AS I SEE IT...

Comment About Comment...

And I Quote:
“In America, the federal government can't send troops into a state without a governor requesting it. To do so is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prevents our government from being a military dictatorship. It is up to the governor and mayor to have an evacuation plan and plans for natural or unnatural disasters. The governor of LA refused help at first because she didn't want to give up her powers over the state...yet she didn't do anything herself.

Now, if Bush violated the law and sent troops in, he would have been accused of being a 'dictator' and she would have said she had everything under control but Bush took everything over. Remember, she didn't even make it a mandatory evacuation...Bush had to plead with the citizens to leave. She (a democrat, by the way) also had access to 60 buses in the immediate area before the storm hit to get people out of there, but she didn't use them.

Keep in mind how impossible it is for the troops to get together enough food and water to satisfy over a quarter of a million people all at once. What they have done is nothing short of a miracle. There is a reason why disasters are called disasters. Yes, we wish everyone could have been evacuated and saved and fed sooner...but President Bush is a human being, he is not God. America is strong, but we are not infallible or capable of doing the impossible.” By Lynn

I don’t know where you live Lynn , but if you want to believe Louisiana State Officials did not tell any Federal Officials about the thousands of people at the Convention Center as well as the Super Dome – then I guess you believe that Federal Officials do not watch news media reports either.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/opinion/04rich.html?incamp=article_popular

Obviously you must be a Republican since you so clearly point out that Governor Blanco is a Democrat. What does political party affiliations have to do with disaster assistance from the federal government? Are we not all Americans?

Obviously Ms. Lynn you have the money and the resources to leave your home, your job, your way of life at the first hint of an approaching disaster. Good for you.

Nobody asked, told, or suggested that the Governor of Mississippi turn over Mississippi State authority to Federal Authorities before aid was provided to Mississippi residents. Then again, the majority of Mississippi residents along the Gulf Coast are wealthy compared to inner city folk living and working in New Orleans. National recorded News Media reports will confirm that many of the Gulf Coast residents in Mississippi did not evacuate when advised to do so. Regardless of the fact many Gulf Coast residents had the money and the resources to leave their homes, their jobs, and their way of life they stayed.

Personally Ms. Lynn I find your comment offensive, insensitive, and uninformed, but that is my personal opinion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05herbert.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fNational...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html?incamp=article_popular

The above links are just a few that demonstrate the lack of response from the President of the United States of America to the apocalyptic disaster in New Orleans.

I can only hope that no other State in America ever has to ask, beg, or plead for emergency assistance from Federal Officials, or that Federal Authorities require any State to turn over State Authority before Federal Disaster Assistence is offered or provided.

Who would ever believe that an American President would allow men, who he hand picked to manage FEMA and Homeland Security, to gamble with the lives of American citizens?

I'm here in Houma, Louisiana. I grew up in New Orleans. I graduated high school in New Orleans. I attended LSU, and Loyola University. I lived in the French Quarter. I am angry at the incompetence demonstrated by FEMA, the President, the Red Cross, and Homeland Security. I have been in New Orleans area for every hurricane since Betsy, and I have never, never seen the lack of available assistence on this level.

At this moment, I don't give a damn whose fault it is, why, or what political party they belong - people are dying unneccessiarly for lack of the basic neccesities of life - food, and water, especially the working poor, the elderly, the young, and the sick.

Read the articles at the links I've provided. Understand that no one expected miracles... Can anyone tell me how long is considered "reasonable" to expect emergency air drops of water supplies to the people in the Superdome or the Convention Center? The American citizens trapped in New Orleans were not expecting five star hotel accomodations...

It took less time to get commercials up and running, from what seems like every non-profit organization in the United States, asking for generous donations before any one of these organizations stepped up operations to provide assistance.

The Louisiana victims of Hurricane Katrina are being further victimized by being used as pawns for fund raising opportunities.

Oh the shame of it all.

And our President did not hesitate to ask the EU, and other countries for disaster assistance. It certainly appears to me that the richest country in the world can no longer take care of its own.