no. before bush. i always forget...katrina was bushes fault too. Not the crooked leadership of LA over the lat 50 years (or more). thanks for getting my straight on that. im so silly sometimes
I'll put it this way. When Clinton was president, I was not a fan. Now I think he was damn near amazing.
Same here. Not only that, Bush has actually made me long for the presidencies of his father, Reagan and Nixon. That is some kind of amazing feat.
Bush certainly played a part. The local and state politicians played a part as well. I don't think it is useful to to excuse one by blaming the other, since both are culprits. Part of what happened with the initial flood was mainly the fault of local and state officials. What happened with the clean up/evacuation/relief effort was probably a large part due to Bush, and his team as well as the way he restructured FEMA. The guy screwed up, and didn't really make it that urgent a priority to fix it, until it got major media attention.
i was actually a fan of him while he was in office...he's easy to like. But amazing? i dont think so. i think he tried to play the likable guy too much and some of that came back to hurt in the more present time.
the cleanup stuff would fall on govt, at least some of it. evacuation is all on the city/state in my view. But ultimately, the state needs/should be somewhat competent in handling crisis situations on its own...especially one that we all knew would happen some day. Especially when LA has been given money in the past to repair/improve levees but did not do so.
Hurt him in the present time? In hindsight, Clinton looks like a presidential demigod compared to Junior.
how so? by not aggressively going after a known threat in OBL? by making a deal with N. korea that had no teeth...ultimately leading them to nuclear power? yes, if you mean demigod by being a nice likable guy then i suppose we could call him that.
Clinton Years: Economy - Not bad Personality - Everyone didn't think he was a dumbass Foreign relations - The world didn't hate us Wars - None that the entire country thought was a sham Blow jobs - Messy Doesn't sound too bad to me.
you are obviously missing my points. but yes, like i said, he was a likable guy and didnt ruffle feathers too much. If thats your definition of a good president then so be it. But despite the clean outer shell and nice appearance, there was problems brewing that were left relatively unchecked or not followed through with enough
Not ruffling feathers is way better than taking a a big **** on everything that our country stands for.
What more would you suggest that he should have done? He put out an assassination order on OBL, spent more on terrorism than any other president to that point (so much that the GOP congress said he was "obsessed" with OBL), and did it without starting unnecessary wars.
I don't want to get into another Katrina debate because it is as pleasant as slamming my head against the wall, but... DHS rewrote the regs on incidents of national importance after they became an entity and under those regs, the Fed govt absolutely had the authority to act. From the the National Response Plan in place prior to Katrina (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/NRPbaseplan.pdf)... ...the President directed the development of a new National Response Plan (NRP)to align Federal coordination structures, capabilities, and resources into a unified, all discipline, and all-hazards approach to domestic incident management. and... The activation of the NRP and its coordinating structures and protocols—either partially or fully—for specific Incidents of National Significance provides mechanisms for the coordination and implementation of a wide variety of incident management and emergency assistance activities. Included in these activities are Federal support to State, local, and tribal authorities; interaction with nongovernmental, private donor, and private-sector organizations; and the coordinated, direct exercise of Federal authorities, when appropriate. and... ...the principal Federal official for domestic incident management, the Secretary of Homeland Security declares Incidents of National Significance (in consultation with other departments and agencies as appropriate) and provides coordination for Federal operations and/or resources, establishes reporting requirements, and conducts ongoing communications with Federal, State, local, tribal, privatesector, and nongovernmental organizations to maintain situational awareness, analyze threats, assess national implications of threat and operational response activities, and coordinate threat or incident response activities. and... (Notice, it doesn't say you do this after the fact... it talks about "situational awareness" and "analyze threats" and "assess national implications." And of course, the Feds had the ability to "coordinate threat or incident response activities." They (we) could have come in and taken over the evac if the administration had even had a clue that things were as bad as they were.) But, but the Governor had to sign something! BS. Again, from the NRP : If the President determines that an emergency exists where the primary responsibility for response rests with the Government of the United States, or because the emergency involves an area or facility for which the Federal Government exercises exclusive or preeminent primary responsibility and authority, the President may unilaterally direct the provision of assistance under the act and will, if practicable, consult with the Governor of the State. and... the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating Federal operations within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. HSPD-5 further designates the Secretary of Homeland Security as the “principal Federal official” for domestic incident management. In this role, the Secretary is also responsible for coordinating Federal resources utilized in response to or recovery from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies if and when any of the following four conditions applies: (1) a Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested DHS assistance; (2) the resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been requested; (3) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to the incident; or (4) the Secretary has been directed to assume incident management responsibilities by the President. Of course, on a threat to several states where it was clear even before the hurricane struck that the state and local folks were overwhelmed didn't spur the vacationing President to invoke this part nor did it prompt the DHS Secretary or anyone at the WH to go to the President with such a request. Additionally, here's a brief "Command" hierarchy for an incident of National Significance (maybe Katrina wasn't significant enough?)... National Response Plan: >Homeland Security Council/National Security Council >Policy Coordination Committees (White House) >Interagency Incident Management Group (Core Group = 23 Departments/agencies and the Red Cross... then there is "Subject Matter Expert Augmentation) >Homeland Security Operations Center with Representatives from 18 Departments or agencies, Red Cross, and State and Local govt.) >Joint Field Office >and then, Emergency Response personnel and Teams (the folks on the ground) Notice the second link? My guess is it was really the first and nobody wanted or was allowed to act in response tot he gathering storm without the OK from the WH and of course, everyone there was on vacation. As the scope of the disaster became clear, the WH exerted even more control over message and actions and folks on the ground were left pleading for leadership and just basic decisions about how to proceed that came way too late to be effective. Even if what you say is absolutely true about the LA political leadership, shouldn't you expect more of your President and the Fed Government?
Why don't you educate us on the differences between Clinton's and Bush's North Korea policy. While you're at it tell us when exactly North Korea developed a functional nuclear weapon and the Bush administration response to this develpment.
We got somethin', we both know it, We don't talk too much about it. Ain't no real big secret all the same, somehow, we get around it. It don't really matter to me, baby, You believe what you want to believe, You don't have to live like a refugee. (Don't have to live like a refugee) Somewhere, somehow, Somebody must have kicked you around some. Tell me why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon. It don't make no difference to me, baby, Everybody's had to fight to be free, You see you don't have to live like a refugee. (Don't have to live like a refugee) Baby, we ain't the first. I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned. Right now this seems real to you, But it's one of those things you gotta feel to be true. Somewhere, somehow, Somebody must have kicked you around some. Who knows? Maybe you were kidnapped, Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom. It don't really matter to me, baby, Everybody's had to fight to be free, You see you don't have to live like a refugee.
Oh, sure! So now North Korea is Bush's fault! Next you'll be blaming him for the Patriot Act or unprecedented tax cuts for the rich or unprecedented deficits or the new Suprem(acist) Court or vetoing stem cell research or illegal wiretapping... - Ass Magic
