you can plan crap all day long, but in every single plan, I don’t think “then the President makes people get on busses” is in there. there’s a reason why governors are held responsible for the States. it’s why Mayors are held responsible for cities.

but, I guess whatever high school you go to, they teach you to blame Dave Thomas when the Wendy’s drive-through messes up your order.

This is specifically to Mr. Holmes in response to his rant. I’m not sure what personal vendetta you have against the mayor of New Orleans; but, your comments were not based on fact. Not even close. You make reference to the left relying on government; but, the right has ALWAYS been the one to shove the rest of the country up BIG government’s ass. Need examples? Read a history book. You got a couple of nice quotes from Mr. Benson’s sophomore English class; but, it appears you slept right through Soc and Government.

Regarding whose responsibility it was to plan and/or prepare for such a disaster, it is not for you or your opinion to decide except in your fantasy world. We have elections in this country and our duly elected representatives in the federal government took on the responsibility of handling disasters like this in the 1930′s. Eventually, FEMA was established in 1979 by Jimmy Carter in an effort to reduce the red-tape encountered by the many federal agencies created by the right to handle disaster preparedness, relief and reconstruction. All such agencies were brought together under one umbrella by presidential mandate. In 2003, George W. Bush made FEMA part of Homeland Security which reduced it from a cabinet level agency to a mere division of such an agency. Michael Brown himself has been quoted as saying too much emphasis was placed on terrorism and not enough on natural disasters. Mr. Brown’s exact title was “Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response”.

It appears to me that the mayor of New Orleans fulfilled his obligations to the federal plan and FEMA dropped the ball. I’m sure there are many things the mayor of New Orleans would do differently in hind-sight. I’m certain that if he had not depended so much on the other responsible parties to fulfill their obligations, we would be cheering his actions and praising him as a hero. I’m also certain that there are a lot of unanswered questions which need to be addressed, including many on the city level.

Cheers to George W. Bush for his quick action in rectifying the mistakes of FEMA director Michael Brown. I am not a George W. Bush fan; but, I am glad he took control of this situation and delegated the correct man to see that the federal government’s obligations were fulfilled.

I hope you enjoy your sophomore year in Mr. Benson’s class and maybe when you finish high school, you will be ready and able to intelligently partake in discussions of a political nature. You will also be able to vote so you can tell your duly elected representative that you no longer want the federal government to be responsible for emergency preparedness of natural disasters. You can save paper by writing it in the same letter where you demand an end to gay marriage.

Oh, yeah! I forgot. It’s your website and you can say what you want without having to back any of it up. Mom and dad must be proud.

And we know that Nagin had all these buses to use.

And by the way, according to Blanco herself, Bush had to call and BEG them to evacuate. See http://www.area417.com/area_417/2005/09/case_in_pointwh.html

It is far easier to mobilize local people and resources for a local problem rather than people in faraway lands.

Why not instruct people who have no other means of transportation to stand out at their nearest bus stop, and the normal city buses will take you to the shelter nearest to your area? i.e. Pick up everyone on that route, and when the route is done or the bus is full, drive to the shelter, drop them off, and re-start where you left off. Use the walkie-talkies on the bus to coordinate with local officials on who goes where. Of course you may have to run more buses than normal. Keep doing that as long as possible; then, as a reward, use a fleet of helicopters or use the buses if there’s enough time to fly the bus drivers and their families to safety at a nicer-than-average hotel…and give them a hefty bonus, too.

Unlike a normal city where most government has an infrastructure to communicate with to coordinate relief efforts – this one has none. The local police have deserted. The local government has effectively disbanded and now the federal government has to step in and fly blind.

For every person who decided “When God wants to take me, he’s going to take me” who stayed in there home and is now standing on their roof – they fucked up. For every person who voted for Ray Nagin under the idea that he might have some ability to lead – they fucked up. Same for Blanco.

I don’t go rock climbing because I know that if I bite off more than I can handle – I cannot count on my government to save me. Or at least not right away.

How you can you possibly call a request for aid on AUGUST *28* “advance planning”? Surely you jest. Even if the feds gave TRILLIONS to Louisiana and New Orleans immediately, it would take months or years to improve the levees, which were the primary reason the city flooded to the extent that it did.

What occured in New Orleans was predicted years and years ago. Government officials knew, and they either did not want to address the problem or somehow could not.