What the world thinks...

[Desdicado]

Considering Americans are descendants of the people the rest of the world didn't want, remind me again why we should care what they think?

I'm feeling rather inquisitive tonight so here are several more questions for you, answer as best you can:

What would John Kerry have done differently?

What would you have done differently? Don't give me any bullshit about Levees and dykes (Unless you have a time machine), just tell me what you would have done differently starting 5 days before the storm hit and immediately thereafter.

What do you believe the job of the Federal Government is, and do you believe that the Fed was in a better position to handle things than the State and local Governments with whom the power and responsibility immediately preceeding and following these events rests.

Do you believe in the Federal system? In our Constitution?

[djmaddmartin]

I would have had the Nation Guard prepared in advance (all the red tape and
paper work taken care of in advance) and mobilized. We can send troops to any
part of the world in 24hrs but we can't be ready to help our own with 5 days
notice.

The job of the Federal Government is to serve and protect the people of the
United States. And everyone is held accountable. The local is the fingers, the
state is the hand and the Fed is the arm. In the end its the arms responsibility
to act if the the finger then the hand appears to be in trouble.

I believe in the federal system and the Constitution unlike the conservative
republicans and the right wing christians who only see it as a document to be
held to the letter only when it supports their views and ignored when it doesn't.

How's about them answers. Here some info you won't find on Faux News.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obje...name_page.html

[SNapper]

everyone is bitching because they think if something bad happens the feds are supposed to come make everything ok instantly. when you get hit by a huricane of that magnitude your going to get fucked up and nothing anyone can do is going to make anything much better for a long time. bottom line is no matter what president is in office when a huricane like that hits. your fucked.

[Desdicado]

I would have had the Nation Guard prepared in advance (all the red tape and
paper work taken care of in advance) and mobilized. We can send troops to any
part of the world in 24hrs but we can't be ready to help our own with 5 days
notice.

The job of the Federal Government is to serve and protect the people of the
United States. And everyone is held accountable. The local is the fingers, the
state is the hand and the Fed is the arm. In the end its the arms responsibility
to act if the the finger then the hand appears to be in trouble.

I believe in the federal system and the Constitution unlike the conservative
republicans and the right wing christians who only see it as a document to be
held to the letter only when it supports their views and ignored when it doesn't.

How's about them answers. Here some info you won't find on Faux News.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obje...name_page.html

Good answers.
1) Now, where would you stage the National Guard and relief supplies ahead of time? Would you station them to the East of Louisiana where the major highways are that lead into New Orleans? Had you done that (as the storm was supposed to hit dead on to New Orleans) all you'd have done is turned your relief supplies and National Guardsmen into additional casualties. Stationed them to the West, in Texas? Only one major highway leading there to LA and it was also flooded in parts, plus slammed with refugees and debris. As that is where most of the relief supplies are coming in from, you'd be no better off than Bush is now. That "Red Tape" (I can only assume you're talking about the Posse Comitatus Act) is not such a simple thing to get rid of. You have to show justifiable cause and extreme circumstances at that time in order to get it relaxed. As soon as there was shooting and the Police fled, that is exactly what happened. There was no other way to bypass it, as otherwise the Act wouldn't be worth the paper its written on.

Oh, and actually, it's 36 hours. The Marines were deployed to NOLA in less than 24 hours once they had legal approval to go in.

2) Legally the Evacuation plan, handling of the National Guard and Police deployments, and preparation of Emergency Relief rests with the States with the Federal Government to do as it's asked in these matters. The Federal Government is only allowed to move in once the State has requested it or all order has collapsed (as was the case of Louisiana). Otherwise, the Government would have been trampling all over States Rights as laid out by the Constitution. The City of New Orleans was supposed to have a FEMA approved Evacuation plan (they didn't), same goes for the Louisiana (they didn't). They were supposed to be prepared, they weren't. The Federal Government was and handled it to the best of their abilities. I mean, the Mayor of New Orleans has completely lost it. He's now going on about how the CIA is going to 'remove him' for insulting Bush.

3) What took place in Louisiana as far as the matter of relief supplies and Federal reaction took place exactly how our laws say it is to. The only failure here was that of the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor to come up with a plan (ahead of time) and then properly follow it. They were the ones with whom the power and responsibility rested and they failed miserably. If you knew anything of Constitutional Law or how our Republic functions then you would know that it is a rare case indeed when the Federal Government is allowed to send in normal Army or Marine units into a State. There have been less than a half a dozen instances in the entire course of history when this has been allowed. Otherwise it's always fallen to the Governors, Mayors, and National Guard to handle situations even worse than this. Go read up on Gavelston in 1900 and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So, even with hindsight, you've done no better than Bush. Just for the record, I voted for Gore in 2000 and Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) in 04. I voted for my first Republican last year, Herman Caine.