Part-Time Pundit: Hurricane Katrina Archives

September 22, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: Radical Campus Left Claims Racial Cleansing is Going on in New Orleans

From the local campus anti-war protesters who are also struggling with the issue of whether or not to openly support the "Iraqi resistance":

"And still, even tonight, teams of military, US Marshals, and local police perform sweeps and raids on the remaining hold-outs. We will never know the true death-toll of the storm, nor the near certain fact that many brown and black residents were gunned down in cold blood in a form of ethnic cleansing."

It's one thing to talk about race and poverty, its another to say that the federal government is wiping out black people in the streets of New Orleans.

There's only one word for stuff like this... agitprop.

Posted by John Bambenek at 2:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Culture & Cosmos: Kennedy Using Katrina to Attack Private Schools

The area affected by Hurricane Katrina has a much higher than normal percentage of students in private (usually Catholic) schools. This is because of the imfamously poor state of public education in the area. If you want to be left behind and assured of no resources with which to get out of New Orleans because of a Hurricane, public schooling is your best bet.

Because of the amount of people displaced who would otherwise go to private schools, President Bush proposed to give them assistance in getting into private schools where they ended up. Instead, Kennedy insists that all children must be put in public schools unless the families (who now have no jobs) can come up with a second set of tuition money to pay on their own.

I agree, it is ironic that the opposition to the Bush plan is coming from 4 Irish Catholic senators.

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One of the Senate's best known Catholics has worked to reject a proposal by President Bush that would have given families displaced by Hurricane Katrina financial aid to send their children to private or parochial schools. A bipartisan student relief package put forth by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy and Wyoming Senator Michael Enzi did not include a provision that would have given students up to $7,500 because Kennedy opposed the provision, according to a high level Congressional staffer who spoke with Culture & Cosmos.

Culture & Cosmos also learned that a prominent Church prelate said he was furious that aid to private schools had been kept out of the package and he was especially angry that it is being blocked by "four Irish Catholic Senators."

The proposal for financial aid came from the Bush administration and the Department of Education and noted that, "Communities in Louisiana significantly impacted by the hurricane had an above average number of children enrolled in private schools — 61,000 students in private schools compared to 187,000 in public schools in four severely impacted parishes. These significantly impacted Louisiana communities averaged 25% of students attending private K-12 schools — much higher than the 11% national average of private school students." Out of the 61,000 students in private schools, 81%, or 50,000 attend Catholic schools. In fact, New Orleans public schools have long had a reputation for poor quality and the Catholic school system there is seen as an affordable refuge.

The total price tag for the Education Department's proposal which aims to cover most of the cost of educating students displaced by Katrina is $1.9 billion. The administration estimates that of that total, 25% or $488 million would be needed for educational support if their proposal was implemented.

Kennedy publicly criticized aid for private schools yesterday in a statement: "But I am extremely disappointed that [President Bush] has proposed providing this relief using such a politically-charged approach. This is not the time for a partisan political debate on vouchers." Despite the high percentage of New Orleans students who attend private school, Kennedy said "we need to focus on rebuilding the public school systems which are the cornerstones of the Gulf Coast communities and economies."

Catholic League president William Donohue praised the proposal. "This is more than an education issue – it is a matter of fundamental civil rights. Having been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, the residents of New Orleans want to put their lives back together as soon as possible. What they don't need now is for federal lawmakers to stand in their way by playing politics with the choices they make."

Legislators are still hashing out the final details of the relief package they will send to the president so it is still possible that money for vouchers will be added back into Senators Enzi and Kennedy's legislations.

One observer pointed out that "it is a joke that Kennedy still thinks he is the preeminent Catholic politician in America. He is a disgrace on this and other issues important to Catholic."
Culture of Life Foundation
1413 K Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500 Fax: (202) 289-2502 E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org
Website: http://www.culture-of-life.org

Posted by John Bambenek at 8:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 14, 2005

DI Letters to the Editor

I got two DI letters to my last column. Neither address the fact that it was, in fact, Mayor Nagin who left 500 buses to get destroyed instead of evacuating his people.

Blaming all the Wrongs

What does this have to do with anything? Nothing.

Stop the Namecalling

Jason, a history major, has never read anything that has filled him with such anger as when I call someone who is a communist a commie. I got a good laugh at least.

