...piss me off to no end. I'm talking about those of you who have nothing better to do than complain and rant about how awful the US government is...particularly right now with the response to the hurricane.

Maybe you're forgetting that this is the worst hurricane in over 30 years, and the fact that it hit a major city makes it possibly the worst natural disaster to hit our country in our lifetime.

I'm talking about your criticizing of the New Orleans mayor, the Louisiana governor, Pres. Bush....etc etc etc. How do you expect anyone to be prepared for something like this, and furthermore, expect them to handle the situation flawlessly???

This really isn't something you can plan for, and I think the efforts to help have been admirable. Efforts by the media, public citizens, celebrities, local communities, the government...EVERYONE. Hell, even the bars I went to this weekend were charging more than normal for cover because they were throwing the extra proceeds to relief causes.

If you think you could do any better as the mayor, governor, or president...put the fucking bong down, get off your couch, and run for office. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.

bammer, you have now passed, peeps how to make friends 101

congrats

You think the government went in there in a timely manner?

I don't think that anyone expected a flawless response, but what New Orleans got was far from it.

What did you want them to do? Fly the choppers right into the eye of the hurricane?

You have to gather both people (whether it be troops, medics, whoever) and supplies, which takes time. It's not like everyone was just sitting around on their ass before they showed up in NO...I'm sure that a large-scale rescue operation like this takes more time, effort, and planning than you or I could even fathom.

How fast do you think you could evacuate a crowded Superdome when the only streets surrounding the place are covered in over 10 feet of water. Are you capable of performing miracles? 'Cause I'm not, and neither are any of the politicians (or National Guard, Red Cross, etc.) that *you so vehemently villify.


*not you specifically....i mean everyone in general who is bitching

Not cutting the preventative programs to fund that was would've been a start. Action on global warming would've helped. Clear communication between different levels of government would've made the situation less chaotic. Greater attention towards the plight of the underclass would've helped for not just this one tragedy, but for the lives of these people in general.

I hate saying would've, but unless we do, the next time something like this happens people will be asking why has nothing changed since the last time.

Most of these points have already been raised in other threads, and I'll stop here.

You still didn't answer my question. Do YOU think the governments response was adequate and timely?

I can't help but believe that people are doing all that they can do, and who's to say that any amount of planning could have prevented this catastrophic natural disaster??

The main problem is that NO was built below sea level....which is the fault of exactly zero people who are in power today, as far as I know. Isn't that city centuries old? So instead of tearing the city down and rebuilding it higher, what would they, could they, or should they have done?

And there's bound to be at least some level of chaos....the multitude and the devastation of this disaster are pretty much unprecedented in this country since you or I was born.

I have no idea. What's timely? 1 hour after the storm cleared? 1 day? I'm sure they got in there as soon as reasonably possible.

People only move forward by reflecting on how they acted during periods of crises. There is no point to assigning blame that do not at all lead to any changes. There is, however, much to be gained from looking at mistakes that the authorities can do something about. That's what constructive criticisms, such as the ones I pointed out, are all about.

A reasonable response time is ASAP, not 5 days later. Do you think that it is ok that people died in the Superdome sitting in their wheelchair, waiting for help, waiting for food and water?

I have a feeling that even trying to argue with this on this matter is useless, but that you started this post looking for trouble.

No...I'm just saying that it bothers me that people have nothing better to do than complain about the government. Fucking do something about it yourself if you think living in America is so awful. Or move.


Also....Hinny, your points are well taken.

i have yet to see anyone say exactly what should have been done, only the generic, should have acted quicker

where would you have placed people, with the information the govt had. how many groups would you have had, how would you have stopped the looters, etc....

You need to read the thread about the response to Katrina. I have personally tried to make arrangements to get down there, but last minute work obligations are keeping me from going. I have donated as much as I can and am also organizing donations from many others.

