Who was in charge?
I’ve tried to figure this out all week, and can’t find a straight answer from any news sources – who was officially supposed to be in charge of the initial stages of the hurricane rescue efforts? The National Guard is under the governor’s jurisdiction until the President steps in, right? It became apparent just a few hours after the hurricane broke that the job was not going to be done properly. Why did Bush wait another 3 or 4 days to finally get her out of the way and start getting the job done?
Why couldn’t other National Guardsmen be sent in from surrounding states? This wasn’t a military action, but an evacuation. Lines should be able to be blurred in order to save our own citizens.
If the President could not step in until it later, then something needs to be fixed in the progression of who can do what when. If he could step in earlier, then part of the blame is his and his administration.
And don’t get me started on the mayor of New Orleans. He’s no Giuliani, that’s for sure. Instead of rallying the rescue workers, he has spent his time safely tucked away in Baton Rouge blaming everyone else for his inadequacies. He’s the one who didn’t issue an evacuation order early enough. He’s the one who didn’t mobilize the public transportation to get as many people as possible as far away as possible from the threat of Katrina.
The governor dropped the ball.
The mayor botched up the evacuation – ignoring his own Emergency Management Plan.
FEMA and Homeland Security were inadequate in their response.
The President was embarrassingly slow to react.
How many heads will roll once calm is restored? It’s time for the politicians to stop finger pointing and get the job done. There’s time for political reaction later. There are still many lives to be saved.
Will any of this have an impact on Chief Justice Rehnquist’s replacement?
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Reading blogs of New Orleanians doesn’t make the picture any prettier. They point out that much of the population was unable to leave the city because they are poor and have no transportation or a place to go. And the budget for FEMA and the US Army Corp of Engineers, specifically levy repair and maintenance, has been slashed over the last 5 years. Where did the money go? You guessed it, Homeland Security. Maybe one of us should drop a bomb on Louisiana so these people can reap the benefits of all those diverted tax dollars when HS steps in.
And good grief, I know that the response was slow because Katrina took everyone by surprise, but what has all this terror alert preparedness been for if not for an unexpected disaster?