Posted by John Bambenek at 12:23 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 10, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: A Case for Affirmative Action

Now that it seems the evacuation is more or less complete in New Orleans, talk has begun on rebuilding New Orleans. It’ll be rebuilt, hopefully with an above sea level plan, if for no other reason out of American pride. The question I ask is not whether or not to rebuild, but who should do the building.

Off the top, the highly technical aspects of fixing and operating the pumps, elevating the city, repairing the levees and the like should be done by experts. This deals more with rebuilding houses, apartments, stores, and the bulk of the actual structures. As someone who is not a fan of affirmative action, I think the work of the actual building should go to the poor minorities who were displaced.

Yes, they’ll need to be trained and yes it will slow down the process. But let’s look at the alternatives for a second. You have a hundred some odd thousand very angry, upset people who were less than impressed by the overall response to the disaster. And they are upset for good reason. These are people who were beat down and pushed down by “the man” all their lives. Many are unemployed; many are unemployable, because they lack training and education in solid skills. These are the people that are standing around in the tens of thousands at various football fields near you and they’re going to have nothing to do for months while carpetbaggers head to New Orleans to rebuild it.

Instead, I propose letting those who want to make $30-40/hr that are physically capable to go back to New Orleans to build. One, it would help them out financially obviously. Two, they would get bona fide on the job training and experience in building, something they can reuse once the building is done. Three, it would give many of them something to do instead of sitting around a football field waiting for Red Cross to bring them their next meal. Four, and most important, it will help break the cycle of poverty by getting them work and a job skill that can be used even if they never go back to New Orleans. It will help them become self-reliant.

One of the lessons that Hurricane Katrina brings, that no matter who is in power or what governmental form there is, if you rely on the government to help you, most of the time you’ll be left hanging. This is a truth that thousands of years of human history have taught. If you can provide for yourself, you’ll do fine. If you need the government, you’re screwed.

As the old saying goes... give a man to fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll sit in the boat all day drinking beer... or something like that.

Posted by John Bambenek at 5:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 9, 2005

DailyIllini: Column up "Misplaced Blame"

"Misplaced Blame" is up.

Got some mail on it too. Enjoy, send comments.

Posted by John Bambenek at 7:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 8, 2005

MoveOn Watch: Don't Let Republicans Point out Failures with Locals during Katrina, That Hurts Our Chances to Blame Bush!

MoveOn is outraged. They're steaming that federal officials have the unmitigated gall to point out that city officials should have used their own buses to get people out when they could, or that 2/3rds of the police force walked off the job leaving the city in chaos (earning a free trip to Vegas), or that Gov. Blanco sat on a Presidential request to evacuate and then waited 24 hours to approve the federal response. FEMA has some improvement to do, yes. But the local officials utterly failed their people. Mayor Nagin could have used the buses to get people out, he could have ordered the evacuation 36 hours when the emergency was declared AS HE SHOULD HAVE. FEMA can be faulted for not having the best response to the crisis, but the locals made the crisis happen. And MoveOn is pissed that people dare point out who is REALLY to blame here. It hurts their talking points.

Here's MoveOn's E-mail:
==============================================
President Bush and Republican leaders are trying to shift blame for the poor rescue and relief effort to the victims of Hurricane Katrina including state and local officials. Don't let them get away with that.

Sign a petition today demanding the president stop the blame-shifting and get to work helping Hurricane victims. Petition delivery will start tomorrow in Washington, D.C.
Dear MoveOn member,

It has been a week since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, leveled New Orleans and left hundreds of thousands of Americans homeless. We saw the best of America during that time—millions of people stepped forward to offer help. Meanwhile, the Bush administration failed at their most important job: keeping America safe. The federal effort was too little, too late and it is now becoming obvious that hundreds or even thousands of people died as a result.

Then, starting Friday, in a Karl Rove-led campaign, the White House started to blame state and local officials and even the victims who were stranded without transportation when the Hurricane arrived. Sign our petition demanding that the Bush administration stop blaming victims, including state and local officials, and focus on helping them.

We'll begin to deliver the earliest signatures to the White House tomorrow, Thursday, when a delegation of MoveOn members from New Orleans, who are now homeless and will come to Washington and join other MoveOn members outside the White House at a petition delivery and protest. The petition is one important way to demonstrate that the public wants more action to help hurricane victims and is getting angry about this blame-shifting game the Bush administration is playing.