But I have not been voted into to office to protect my fellow man, I am only one person. This will be a fight that I plan on being involved in for a long time. I was going to pay off my car note, but I will go ahead and send the extra $500 a month that I have available to the Red Cross. I will try to go and help the relief areas when it's more convenient for my employer at the end of October. I am very frustrated that I cannot go no.

So what are YOU doing? Besides bitching on a web site?

I commend you.

I have a mortgage and a career...I can't exactly drop everything to go help. That's what the Red Cross, etc, is for. I have donated money to them and I trust that they're putting it to good use. I'm certainly not going to sit and complain about their efforts when I myself couldn't do any better.

I don't know for sure (without reading everything here in N&D and I don't have time for it right now), but in my opinion, there was much that could have been done before the storm hit. For example, I live in WV, and I saw on the Thursday before the storm hit, sitting at the stop light in my little one stop light town, 20 Penn Power trucks heading south. I wondered to myself, "where are they going? Oh yeah, the hurricane." Obviously, someone had some foresight.

I understand the desire to not go with the crowd and blame the government and Bush. I am not a liberal, and I would never lable my self as such. I will however blame every official who was in charge at the time of this tragedy. We all watched the news coverage(which has the tendency to overhype news stories every chance they get) say that this storm could wipe out NO. Well then, why didn't the local gov't have a line of buses at the Superdome to get people out of the city? Or at least, why didn't they have supplies at the Astrodome and other centers in the city to take care of basic needs, food, water, etc?

My point is, that I understand the frustration with the willingness that people have to just jump and blame GW and his administration. But the truth of the matter is that our government failed us at every turn in this situation. They failed us when the storm was coming. And after the storm hit, the US gov. failed the people of NO in a way that I did not think was possible in this day and age. It is disgusting beyond belief. Our National Guard is here to protect us right? Please correct me if I am wrong. But no one protected these people after the storm. It is sad and it is absolutely the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed.

There will be many questions that will need to be answered in the future. But for me, I just want to know how the response went so wrong. Yeah, it was a bad storm. But how did we not react in a timely manner. It is still so sad to me that I can't understand how other citizens of this country don't see others' anger and the response.

I am not complaining one bit about the Red Cross. I also have a mortgage and a career and 2 car payments and insurance, and 4 dogs that have their bi-monthly vet check coming up and monthly prescription drug charges and etc....but I can pitch in...We all can.

Cities at high risk to natural disasters should have a thorough plan. The Federal government should have a plan of how to immediately respond to a crisis quickyl and effectively.

It is clear that neither New Orleans or the federal government had a good enough plan or the resources in place to respond.

They better sort this out so next time a hurricane or earthquake or Tsunami hits an urban centre there is a plan of action and resources to act quickly and effectively. Does Los Angeles or San Francisco have a satisfactory earthquake disaster plan?

New Orleans average of 3ft under sea level. High risk area for hurricane. Very poor areas (high risk and low mobiliy). Doesn't take a genius to figure out the risk and need for a contigency plan.

This was a natural disaster but some definite short comings in local and federal government.

Citizen pay huge amounts of money for homeland security and emergency response and they have every right to criticize incompetence. Hopefully this tragedy will serve as a lesson to the federal government and local government to improve their disaster planning.

And hasn't GW been saying since 9/11 that we need to be prepared? People, your government has lied to you time and again. What are you going to do if a tragedy hits your town?

Dear Bammer,

You are right. 5 days is an adequate response time. Those silly poor people should have known better than to be poor in a high risk urban center. Those old fools in wheelchairs that died in squalor should have grabbed onto the nearest car bumper and hauled ass outta town BEFORE the storm hit. Dubya and Condi shouldn't have had to cut their vacations short. C'mon even politicians need a break too. Besides theres not much they could have done, at least not any more than you or I.

I hope that if the unthinkable should happen, and you find yourself holed up in a stadium someday, knee deep in human waste without adequate food or water, you will be patient with the response time. Because hey, they're doing the best they can right?

Sincerely
MF