mobiggins wrote:Yes, it is a disaster of 100,000sq-mile proportion, but there's also a large, historic metropolis in the middle of that 100,000sq miles that the local and federal government should have been prepared to aid within 12-24 hours of a catastrophe such as this one. 4 years on from 9/11, we had a test of national security THAT WE SAW COMING and we failed miserably. The evacuation may have been a local matter, but the quick aftermath response was a federal matter at which Bush, Chertoff, Brown (FEMA Head) and all attendant government leaders failed miserably. Chertoff has to have NPR reporters tell him that people are starving, and Brown's take on every single post-hurricane emergency is akin to a child's view of things. Go to CNN.com and read what his official response was vs. the on-the-ground reporting of news agencies, local officials, and civilians, and you'll see how out of touch the government was on things. And Bush apologists can apologise all they want, but the fact of the matter was that G-Dub was on vacation before, during, and after the hurricane, and had no clue.
We could do the blame game all we want. Things could have definitley been handled better all around, but if you are really interested in blaming someone, blame mother nature and father time. Mother nature for hitting the American coast with a giant hurricane and father time for only giving us a couple days to prepare.
These things are called disasters for a reason. I think we should do a better job than the media at tossing out blame. The media(doesn't matter which channel) just wants us to watch.
TheMightyPuck wrote:
One thing I can say I learned from this disaster is that if something really big hits you are on your own. Have a survival plan for you and your family. Have emergency supplies on hand. Know how you are going to defend your family and/or property.
That was a good post by Puck. This country was built on the individuals being strong and joining together when needed.
Well I figure we were due.