It is important that the Bush administration not get away with shifting their responsibility to local officials. Here is what actually happened.

Timeline

Friday, Aug. 26: Gov. Kathleen Blanco declares a state of emergency in Louisiana and requests troop assistance.

Saturday, Aug. 27: Gov. Blanco asks for federal state of emergency. A federal emergency is declared giving federal officials the authority to get involved.

Sunday, Aug. 28: Mayor Ray Nagin orders mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. President Bush warned of Levee failure by National Hurricane Center. National Weather Service predicts area will be "uninhabitable" after Hurricane arrives. First reports of water toppling over the levee appear in local paper.

Monday, Aug. 29: Levee breaches and New Orleans begins to fill with water, Bush travels to Arizona and California to discuss Medicare. FEMA chief finally responds to federal emergency, dispatching employees but giving them two days to arrive on site.

Tuesday, Aug. 30: Mass looting reported, security shortage cited in New Orleans. Pentagon says that local authorities have adequate National Guard units to handle hurricane needs despite governor's earlier request. Bush returns to Crawford for final day of vacation. TV coverage is around-the-clock Hurricane news.

Wednesday, Aug. 31: Tens of thousands trapped in New Orleans including at Convention Center and Superdome in "medieval" conditions. President Bush finally returns to Washington to establish a task force to coordinate federal response. Local authorities run out of food and water supplies.

Thursday, Sept. 1: New Orleans descends into anarchy. New Orleans Mayor issues a "Desperate SOS" to federal government. Bush claims nobody predicted the breach of the levees despite multiple warnings and his earlier briefing.

Friday, Sept. 2: Karl Rove begins Bush administration campaign to blame state and local officials—despite their repeated requests for help. Bush stages a photo-op—diverting Coast Guard helicopters and crew to act as backdrop for cameras. Levee repair work orchestrated for president's visit and White House press corps.

Saturday, Sept. 3: Bush blames state and local officials. Senior administration official (possibly Rove) caught in a lie claiming Gov. Blanco had not declared a state of emergency or asked for help.

Monday, Sept. 5: New Orleans officials begin to collect their dead.

(Adapted from: Katrina Timeline, http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline/ )

Those are the facts. State and local officials BEGGED for help as people in their city suffered. The Bush administration didn't get the job done and when their failure became an embarrassment they attacked those asking for help.

The New York Times reported on Friday that Karl Rove and White House communications director Dan Bartlett "rolled out a plan...to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina." The core of the strategy is "to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana."

This is the same pattern of smearing that the Bush political machine has used for a decade. John McCain and John Kerry had their war records smeared. The CIA cover of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was blown after he criticized the Bush Iraq policy. Now, Hurricane victims are attacked when the Bush administration failed to do their duty to help them.

It isn't just the Bush administration. Republican Senator Rick Santorum blamed victims in a TV interview and House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested New Orleans should not be rebuilt.

We can't let them get away with this. Please sign our petition today and do your part.

This is just the first step. We need to continue to help those in need directly and make sure our government does their job. There will be a time to figure out who specifically to blame and what to change. In the meantime, the Bush administration needs to get to work helping those in need.

Thanks for all you do,

–Tom, Tanya, Joan, Jennifer and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, September 7th, 2005

P.S. Check out these links for more on the Hurricane relief efforts.

Katrina Timeline, ThinkProgress.org http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline/

Editorial: No time for turf wars. The Times-Picayune, September 7, 2005. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=869

Editorial blasts federal response. CNN, September 4, 2005. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=870

The big disconnect on New Orleans. CNN, September 2, 2005. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=871

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Posted by John Bambenek at 8:10 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

September 7, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: The Wall Street Journal Blames the Locals

Today the WSJ laid blame squarely on the mayor and governor where it belongs. They largely agree with my own assessment.

UPDATE:

Apparently the MSM is starting to pick up on the non-executed plan by the locals that let people die, ABC gets it. (HT: Captain's Quarters)

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Hurricane Katrina: Planned Parenthood on the Scene Making Sure Black People Don't Breed

In the massive response to Hurricane Katrina, dozens if not hundreds of charities rushed to provide essential care to the victims. Some brought food, others brought medicine. Planned Parenthood got into the mix "on the frontlines aiding patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina." (Their words)

What were the essentials that Planned Parenthood brought to starving and dehydrating people? Why contraceptives, of course. It's as if the voice of Margaret Sanger herself spoke out from the grave saying "You've seen those masses of displaced black people on TV. Give us money and we'll make sure that, when they come to your town, they don't breed!" (HT: Dawn Eden).

