If you are stupid enough to stay somewhere that you know is about to be destroyed by a huricane i mean you get what you deserve and dont blame Bush because those people were dumb enough to stay. And lets be honest here some black people LOOK for reasons to shout out "Racism".

I dont think its right to single out Blacks like that....but thats Just me....

quote:

Originally posted by BruceLee:
Maybe the relief could have been more effective of some of the blacks in New Orleans werent SHOOTING AT THE EMERGANCY SERVICES!
Ive been in a few hurricanes in Florida and even there it took time before the services got their act together, and they werent anywhere near as bad as what happened in NO.

yeah not many people are to Happy with Bush right now hes Qiet anyoing lol and very funny looking hehe but New orleans is still clutter and its been a year since that happens I think in ways he did fail them its a sad sad thing Many people died that shouldnt have that week

quote:

Originally posted by penmagic:
Heya,

I've been looking around and I'm surprised not to find many topics on this yet (or was I just not looking hard enough?) anyway I think it raises a lot of interesting issues.

I live in Britain and there have been a lot of comments in the newspapers to the effect that the relief effort was the biggest mess imaginable, that the Bush administration displayed a lack of care and urgency, and that due to this and growing opposition to the Iraq War, he is losing the support of the American people.

The disaster has also been seen to illustrate racism and class divide as social problems in America.

Do you think that these criticisms reflect the reality?

-Pen

If the hurricane were concentrated soley in one state, then it would have been a states issue. But because it spread out over multiple states, it was a federal issue. That is how the government works.

I have a friend, a sworn republican (well, mostly to piss me off, but if you were to ask him he'd tell you he was a republican), who went to visit New Orleans just last week and was so taken aback about how devastated it still was, he instantly became an anti-Bush democrat. Now obviously, I'll take some credit for that, and politics are not that simple as one issue, but clearly, things are still not well in New Orleans.

quote:

but he'll always have someone on his side... ME.

I'm sure he'll appreciate that, but there is the rest of the nation to be concerned about. People complain about the president when he does something that they don't agree with. That is how it is and has been. To say that there should be no criticism of the president goes against everything that this nation was built on.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." And Theodore Roosevelt did one better: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

Indeed we need to fix the nation's problems. But since King George isn't doing much in that area, I'm going to exercise my right to criticize him until he gives up the ill-conceived Patriot Act, ceases illegal wire-tapping, gives the American people back their freedoms, and does something productive in Iraq that doesn't involve getting more American soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed. In other words, I'll be dead-set against him until he cleans up his own mess.

Perhaps before you tell people to stop criticizing the president, you should try to understand why they criticize him in the first place.

Some of you guys are sickening me with your disrespect for Bush. He might not be absolutly PERFECT, but he IS our president. I think that a lot of people are showing huge amounts of immaturity, and we need to remember what this country was built on: Patience and perserverance. We need to focus LESS on trashing Bush and MORE on fixing this nation's problems.

How bad does our image have to be getting that a kid from Britian has observed that Bush is "losing the support of the American people"? Papers and magazines can report those things, but he'll always have someone on his side... ME.

Maybe the relief could have been more effective of some of the blacks in New Orleans werent SHOOTING AT THE EMERGANCY SERVICES!
Ive been in a few hurricanes in Florida and even there it took time before the services got their act together, and they werent anywhere near as bad as what happened in NO.

quote:

Originally posted by brookeleigh89:
no dear. its the state n local gov responsibility. look into it. she had to get help.......she did ask like 2 days after katrina hit. a lil late.... oh n blanco was even caught on tape saying she WAS NOT going to get help. shes very arogant and thought she could handle it. she was dead wrong! impeach her, not bush thnx

right on girl!

no dear. its the state n local gov responsibility. look into it. she had to get help.......she did ask like 2 days after katrina hit. a lil late.... oh n blanco was even caught on tape saying she WAS NOT going to get help. shes very arogant and thought she could handle it. she was dead wrong! impeach her, not bush thnx

quote:

Originally posted by brookeleigh89:
and govenor blanco needed to ask for help before bush or FEMA could do anything.

Um. sorry, but hello???? Thats why they call it the FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, its their job to support and rebuild and spread awareness! The state and local governments, yes, should be the first in line, but it is especialy FEMA's responsibility too!

hi,
ok katrina was a mess. i live in northern louisiana. we werent affected (physically) but we were home for many refugees of new orleans and other southern cities. but anyways im a huge republican and when i heard of people thinking that bush didnt respond, really did piss me off. first of all, our govenor (Blanco) shouldnt even be a govenor. second of all, the stupid mayor of new orleans (nagin) is a retard.third of all, THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION could not LEGALLY come in out of their jurisdiction(on the federal level) and do anything. it was the local and states responsibility to do something. and govenor blanco needed to ask for help before bush or FEMA could do anything. she didnt respond quick enough. but the devastation could have been prevented. Louisiana is like the dumbest state viewed by america anyways, but we should have done something a lot sooner. FEMA did help after finally getting blanca to ask. in my opinion bush did a great job (even though his approval rate is like 20% lol) but i like him.

