The Blame Game, and other silly notions

There’s a lot of accusations flying now about who’s at fault for the problems in New Orleans.

Lot’s of folks are jumping right to the top, blaming the President. Didn’t the levee’s need to be updated while Clinton was President? How about Carter?
I suspect it’s because they think Bush is at fault, or they hate him and this is just one more thing they can use to fire people up.

Here’s some proof. The following link is for the New Orleans Emergency action plan. It clearly states that the Mayor is responsible for issuing an evacuation, and the city government is responsible for providing transportation, shelter, and food for evacuees where needed.

http://www.cityofno.com/SystemModules/PrintPage.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26

Did they do their job?

“Nagin and local pols can't say they weren't told. In a watershed article published in Risk & Insurance in December of 2000 by Lori Widmer, Shea Penland, geologist and professor at the University of New Orleans, reveals himself to be a veritable Cassandra: "When we get the big hurricane and there are 10,000 people dead, the city government's been relocated to the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, refugee camps have been set up and there are $10 billion plus in losses, what then?" he queries. Penland laments the Francophile city's laissez faire attitude, which in the end proved fatal: "These are things I've been preaching for a number of years. This town has never planned ahead. They've always reacted and not pro-acted." Notice what Penland does not do — blame the feds for a localized problem. Ultimately, there's no getting around the fact that New Orleans is responsible for itself.”
(Hurricane Katrina: The Blame Game; By Karen H. Pittman, MichNews.com , Sep 6, 2005)

Well, you read the Plan, and make your own decision.

As far as FEMA? They have to be requested by the state.
The military, those “horrible” folks from Abu Ghraib & Guantanamo lore? They’re restoring order, saving lives, rescuing people, and fixing levees. They are helping even those that complained about them.