In a crisis where people really need help and are avoiding roaming gangs of thugs and rapists I don't think sex is on their mind. Instead of letting the Red Cross or Catholic Charities take the donation money, Planned Parenthood is taking it so they can continue their eugenic mission. More on this at Culture & Cosmos.

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Hurricane Katrina: The Superdome to be Torn Down?

From Michelle Malkin I've learned the Superdome is going to be torn down due to storm damage.

One question. If that was the safest place in the city developed to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane, why is it beyond repair after being hit indirectly by a category 4?

Posted by John Bambenek at 8:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 6, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: After-Action Report - Where were the breakdowns

Now that it seems everyone who is going to be rescued from New Orleans has been and the clean-up operation has begun, it's time for an after-action report on what is and what is not to blame. This is probably going to be my last and most complete post on the subject with the possible exception of the column I have prepared for the Daily Illini.

First, we'll start by what three things that aren't to blame and go into what went wrong.

Levee funding cut by Bush

STATUS: Non-issue

The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the levees and floodwalls in and around New Orleans. They were designed to protect against a weak category 3 hurricane. There were no plans to upgrade that protection to category 4 or 5. Originally the plan was to have category 5 protection; however, environmentalists sued the district and stopped it. It would have taken 25 years (if it worked) to get the upgrades in to make the levees and walls protect against a category 5. (Source: Riverside magazine by the Army Corps of Engineers).

There were funding cuts to upgrades they were trying to do, but those upgrades would have been irrelevant. 15 foot walls don't contain 22 foot surges which is what they were facing. As a matter of fact, the portions of the wall that failed were the portions that have received the greatest effort with what the Corps did do. Those were recently upgraded walls. From the NYTimes:

Shea Penland, director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of New Orleans, said that was particularly surprising because the break was "along a section that was just upgraded."

Louisiana and New Orleans were aware of the situation which is why their disaster plans call for complete evacuation using, among other things, the buses in the Mayor Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool.

National Guard deployments in Iraq

STATUS: Non-issue

About 3,700 Louisiana National Guard troops were overseas when the hurricane struck. The objection goes those people could have been helpful in keeping order. It misses the fact that 8,000 troops were left behind at the disposal of the governor in addition to the guardsmen from neighboring states. Reports indicate that the Arkansas National Guard was able to respond before the Louisiana National Guard. There are over 30,000 troops on the ground now. Having troops wasn't the problem; getting them there you could argue was. More on that later.

Racism

STATUS: Invented by race-baiters trying to be relevant again

The governor of Louisiana is a Democrat. The mayor is a black Democrat. They were responsible for the evacuation and their signatures, not Bush's are on the plan. If you want to make the argument that Democrats are racist and want black people to die, that's your prerogative. Some other myths on racism such as the cannibalism claim are debunked here.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco

STATUS: Frozen under pressure

After the crisis struck, Gov. Blanco remained indecisive and would not commit to decisions. One example is below which is a transcript on CNN of Mayor Nagin's comments which indicate Gov. Blanco waited 24 hours to commit on which federal plan to initiate.

From CNN Transcripts: (HT: Wizbang)

NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."
He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?
NAGIN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?
NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.
S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no.
NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died.

That wasn't the only time she froze. She took control of the emergency apparatus yet continued to refuse to act. Bush had to personally call and beg Blanco and Nagin during dinner to order a mandatory evacuation. They still waited until the morning. A state of emergency was ordered August 26th at 9:44pm, they waited until 28th at 10am to order the evacuation. A full 36 hours could have been added to the evacuation time which could have included the National Guard going door-to-door to drag people out of New Orleans. She simply sat around and failed her people. Blanco refused to give any authority to the federal government to act.
Mayor Ray Nagin

STATUS: Who me?

While Mayor Nagin thinks the CIA is going to off him in the near future, he should look no farther than the lots of buses he left in his parking lots that could have gotten people out.

The initial responsibility of evacuating people in New Orleans belongs to the Mayor which we have seen did little to nothing beforehand.

Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the Mayor of New Orleans in coordination with the Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, and the OEP Shelter Coordinator.

