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Katrina Needs Rudy Giuliani

 

It occurs to me this morning that a strong leader needs to step forward and help New Orleans get itself back together. My recommendation: Rudy Giuliani. He's been there. He knows how to accomplish things. He'd get law and order back in high gear. The mayor of New Orleans seems a bit lost, and as Brendan says, a little loose with the facts.

Also, don't forget to give something.

ETC: The picture below will be seen a lot, I expect. It's New Orleans' fleet of busses.

Unused. Idle. Empty. And now flooded.

I think Bush's initial response to this tragedy was tragically delayed, and he agrees with that and spoke to it, admitting the inadequacy of the federal reaction.

The mayor of New Orleans, on the other hand, is not owning up to his lapse of judgement in failing to use the existing materials at hand to get people out of the city. Instead, he accuses the feds of holding "press conferences." While he, himself, is holding an interview with CNN.

He says, "I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man.... This is a national disaster."

He had the busses, before the storm hit, and he chose not to use them. His "mandatory" evacuation relied on the means of the people and not on the means of the city. And now he's politicizing the disaster and deaths, for which he owns some responsibility. I have no words for that, other than utter disgust.

As I said before, no politician can stand tall in this episode. Nobody made good decisions. But backbone would dictate that a person own their own shit, and it's callously regrettable that Ray Nagin can't admit his own culpability.

 


by Brett Rogers, 9/1/2005 7:07:55 AM
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Comments

amen!

 

 

Posted by Anonymous, 9/1/2005 7:37:42 PM


New Orleans is a disaster on many many levels, and the political fallout is, I believe, going to hurt Mr. Bush's administration. The reaction has been slow and inadequate--and I see that he has at least admitted that it's unacceptable. But (and far be it from me to defend the man) it started with an inadequate defense that wasn't his fault...my sister was a red cross volunteer for Hurricane Andrew in '92, and even then it was fairly common knowledge among those in the disaster biz that if a big storm ever hit New Orleans, it would be a catastrophe. The levees weren't strong enough. There wasn't enough planning. Geographically it's a giant salad bowl. It was inevitable.

But what I find more disturbing than anything else is the basic lack of humanity the citizens of the city are showing each other, and the poor judgement of the officials in sniping at each other publicly. Okay, granted, I'm naive hippy girl who thinks people are innately good, and these people are desparate...I get that. But traditionally, people come together in times of crisis--especially natural disasters when everybody is in the same big boat--remember the floods? They usually bring out the best in people. I see very little evidence of that happening here, and it's incredibly sad on a cosmic level, but it's also sad because it's just so colossally stupid and unproductive. Looting is to be expected, and ultimately it's just stuff, but the violence is horrifying. Shoot each other, beat each other up, so then ANY help that might be forthcoming will be terrified to come into your neighborhood. That helps. Brilliant.

And while there is plenty of blame to go around, it doesn't seem a particularly wise move for anybody in any kind of official position to be throwing it around RIGHT NOW for the media to report. Not terribly good for calming the masses.

Just my opinion. And I'm still throwing some money at the Red Cross. But sheesh. I worry about society as a whole when I see something like this.

 

 

Posted by Bella, 9/2/2005 9:56:48 AM


Well said, Bella. Like you, I'm appalled at the response of every politician, from the mayor to the governor to the president.

As for the response of the dregs of society to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish gain, I'm not too surprised by what's been happening. When the controls and authorities are removed, many people opt for baser behavior. Margaret Thatcher once said, "The veneer of civilization is very thin." Unfortunately, too true.

If there is any good to be had from this horrible situation, I would expect that the government - at all levels - will review their practices and procedures to remove the inefficiencies and expedite relief and authority.

In the meantime, good for you for giving. Let's hope that the generosity for this need is as great as what was given for the tsunami victims.

 

 

Posted by Brett Rogers (http://www.beatcanvas.com), 9/2/2005 1:19:59 PM


Rudy had the ability to be seen by the people he had to help confort and help give strength to, you have to remember these people have no way of knowing anything other than what they see in front of them, and the continuing despair and desperation and death, and nothing in the form of relief.
If you thought that truely, the lives of your family could be saved if you had to move yourself to violence, I think you would move yourself to violence. It's not an excuse, but it is comlpete despair and desperation on a level you can never know.
The sad thing is that the government knew this would happen, and they estimated the 121000 households would be unable to evacuate in a 72 hour evacuation window. They knew this a year ago.
I could not be more dissapointed with our federal government. Pathetic.

 

 

Posted by Stefanie, 9/2/2005 4:07:49 PM


Yeah, I have to say that Mayor is a piece of work. Crappy decisions aside (and that's a big aside) he has only contributed to the panic. I think it was true that the feds had no clue how bad it was, and I have no problem with pleading for help for your city, but he has basically been having a nervous breakdown on TV on a regular basis, and if a city can't count on it's mayor, that's not going to inspire a lot of confidence...and only add to the desparation and fear that causes people to get violent and react in ways they normally never would.

But historically, Louisiana as a whole is not always known for it's sound political choices. :-)

I also find it kind of amazing that George actually set foot in Louisiana only when the water, food and troops arrived. Can't plan for a relief effort in his own country in less than a week, but he's pretty good with a photo op. Jerk.

But, YAY! for the troops that are there. In the course of day, according to news reports, they've done a hell of a job getting people out, getting supplies in, and getting some organization for individual financial relief set up. I heard that the dome even has it's own zip code now. Remarkable what people can do when they are actually set to task, isn't it? I hope it restores the faith of the people of New Orleans in their country--if it deserves it. I also hope it can give them some of their hope back.

 

 

Posted by Bella, 9/3/2005 11:28:03 AM



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