Who was least qualified — and appointed anyway?
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge says critics of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hurricane Katrina response should “quit whining.”
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“They ought to quit whining about what happened in the past — that had absolutely nothing to do with what happened in Katrina,” he told United Press International.
Critics say:
FEMA was “buried in the bureaucracy” of the new department
Ridge and other senior DHS officials used the agency as a “piggy bank”
Ridge forgot to blame the French.
I kinda agree. People stupid enough to live in a place like New Orleans or
low lieing areas in the paths of hurricanes kinda deserve what they get. I mean comeon. DOes’nt personal responsibility play ANY part in all of this?
Rob,
What about the people who had no mode of transportation out of the city?
-A
Nah, I’m not buying that. Let’s see; earthquakes in SF & LA, hurricanes all over the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, tornados in the Midwest. People tend to settle where their families have a history or relocate based on jobs. Safety and security is an issue of the well to do, for whom a weekly paycheck is not paramount.
I agree with A. If the world worked as Rob suggests, then anyone who lives in Florida, California, Oklahoma, or any of the other places that frequently get hit with natural disasters would never get any aid. Not to mention people suffering from famine in Africa (you can see famine coming months in advance — gee, Rob, why didn’t they all just leave???). Really, incredibly intelligent commentary. Touching compassion. It’s so great to know that there’s enough people in the world who absolutely don’t care, and don’t want to care, about anyone outside of their own bubble. As a species, we should be ashamed.
Rob – By your logic, anyone living in an area that can be hit by a hurricane (the entire Gulf Coast), Tornado (the entire middle of the country), Blizzard (the entire northeast), river flooding (anyone living in a valley), heatwave (the entire southwest), earthquake (the entire west coast), tsunami (any coastal city), likely terrorist taget (Washington, New York, Los Angeles), high radiation due to altitude (Denver), likely nuclear target if the cold war heats up (anywhere close to a military installation or center of government), nuclear power plant (remember three mile island)), railroad track (chemical spills), poor neighborhood (murder and muggings), area with trees (forest fire)… they are all stupid and should move somewhere else.
I agree that Lower New Orleans was a high risk area… but the government’s excuse so far has been “we didn’t know, and hence didn’t prepare”. How can you blame the people for their living situation, when the government (local, state and federal) themselves did little to prepare for the what you so arrogantly call ‘obvious’.
Yea, blame the French. They sold Louisiana to the US to begin with!! I guess “buyer beware” was in effect even back then.
As a victim of both Katrina and Wilma – let me state: FEMA SUCKS.
FEMA sees themselves as a relief organization who helps people restore their lives and rebuild their homes – however – if you had insurance on the structure – even if the insurance won’t pay or you were under your deductable – then too bad.
If you are insured – You can have a 4×8 foot hole in your roof with rain and rats coming in and you get nada. However, the same damage to an uninsured home is covered – even if it was a $2M mansion that was not insured because it was owned free and clear and insurance is not required.
After the storm, they offered blue tarps for our roofs. However, you had to travel 40 miles to apply for them, with no gas available. The fine print: Tarps were not available to homeowners with tile roofs – tile roofs have been required by building codes since Andrew.
If you apply to FEMA – they send you back an application for a disaster loan – the handouts go to renters. The organization should be disbanded – it is completely ineffectual and mired in politics and has a scrooge mentality.
Awake,
I couldn’t agree more. But you forgot that living in the western hemisphere you have an increased risk of heart disease over the east. Everyone who doesn’t live in a fallout bunker in the swiss alps deserves whatever they get. Wait…they get a lot of snow there….oh well, we could try the moon I guess.
Me to Ridge. Stop whining about people whining!
These politicians are always talking about “personal responsibility.” Well, own up to the fact you f*cked up sometimes. These guys are the biggest welfare recipients on the planet. We pay more of their bills than some poor schlub who gets a $300 check each month & lives in some decrepit forgotten city.
These thieves deserve no excuses Rob. They’ll be voting themselves another pay raise soon. The USA’s representatives should be laid off, outsourced, or downsized. Maybe we can hire some Indians or Chinese people to run the country in their spare time, give all US citizens a free 1-800 line to India to call when problems arise with our Chinese made products…or Chinese politcians.
People who defend these guys are the reason they keep stealing. The French knew how to treat bozos who stole from the middle class & poor. Read “The French Revolution.”