The buses sitting in parking lots and not evacuating people is the fault of Mayor Nagin and Mayor Nagin alone.

New Orleans Police Department

STATUS: Two-thirds of the police force is gone

That's correct, over 2/3rds of the New Orleans police department just left and now they are trying to entice them back with taxpayer funded trips to Vegas. FEMA has no plan (but probably should) for such a catastrophic power vacuum which did little more than strengthen the anarchy. Why the police just left instead of do their jobs is unknown, but perhaps this may explain it.

Failure to use buses to evacuate people

STATUS: 500-2000 buses ruined in their parking lots

The evacuation called for using buses to get those without cars out, but they simply left the buses in the parking lots to get destroyed. They could have at least took the buses to high ground so they could have been used after the hurricane passed, much less get people out before the hurricane hit.

One trip of 500 buses at near full capacity is 30,000 people. They could have made at least 3 trips. Sure, people would have been left, but 90,000 people would be safe and dry now.

Pirates, Looters, and Mobs, oh my!

STATUS: Armed bandits shut down rescue operation necessitating militarizing the situation

There were FEMA and other rescue teams that got in fairly quickly, but snipers began shooting at rescue helicopters, pirates began boat-jacking rescuers, and all mayhem broke lose, complete with police looting and standing by while people did so. If people were going to raid food stores, the government should have taken it first and rationed it. Instead it created an environment of lawlessness in a culture that recognizes no moral norms. (More on that later).

Rescuers had to halt operations in general, and at locations like the Superdome, because they had no security to proceed with. This necessitated an unforeseen buildup of military force that could provide security which took more time.

That's it for now. FEMA could have handled some things better, sure. But the responsibility in the first few days is local, not federal. The states have to authorize help, and Louisiana didn't. Mississippi was hit by the same hurricane and there was no crisis there because people did what they were supposed to do. FEMA could have stepped up better, sure. But the point is they shouldn't have had to deal with a complete collapse of the local authorities in the first place. They shouldn't have had to deal with 100,000 people trapped in New Orleans.

(Thanks again to OTB)

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:56 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack

September 5, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: Louisiana Demoted to Federal Territory (satire)

Today during a special session of Congress legislation was passed and immediately signed by President Bush that demotes the former State of Louisiana to federal territory status. During the response to Hurricane Katrina, the local government left almost 500 buses unused, waited an additional 24 hours to order evacuation while President Bush begged them to get the people out, and over 2/3rds of the New Orleans Police Department abandoned their jobs and left the city in chaos.

"It is clear that the government of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans have completely failed their populations. In response to this complete collapse of government I have been forced to take decisive action to rectify the situation.", said President Bush is a Rose Garden ceremony. Other officials expressed similar sentiments. Former Sen. Mary Landrieu was ushered out of the Capitol building after the vote as the area is no longer entitled to Senate representation. An unconfirmed report states that she had to be removed for threatening to punch her colleagues while she should have been working instead.

Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff stated that "it was clear from the response that Louisiana just can't handle their own business so it became necessary to take over for them." New Orleans has a long history of political corruption and as the hurricane stated to bear down on the city, Mayor Nagin was quoted as saying, "You want me to do something? I'm only the mayor; I'm just here to line my pockets!"

Federal agencies and offices were ordered to remove the current American flag and replace it with a flag that contained only 49 stars to signify the demotion of the Louisiana territory.

Posted by John Bambenek at 12:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Harricane Katrina: Of 1500 New Orleans Cops, Less than 500 Didn't Abandon the Job

Unbelievable... from a press conference.

Q: One quick follow-up. Is it fair to say, using the convention center as an example, that one reason it took until Friday to get aid in is the National Guard needed time to build up a response team with military police to ensure law and order because the New Orleans Police Department had degraded so much?
GEN. BLUM: That is not only fair, it is accurate. You've concisely stated exactly what was needed, and I told you why. We took the time to build the right force. The outcome was superb. No lives hurt, nobody injured. It was done almost invisibly.

Q: And you estimate there's about a third of the New Orleans Police Department left. Do you remember about how many are in the New Orleans Police Department?

GEN. BLUM: On a normal day they should have 1,500 paid officers in New Orleans, give or take. Some people have said it's 1,650. It's in the rough order of 1,500-man police force, and I think the mayor told me they're down to less than 500.

