Yeah, This Is A Leader
Nagin blamed the outbreak of crime and violence on drug addicts who are cut off from their drug supplies and wandering the city “looking to take the edge off their jones.”
On Thursday, Nagin’s frustration was palpable.
“I’ve been out there man. I flew in these helicopters, been in the crowds talking to people crying, don’t know where their relatives are. I’ve done it all man, and I’ll tell you man, I keep hearing that it’s coming. This is coming, that is coming. And my answer to that today is BS, where is the beef? Because there is no beef in this city. “
There is a lot of bull, though.
Look, obviously this has just exploded far worse than anyone expected, but he and the Governor got to take a goodly portion of the blame; this is a state issue before it’s a federal one.
“Get off your asses and let’s do something.”
Where were your police? Why didn’t you order them to enforce the law?
Nanny State | Crusader | 
September 2, 2005 9:18 am
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There is a lot of bull, though.
Omigod, that’s rich! Bravo, Bingley. (as much as it pains moi to say so)
Seems some of the police were doing a bit of looting themselves, from what I have read.
There was a similar fingerpointing session during the Hurricane Andrew response. At that time, FEMA wouldn’t even pre-position resources prior to landfall. It took several days to get FEMA to even acknowledge there was a problem in the state. Florida kept on arguing, “Call you!?!?!?! Can’t you see the news? We need help!!”. FEMA replied, “We have recieved no formal request.”
I’ve spoken with (then) southern Florida residents who don’t recall this nonsense (well, they didn’t have TV, after all), but it made national news. I think that this was one factor in Bush’s election loss.
I do know that among the first things that happened under the Clinton administration was a general cleaning in FEMA. Until then, it was a hidebound, bureaucratic organization that responded to disasters only grudgingly. I speak from personal experience here, folks, as I have dealt with FEMA on a professional basis for years.
When Clinton’s appointee for FEMA head, James L. Witt, came on board in 1993, he was the first agency director with emergency management experience at the state level. He literally rebuilt FEMA; I consider that to be one of Clinton’s best products. Among other things, he developed what was then known as the Federal Response Plan, later known as the National Response Plan, which “…forms the basis of how the federal government coordinates with state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector during incidents.”
This plan has existed for years, folks. Louisiana (from state to local governments) had it in hand; it’s available by download, and hardcopies were easy to get in the early days of the INTERNET. The folks in the are knew their responsibilities. And they still f****d it up.
FEMA, along with other Federal agencies and DoD, was prepared and ready to go before Katrina came ashore. The Federal government was ready to go. So were the adjacent states.
I can’t be any blunter than that.
BEAUtifully spoken, JeffS!! Let’s put you in charge. Tell them to they need to send you home now and I’ll be your lovely, blonde spokesperson.
There’s a lady in my office whose son works for FEMA, and he can’t get gas in Alabama to get to the affected areas.
James Lee Witt is an awesome person. Back at Christmas 2000, he at his home here in Arkansas when the Ice Storm from Hell hit.
Talk about getting FEMA help! Let the director get stuck with no power for five days and see how fast they move. 🙂
Thank you, THS, for the recommendation and the offer. But I have to say that I don’t envy any of the senior leadership in this disaster relief/recovery effort, especially at the Federal level. They will be villified no matter how well they do.
So I’ll pass on having a lovely, blonde spokesperson. I can do more in the background.
(A-hem…I feel it incumbant upon me to warn you I don’t handle reJECtion well…)
(Not well at all…)
(Nope. Not at all.)
Dean Esmay wrote a great piece on this.
Where were these politicans in the last decade or two when they could have been fighting for stronger safety measures and disaster planning in New Orleans? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that they were especially vulnerable, given the lay of the land.