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Keep faith,Alan Keyes
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Dear Gilchrist for Congress Supporters:
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Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are revealing to our fellow Americans, and indeed to the whole world, human greatness yoked to terrible weaknesses and moral decay within our great nation. Along with the inspiring and extraordinary acts of heroism, personal courage and sacrifice we are witnessing by many of our fellow citizens, we are also tragically watching our country?s political institutions, our people?s moral fiber, and most vividly, our allegiance to the principle of the rule of law?clearly beginning to fray and rend under the terrible stress of Katrina?s devastation.
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CLICK HERE to Contribute!
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But we have known for some time that our national capacity for goodness and greatness as a people has been under assault. Now we see how insufficient has been our national response to the political and moral crisis that has been building for years.
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We need new citizen commitment to keep America strong and decent. We need new leadership that is not afraid of polls, not afraid of mainstream media ridicule, not afraid to stand in the gap against tides?even masses and mobs?of humanity who have lost respect for the duties of citizenship and civilization.
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Now is the hour for Patriots, for loyal and patriotic Americans to step forward. America is a nation of laws, not of men. Lawlessness?or casual regard for human worth and the institutions of society?will not prevail.
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Please find below an important message from my fellow Minutemen at Minuteman HQ. They have a crucial security border alert for you in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
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CLICK HERE to Contribute!
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I ask you sincerely to take a few moments to read this very important message, and reflect not only on the heart-breaking situation we must relieve in the hurricane zone, but the challenge before our nation to respond for the future, so that we the people of the United States NEVER AGAIN find ourselves so weak and inadequate to a great crisis. I pray that you will help our Minutemen, and that you will continue to help my campaign for Congress, in these hours of America?s need.
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Thank you, and God Bless America.
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Jim Gilchrist
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SPECIAL DISASTER ALERT: The Minutemen Civil Defense Corps has started our “Secure Our Borders” operation EARLY to aid Border Patrol helping with Katrina relief… which means we need YOUR help NOW. CLICK HERE to Contribute!
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 100 U.S. Border Patrol Agents have been reassigned from Arizona and New Mexico to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Already, CBP agents are en route to the affected area to provide security and law enforcement support during the evacuation of the Super Dome.
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Minuteman Civil Defense Corps deployed volunteers to the border today in order to fill gaps in border security as the U.S. Border Patrol was reassigned to disaster relief duty.
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Due to the mounting crisis, U.S. Border Patrol officers are being shifted away from their posts guarding the US-Mexico border to aid in the Hurricane Katrina disaster, leaving our country vulnerable to increased trafficking by illegal aliens and terrorists attempting to enter the U.S.
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Martial Law has been declared in the disaster stricken areas, and the Border Patrol along with thousands of National Guard personnel have been mobilized to enforce the rule of law. As a result, we’ve decided to push up our launch date of our “Secure Our Borders” operation, which had been scheduled to begin in October, so that Minuteman volunteers can be immediately deployed to the southern border with Mexico to assist with border security.
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According to a report from Homeland Security, the Bush administration ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency charged with securing the border, to provide manpower, assets, and humanitarian support to Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, which understandably has some border state residents nervous about the lack of border security.
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We’ve requested that Minuteman volunteers and supporters aid in the effort by donating to worthy relief agencies, but we’ve also told volunteers to only travel to the area with authorized disaster assistance organizations to assist with any search and rescue or law enforcement duties. We’re mobilizing volunteers RIGHT NOW to stand in the breach along our border?a breach that has now opened wider, due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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While the federal government is responding to the natural disaster and its aftermath of lawlessness and human suffering, we will assist by sending Minuteman volunteers to protect and defend our Border line in assistance to an already understaffed and embattled U.S. Border Patrol.
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Our nation needs our help now more than ever, and we are prepared to serve honorably during a time of crisis.
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WILL YOU HELP? While we certainly encourage donations to worthy relief organizations, NOW is the time when we need help in order to “pick up the slack” as more than 100 U.S. Border Patrol Agents have been reassigned from Arizona and New Mexico to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. CLICK HERE to Contribute!
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We weren’t expecting this sudden need. There’s no way to plan for such a time as this?but nevertheless, we MUST take action now. We can’t leave our borders unprotected?but having to start our operation early means we’re having to start without having all of the funds in place that we planned for.
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The Border Patrol Agents are headed for New Orleans, so we’re headed for the Border. Can you help us in our efforts to “Secure Our Borders”? We need you NOW. Thank you.
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Sincerely,
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Chris Simcox, Founder
Minuteman Civil Defense Corps
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CLICK HERE to Contribute!
https://secure.responseenterprises.com/jimgilchrist/?a=143
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If you prefer to donate by check, please mail to:
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Jim Gilchrist for Congress
PO Box 2308
Dept Code 143
Laguna Hills, CA 92654-2308
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Go to the right and donate to the Red Cross.