HT: Michelle Malkin

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September 3, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: How to Cause Nationwide Race Riots

From Drudge:

KANYE WEST ON NBC FUNDRAISER: 'GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE... They're saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food...they're giving the (Army) permission to shoot us'... Actor Mike Myers asked people to donate... then Kanye West went on a tirade about Iraq...

Jesse Jackson:

"How can blacks be locked out of the leadership, and trapped in the suffering?"

I now present you a picture of the man who was most responsible for the rescue and evacuation planning for New Orleans, Mayor Nagin.

The fact that he's black doesn't matter though. There are people out there goading the race card. The CBC got close but didn't go there. Kanye West ran off his mouth on broadcast TV during fundraising, and you've got Jesse Jackson. There is a point where blacks nationwide say it's go time. Let's be honest, it is New Orleans and there is racism, but this is not pointing out the flaws, this is goading a race riot.

Posted by John Bambenek at 8:30 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

September 2, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: Some on the Right are Being Stupid Too

I just got this from the Minuteman Project:

TAKE ACTION: We weren't expecting this sudden need. There's no way to plan for such a time as this -- but nevertheless, we MUST take action now. We can't leave our borders unprotected -- but having to start our operation early means we're having to start without having all of the funds in place that we planned for. Click Here to help with your best contribution now:

Now, I do think we need to secure the border (as well as liberalize the number of immigrants we allow in legally) but using Katrina to try to push that agenda and then stump for donations is beyond the pale. There are more important things then immigrants getting into the country. We've had open borders for years now; a few more weeks won't hurt. A few more weeks in New Orleans, however, will kill. The money needs to go to Katrina first.

Posted by John Bambenek at 7:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Hurricane Katrina: Who's to Blame

There is a rush to blame the Katrina catastrophe on someone, and while there are those on the Left engaging in political corpse chucking at the Bush administration what is missed is where the failures actually were here (hint: they were local). Kyoto had nothing to do with this. Racism had nothing to do with this. Iraq had nothing to do with this. Federal spending had nothing to do with this. Poor and/or non-existent planning and poor execution had everything to do with this. (See debunking of stupid claims here and here)

People think the levees should have been upgraded but funding was cut. Those levees were still to protect against category 3 hurricanes. 15 foot walls do not protect against 22 foot waves. New Orleans and Louisiana knew the problem and they planned for it. The problem is they largely didn't follow their own plan and left gaping holes. Protection against cat 5 hurricanes simply was not available, and the technology was about 25 years off, if it was going to work at all.

You can view the plans here. The plan clearly indicated that evacuation was the plan; they obviously just didn't carry through on that plan. As a result, they had to make up things as they went, improvising the Superdome as a shelter despite the lack of any functioning facilities or supplies.

The overall strategy for dealing with a catastrophic hurricane is to evacuate as much of the at risk population as possible from the path of the storm and relocate them to a place of relative safety outside the projected high water mark of the storm surge flooding and hurricane force winds.

(see also this story on people stealing busses sitting in lots to get out)

That is an AP picture of a school bus parking lot. Note the array of flooded out buses neatly in lines? The million dollar question is why they are still there. If they were used in the evacuation, as they should have been, those buses would be in Baton Rouge right now. (Or at least ferrying people out of New Orleans). They KNEW the problem they'd have if a hurricane like that hit, and the city and state government did nothing to alleviate it. Instead, they made a last-minute half-baked decision to use the ~~Superdome~~ Thunderdome as a "refuge of last chance". The floodwalls or work on the floodwalls don't mean jack. The disaster plan took the problem into account. Flooded buildings are a pain, but can be repaired. You would have no disaster if no one was in the city at the time.

That brings us to point two. The evacuation plan was to start once the threat of a strong category 3 or better hurricane is in the Gulf. Katrina made it to the Gulf on August 27th, the day the President declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. When was the mandatory evacuation ordered? After Katrina became a Cat 5 at 10am on the 28th. Katrina made landfall as a Cat 4 at 6:15 am on the 29th giving people less than 24 hours to evacuate. On the 27th, if not before they should have initiated their emergency plans, got shelters and buses ready. Instead they ended up with almost 60,000 people at the Superdome with no way out.

Point three. The emergency plan has two large gaping holes. It included no contingencies for riots and no contingencies to bring food and supplies INTO the city. The plan called to keep moving people out. However, because of the damage there was little or no way to get in, and the few ways rescuers were able to get in were impeded by the looting and rioting. (Food notwithstanding. People were trying to "boatjack" rescuers.) These two holes played into each other, with people beginning more and more to choose the side of the criminal element because there was no plan to help them from the outside in place.