Why is it that the local and state officials always seem to get a free pass in these matters? Did FEMA react slowly? Sure did. There’s no getting around the fact that if the Mayor and Governor weren’t so incompetent, less people would have had to die. No mode of transportation? BULLSH!T. How many times do we have to see the pictures of lots of busses flooded out? Let’s back up a bit, if it was known that the levies couldn only handle a category 3 storm, why wasn’t there a mandatory evacuation when the storm even came close to a category 3 storm? Yet the Mayor and Govenor yell and scream about lack of support and take every opportunity to go on talk shows and cry about how the government was slow to help. IT NEVER SHOULD HAVE NEEDED TO GET TO THAT POINT. They’re just trying to CYA after the fact. City and State government are the best to gage the situation and call in the National Guard for help – yes, that’s a state responsibility, not FEMA’s. I’m no big fan of the direction of the Federal Government, but this country is getting way too PC, liberal, and not willing to take self responsibility. People all want it both ways. If the Federal Government back off and let the local government take care of things, then the Feds are incompentent and slow. If the Feds swoop in and take over, then it’s Big Brother always watching us. Can’t have it both ways folks.
There is definitely enough incompetence to go around. In fact, our cup runeth over!
digirebel
I agree that the local governments were not steller organizations. Louisiana politics has not had a very clean history. Historically they acted too much like Republicans.
Mayor Nagel was trying to do the best he could with what he had. A city filling up with water and almost the entire infrastructure destroyed. Civil servants and police that evacuated the city with their families or hunkered down miles away and were unable to get back in. Promises of help that never came. Help that came but was turned back by FEMA(water, fuel), refused to enter the city (Red Cross), or the White House fiddling (out of state National Guard troops).
Pictures of the school buses were often shown on Fox, counted at 700 by Hannity and O’Rielly. In truth there were less then 300 serviceable school buses and NO DRIVERS. All the City Transit buses were used already. It was not a question of who COULD drive a bus, it was a question of who was licensed to drive a bus. If each bus held up to 40 people, then they could have removed maybe 10,000. There were more then that in the Convention Center alone. There was also a question of enough fuel for the buses to make the trip but this only became an issue later.
The Mayor was advised that he did not have the legal standing to declare a mandatory evacuation. Otherwise he would have risked massive law suits from loss of business by all those big companies that contribute to Republicans. After the state of emergency was declared by the Governor he took it upon himself to do so.
Although it is not agreed upon for certain, the several thousand Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard troops and equipment might have made a difference. As it was, over 40,000 National Guard troops from several states helped out and THEY HAD A HARD TIME.
Yup, the Mayor really screwed up.
What Ridge is saying is “ya we screw up, but that doesn’t count”. “Vote Republican, we don’t care”
By your logic, anyone living in an area that can be … yadda yadda yadda… they are all stupid and should move somewhere else.
I see a difference between providing assistance in an emergency [which should be encouraged], and helping to rebuild in the same dangerous spot [should be discouraged].
Flooding, in particular, is already an issue for homeowners through-out the US – where FEMA “floodplain” designations affect whether flood insurance is required, and legal-battles erupt over people who keep re-building in the same spot, and repeatedly applying for federal aid as more floods occur.
Why do we want to perpetuate having large sections of New Orleans “hiding” behind dikes with pumping stations?
I am a victim of Katrina. I was also a renter in the city of New Orleans. The assistance to homeowners from FEMA isn’t the only part of this fiasco that sucks. It sucks for a lot of renters too. The loan application process was the same for me as it was for you. As of today, I still have not received any assistance from FEMA. The only response that I’m constantly getting from them is ” your application is pending. You’re waiting for an inspector to call you.” This has been since the beginning of September. It’s easy for outsiders to try to say what should have been done by the people in this situation, but you would have to walk a mile in my shoes to know better. It is not our fault that we have failing government entities. Also, all of the people there could not just pack up and leave the city. It’s like you’re saying we should be punished for continuing to live there. Well, that sucks. The vast majority were a working class of people who are now displaced due to a natural disaster. We should not have to literally beg the government for assistance. It should be readily available to us without all of these day to day changes in guidelines and stipulations. We are a tax paying people, so what makes us so different. YES, I am offended by your comments, Rob, because it doesn’t make me stupid that I lived in New Orleans. My continued faith and trust in our various levels of the government makes me stupid. So although freedom of speech is an asset in our country, you have no right to judge us because of where we live.
SJHL52
Shanda
I apologize for the treatment you have been given by FEMA and other government agencies. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be moved hundreds of miles away, put into temporary housing, have only the clothes on your back and maybe a change or two, nothing else to call your own, no savings, no answers, and nowhere to go.
For you and everyone else in New Orleans, I truly hope things get better.
I understand that the most popular costumes for Mardi Gras will be Brown and Chertoff.