FEMA could have done something but the Govener has to give them some notice to get assets in place and the govener needs ot learn that the millions give to her office for shoring up levees are for just that not that highway she built

Yeah! Actatually, it wasn't entirely Bushes fault (Am I defending BUSH, im a demo). It was FEMA's (Federal Emergency Management Agency). They didn't communicate to the people enough! They should have ordered a evacuation and had more busses to ship people to safety. FEMA also has many scandals going on (Isn't it wierd that the Director resigned right after Katrina?)

Yup, it is still pretty trashes too. We took a bus tour of N.O. yesterday, and there was still crap everywhere, even though it is eight months after the Hurricane.

I think we should stop and think about spending billions on rebuilding New Orleans it is a city below sea level! next hurrican or big wave no matter how we build it uo will just trash it again

Okay the topic on Bush and how he acted or didnt act in regards to Katrina can be argued for days but it won't change the fact that this storm happened and lives and property were lost. The storms full power cannot be understood through newspapers and television broadcast. I lived through it and what people do not understand is that some people did not have the means to evacute and after a certain point it was impossible to leave. I live in Gulfport and the only way to leave the coast is on I-10 or Highway 49, and hands down staying at home is alot safer than facing a hurricane on the highway. The people of New Orleans are trying to get on their feet but when your neighborhood has yet to be cleaned out which is an obligation for their government to fufill and your schools are not being reopened, elections are trying to be held with a large percentage of the population relocated and absente ballots are not being accepted. What can you do against that ?

quote:

so there you acknowledge the unpredictable nature of hurricanes and natural disasters.

when did I ever say that hurricanes werent unpredictable? I only said that hurricanes have been studied in the last 50 years, and technology has grown immensely. Weather is always going to be unpredictable, but the level of mystery has decreased in the last 50 years.

yes, i understand that Katrina hit the islands as a tropical depression - I never said it was a hurricane at that point. But, as you obviously dont know since I doubt youve been through a hurricane before, tropical depressions can bring as much rain, wind, and destruction as hurricanes.

quote:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-do...=la-headlines-nation

tell me she did not act accordingly.

okay, so youre telling me that it was okay that Mrs. Blanco wrote to the President asking for assistance 2 days after she received news from the National Weather Center that Katrina was going to be a big one, and the day before the storm?! It seems a little late to start asking for help then. Anyone that has been through a hurricane knows that it takes days to prepare your house, family, and ways of transportation for a storm. Like I said before, she should have put out the evacuation order the hour she heard about the hurricane.

quote:

so our president should not be involved in natural disasters beyond what we have ever seen before? that's illogical.

I'm not saying that Bush shouldnt be involved in natural disasters - he comes to the Panhandle after every hurricane (were getting pretty used to seeing him by now). However, he shouldnt be blamed for everything that goes wrong in our country - especially a hurricane. Some people tried to say that Bush caused the hurricane (I'm not sure how they pulled that one off), but just because he is our leader doesnt mean he deserves blame for every little thing. Heaven forbid Mrs. Blanco and the New Orleans mayor actually take responsibilty for their delayed reactions. And by the way, you cant get your "facts" about what happened in Louisiana from the LA Times. Other than the fact that theyre on the other side of the country, LA is full of democrats that are always going to try and find something to blame Bush about and make him out to be the bad guy.

quote:

"The initial National Hurricane Center forecasts predicted that Katrina would enter the Gulf of Mexico and begin turning northward, eventually hitting the Florida Panhandle. Katrina, however, continued a west track, eventually turning to the west-southwest. When the storm began turning to the northwest, New Orleans was its aim."

If anyone knows anything about hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, they know that hurricanes always strengthen when they enter the Gulf. When the cold water engulfed in the storm reaches the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it instantly increases in pressure and size. Especially since New Orleans is a low-lying area, it was destined to get destroyed whenever a hurricane finally came for that area. And again, to say that Mrs. Blanco didnt know how destructive a category 5 hurricane would be is ignorant on your part. I'm surprised that you yourself in Georgia dont know how bad even a category 3 storm would be - look at the destruction that Ivan and Dennis left behind. I was mistaken when I said that Ivan hit the Panhandle as a category 4 - meteorologists say it was a 3, however it is still a topic of debate.

ilovebush- I'm gonna have to agree with u on this.
one.) because Ms.Blanco did take warning and in effect her efforts (wether with good intention or not) were all in vain, her slowness I believe resulted in many people's lifes.

two.)Everyone should have known once it hit catagory 4 it was going to be huge (it was only too late when people started to see just how much it was like Huricane Camille)

three.) as governor of that state she should be responsible for her state, people trusted her before (instead after Katrina she ran off to her "Mommy"(Bush) like a 5 year old who couldn't take care of her pet Lousiana)
like she should of and it almost died and her "mommy" ends of taking care of the pet"

Sorry if you're from Lousiana don't take the pet thing the wrong way, it's just that that's what her actions remined me of.