People may say, well they didn't anticipate rioting. Let's be honest a second. In this country, we riot when the home team wins a championship. What the (expletive) did you expect when you had 100,000 some odd poor, starving people in a corrupt who are neck deep in sewage? Rescue operations had to be stopped so that basic security can be established to provide an escape corridor. You have hardened criminals on one side, and desperate people that have joined them because they're the only hope for survival now. You can't rescue 100,000 people with helicopters. You'd also be hard-pressed to expect them to behave while loading up buses 100 at a time. We needed to then begin a massive call up of the National Guard to step in. Sure, some were in Iraq, but 70% was available, not including all the other states in the area. What can be criticized is why it took so long for those units to get to New Orleans (and some haven't arrived yet). By the way, activation in this case is a matter for a governor, not the President. A serious look should be taken at Guard readiness in those states when this is over.

President Bush noticed the crisis coming 24 hours before New Orleans and Louisiana stepped up to do something about it. It isn't the federal governments job to step in and run states. That's why Louisiana has the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. They had a crap plan and didn't follow it and now we all have to play clean up. While all are quick to blame Bush and Republicans, they ought to take a good hard look at the state and local governments who wrote the plan, left the holes, and failed to do what the could to stop this from getting out of control.

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:02 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

September 1, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: Drudge flag

Anyone else think that the tattered upside-down flag image on Drudge Report is in poor taste?

Posted by John Bambenek at 8:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Hurricane Katrina: More on the Left

here and here

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hurricane Katrina: Cat 5 Protection 25 Years Away

You've heard that Bush cut the funding to protect New Orleans from this, but accourding to the Corps of Engineers in N.O. protection was 25 years off, and of unclear effectiveness.

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hurricane Katrina: Absolute Leadership Failure

The more I hear and read about this, the most I'm disgusted. I really am. They only reason there aren't more dead is because the hurricane didn't hit New Orleans head on at full strength. The Superdome? Who's brilliant idea was that? What we're seeing is the absolute absence of a plan and any leadership in a significant sense. New Orleans has basically come under insurrection. Southern Mississippi literally has roving bandits that have outright said they've taken over the area and any rescuers close enough will get shot and their boats taken. At this point now, nothing short of a 100% National Guard mobilization is sufficient because things have gotten that out of hand. Hospitals and shelters inside New Orleans have no ability to communicate and no one is coming to get them.

There comes a point where this becomes a federal problem. The President ought to start considering heading to Baton Rouge and taking command.

Posted by John Bambenek at 3:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

The Left on Katrina: Well they were Red States Anyway

In this time of national crisis, it is once again shown that there are those who instead of united to help are using the event to push their ideologies and their hate. I present this unfiltered defecation on the United States from the Left.

"And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis." New York Times Lead Editorial – 9/1/01 (A day after saying "But this seems like the wrong moment to dwell on fault-finding")

"Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children." Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Bush made the hurricanes! We'll skip past Prof. Gray and Prof. Emanuel who are experts in the field who say this is crap.)

"Two things happened in one day that tell much about the abysmal failure of the Bush administration to get a handle on poverty in America. The first was the tragic and disgraceful shots of hordes of New Orleans residents scurrying down the city’s Hurricane ravaged streets with their arms loaded with food, clothes, appliances, and in some cases guns, that they looted from stores and shops." Earl Hutchinson. (Now Bush is responsible for those who choose a life of crime).

"The president's 35-minute Air Force One flyover of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama was the perfect metaphor for his entire presidency: detached, disconnected, and disengaged. Preferring to take in America's suffering -- whether caused by the war in Iraq or Hurricane Katrina -- from a distance. In this case, 2,500 feet." Arianna Huffington (As opposed to Arianna watching the destruction from a distance of 2500 miles).

"OK, you billionaires who have taken advantage of the very unchristian greed fest that is the hallmark of the Bush administration, it's time to step up and give some of that money back. CEO's should pony up and pay for the recovery of New Orleans, Gulfport, Biloxi, and the rest of the hurricane-devastated Deep South." Robert Smith on why he can't afford to help because he has to pay for his son's education at Rice.

Posted by John Bambenek at 9:15 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack