Katrina fall-out

Peter R. wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:

Why the hell were they there? Everyone in America knew that New Orleans --
and everything for 100 miles on each side -- was about to be blasted by
Katrina.

Jay, many didn't have the economic means to escape the storm, nor a place
to which to escape. That area is about the poorest part of the US.


This argument is starting to wear a little thin as more information
becomes available. New Orleans and the state of Louisiana had a plan
for evacuating more than a million people from the city, including
providing transportation for up to 300,000 people who had no means of
getting out themselves. Neither the governor nor the mayor (who has
been very quick to blame everyone but himself) chose to implement this
plan, despite the fact they had plenty of warning and all of the needed
resources.

The argument that people are unable to leave also weakens as we get
more and more incidents of people refusing to leave when they are
offered transportation, despite the fact that they are being told that
they will get no more food or water or medical services if they stay.
They won't even leave with armed men telling them in no uncertain terms
that they have to leave.

We also see that a lot of the people who are refusing to leave are
anything but destitute. They are just ignorant and stubborn.

Now, really, it is easy for local officials to blame the federal
government for a weak response, but what were these local officials
doing? It appears that they were doing nothing. City and state
governments are supposed to be the first resort in an emergency. Where
were they? Police were standing by watching looters. Emergency call
centers just let phones ring off the hook.

People who are not Americans may not know this, but federal troops are
actually prohibited from performing law enforcement duties. The federal
government had to get pretty creative with the law in order to get
anything moving in New Orleans and Louisiana. Yet we have a governor in
Louisiana who took days to make up her mind whether she needed federal
help or not.

I don't think most people are fooled by the usual idiot media reporting
of federal incompetence. The next local elections in Louisiana may show
a real backlash, if a recall movement or even impeachment proceedings
are not organized before then.