Hurricane Katrina & Local Politics

[Guest guest]

There seems to be more to it than meets the eye.

 

Vaidun Vidyadhar

Tamworth, NSW

Australia

Email: vvidya (AT) optusnet (DOT) com.au

 

 

A SAD STATE OF CORRUPT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT.

Politics over duty

 

I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in the near

future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to light. On

Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center

took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco personally to plead

with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and they said they'd

take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240 miles south had

recorded 68' waves before it was destroyed. President Bush spent Friday

afternoon and evening in meetings with his advisors and administrators drafting

all of the paperwork required for a state to request federal assistance (and not

be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency

Act).

 

This is a post from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who's been

researching what went on before the storm hit

Just before midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and

pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government and the

military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was told that

they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to be involved yet.

After the President's final call to the governor she held meetings with her

staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing federal forces. It was

decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would make it look as if they

had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not be invited in.

Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and Nagin

requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that they

declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation. After

a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order an evacuation,

but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor still refused

to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action. In

frustration the President declared the area a national disaster area before the

state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations.

Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the

ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional

requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can

move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the

Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.

Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New Orleans for

levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a marina and

support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that will look

into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the federal government

for funding and published on the city's website was never implemented and in

fact may have been bogus for the purpose of gaining additional federal funding

as we now learn that the organizations identified in the plan were never

contacted or coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that

they were. The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard

questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even

sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which

further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.

Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have

commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own

emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal

to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but

he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them. This is a sad

time for all of us to see that a major city has all but been destroyed and

thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more suffering, but

it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and trying to find

a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray to God for

the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as possible and we

learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.