There is some truth to it. Nobody is happy that this is taking so long. What are your options on how it would have been handled better? What should have been done that wasn't? Believe me, when the Hurricane hit New Orleans, the response team was up immediately. They've worked on this since it occured. They didn't take any breaks. Every situation is unique. A concept you apparently cannot grasp.
How many "unique" situation have to hit this country (that we later learned of warning signs) before you'll finally see the light? For me, that excuse is starting to get old. Unique is one thing. 5 days and we are not even close to getting people out is another. Like 9/11, all the warning signs were there plus we understood the risk of flooding. I thought you were about to make a civilized response to me but you had to toss that little "a concept you apparently cannot grasp" onto the end.
Ktarina was Cat 4 when it hit, and there have been 18 4 or stronger to hit the US. 'Rare'? I prefer 'likely'. What's in common is that warnings were ignored in both instances. Glad to see that you have a sense of scale. We get hit by hurricanes every year. IIRC, the last big asteroid was 65,000,000 years. Anything more needed on this analogy? If one hit a city and he sat on his arse for a few days, you bet. What's likely to happen is that hurricanes will wreck coastal areas until we can control weather. Again, just silly. Hey, we agree on that!
Why weren't there more efforts to get people evacuated from the New Orleans area prior to the storm? Why didn't the government provide shelters and transport out of city? Why wasn't the National Guard moved in immediately to help with the evacuation and security? Were there any efforts to shore up the levees prior to the hurricane? or after the hurricane swept through but before the breaches occurred? Why are people being sent to places like the convention center and then just left there? Why are people not getting food and drinking water? Why was food and water not stockpiled immediately prior to the storm roaring through? How many units of the Coast Guard were positioned near the landfall to assist with evacuation? The Coast Guard has performed heroics, but there aren't enough of them. How many buses, boats and airplanes were gathered to evacuate the city?
You cannot imagine anything? Reporters and even Harry Connick Jr can get to the NO Convention Center, but they can't deliver food and water to people who are dying there? Try being honest with yourself.
Jesse Jackson just pulling the race card on CNN. Why does this guy always manage to put himself into the spotlight?
Amen. The most overlooked branch of the armed forces. They do a hell of a job with what they are given. Keep D&D Civil!!
Sorry to break it to you, but race is a big part of this story. It doesn't need to be a taboo subject. He isn't "pulling the race card." America watches TV and America is seeing black people plastered all over their sets. An honest dialogue is not too much to ask. As a side note, why is the media referring to them as refugees anyway? When I think of that word, I think of people fleeing due to political or religious persecution. Its kinda a weird application of the word.
A pretty sobering picture. These people have been waiting for help. From the Times: Thousands of refugees, many of them elderly, waited in the Louis Armstrong Airport today for flights out of New Orleans. Keep D&D Civil!!
I am honest with myself. I even put in an idea of how it should've been handled better. Please explain to me how you get food and water to a sporadically placed group in infested waste water. As I stated before, the largest mistake here was not having a better location than the Superdome as THE place to go. That was a huge mistake that was put in place by the local municipalities. The second was not having helicopters circling the city telling people where to go. That was FEMA's mistake. The rest seems unavoidable. Watch that NOVA episode done last year. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=1970810&postcount=30 This was forewarned that we wouldn't, and couldn't have the resources for this.
It's called an AIRLIFT. People have pointed that out to you many times - you choose to ignore it. The Superdome has PLENTY of dry land immediately surrounding it. Military helicopters are perfectly capable of landing or airdropping stuff. It happens ALL THE TIME in all sorts of situations far more complex and dangerous than this. They could have had food, water, and troops in there within 24 hours of this starting. They are doing it now - 3 days too late for a lot of people, for absolutely no reason other than incompetence. Look at the interviews posted with FEMA's head - he doesn't think the situation is too bad. His organization is in charge. Connect the dots.
Fatty, there where thousands of folks at the Convention Center ... not 'sporadic', they were told to be there, and were abandoned there. Again, a singer made it in, and I assume he doesn't have access to the resources the FEMA, the Nationmal Guard and the rest of our military have.
First of all, this hasn't been pointed out many times to me. Secondly, they did bring food and water to the Superdome. Where did you read that they didn't?
Jesse Jackson said (I am paraphrasing) "why were we faster to help foreign country Tsunami victims than our own people here in New Orleans". Within the context of the question asked, it was very clear that he seemed to imply that this was intentional and that the reason for that was that the majority of the victims in New Orleans is black. I don't know, but I have a hard time believing that "conspiracy theory". He also said, very similarly to Rocket River here, "well, of course looting is wrong, BUT what's the big deal about a few blacks getting themselves some TVs, the bigger deal is people not getting help here". He pretty much ignored the reporter's questions about what the responsibility of the (black) mayor was and squarely put all the blame on the federal government. I think it is a pretty strong statement to make - at least this is how I understood his statement - that the federal government lets people die and is slow with help because many of these people are black. Maybe I lack imagination, but it would be difficult for me to believe that. I have been watching Jesse Jackson for years whenever something unfolds, be it OJ, MJ, floodings, etc. What I am wondering is what role he really has, does he have some kind of officially elected mandate to speak on everything that in any way involves someone who is (or was, MJ) black? Honest question, I always only hear him referred to as "Reverend Jesse Jackson", but was he elected or something? What does he have to do with New Orleans?
When Jesse Jackson was young, he worked for Dr. Martin Luther King. He was with him when he was shot. His credentials in the civil rights movement are impeccable, if that is the right word to use. Jesse has a "knack" for getting himself in the spotlight when major events occur. He is an ordained minister, but I couldn't tell you which church it is. Jackson is one of those folks that just manage to get attention, based today, in large part, on what he did in the past. He's a bit of an odd duck, I guess. Might be hard for a German to understand. Keep D&D Civil!!
Yes, there is racism in America, but I think that card get played a bit too much as well. With that said, if I am a black man in America this whole thing would give me pause. Sh_t, I'm a white man in America and it gives me pause. I think it when I see how slow the bureaucracy is moving on this. I think it when posters here blame the victims for their plight, referring to them as stupid for not heeding the warning or generalizing them as thugs or looters. I am heartened by the public response. I only hope that the people in N.O. are as well.
I wouldn't say neglecting the mostly poor and black that are stranded in N.O. is intentional, but more of a lower priority than other issues. Let's face it, this storm has done widespread damage and there will be many economic ramifications for the entire nation. These include the condition of the refineries hit, Gulf oil rigs, the actual port itself (which accepts a good chunk of foreign oil), the oil pipeline to the East Corridor, a significant percentage of total US soybean production, federal offices/reserves/bases, etc. These are all vital institutions that I would not be surprised to learn were higher up on the federal govt's to-do list in the immediate aftermath of the storm. The White House and Capitol Hill can always rationalize that these assets are more important to national security than sending first response to a few crowds of poor, black, elderly.
Holy sh_t!!! Is anyone else watching the concert on the NBC's? Mike Myers and Kanye West came on and Kanye went off the prepared lines methinks. He went off on exactly what I was saying above and ended it by saying "George Bush does not like black people". Then they cut him off and went to Chris Tucker introducing the next act.
Kayne West just did the same on the NBC "A Concert For Hurricane Relief" live broadcast. He said the following: " George Bush does not care about black people." Then he got cut off. I missed any other statements before that but Mike Myers was standing right next to Kayne and he looked shocked.
