Katrina Response Mismanagement

[wendybeth]

(Stops scanning the horizon for Equestrian Types)

After reviewing the text of his statement and then forcing myself to watch as he squirmed his way through the conference, I must say that I see no actual apology, unless Texans have a different way of doing so than the rest of the world. Taking responsibility (sort of) did happen, but there is no actual "I'm sorry"- not that I could find, anyway.

I asked myself if I would hold any Democrat up to the same standards, and I can honestly say no- I would hold them to higher. I just am prepared to accept any little bone this dork wants to throw our way, so desperate am I for any sign of humanity from him.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Actually, more to the point, when you spend several days denying everything, praising the guys in charge who screwed up, and covering your ass for being ignorant of the whole situation, no apology is acceptable. He's far too late for "I'm sorry". He's like a child who says "I'm sorry" but what they really mean is "I'm sorry I got caught".

[Scrooge McSam]

Still, just the fact that he said it is pretty surprising.

[innerSpaceman]

The real crime was that is was lousy oral sex.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

The real crime was that is was lousy oral sex.

Well, he ruined a perfectly good cigar, too. Although, never having smoked one that was.....treated in that fashion, I guess that's premature for me to say.

[scaeagles]

I find this to be quite enlightening. There is so much criticism of Bush for never admitting to mistakes or taking responsibility. So he says, literally, that he accepts full responsibility for the failings of the federal response, but that's not good enough. Now it's too little, too late. So why ever do it in the first place?

All I know is it's more than the pathetic governor and mayor have offered up. All they can do is continue to point fingers and take no responsibility themselves for their lack of preparation and execution when it mattered.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I find this to be quite enlightening. There is so much criticism of Bush for never admitting to mistakes or taking responsibility. So he says, literally, that he accepts full responsibility for the failings of the federal response, but that's not good enough. Now it's too little, too late. So why ever do it in the first place?

Hey, all I know is that it wasn't that long ago that he was talking about rebuilding Trent Lott's house and patting the director of FEMA on the back for a job well done. At that point, he was clueless. Now, two weeks later, after the damage was done, he "takes responsibility". Well, what about all of the other cronies in charge of FEMA? Why do they still have a job? I don't want to hear him say he takes responsibility, I want him to actually take it. And not by investigating himself either. I want to see a bipartisan investigation of every aspect of this failure, from the President and his appointees to the Governor and Mayor and everyone in between. This problem needs to be fixed quickly.

I'll wait to see what his actions are. If he does the right thing and really fixes this problem, then I'll cut him some slack. Right now though, it just seems like words spoken in an attempt to slow his plummeting ratings.

[Gemini Cricket]

Today, Bush admitted that his administration made a mistake.
It's their first one, isn't it?

[scaeagles]

To go along with ,y recent post of how all the governor and mayor can do is point fingers, now Governor Blanco is complaining that FEMA isn't collecting the dead fast enough.

Umm....would those be the dead that you failed to evacuate while they were alive? The ones you told in the published emergency plan that they were on their own? The ones that could have been taken out on the hundreds of busses that were available? Yeah - that's the feds fault, too.

Of course, it has just been announced that a large portion of the city - including the French Quarter and a large portion of the business district - will be open again to the public by the end of the week. I'd say that's moving pretty well. Of course, no credit should go to the feds - it's all too little, too late.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Umm....would those be the dead that you failed to evacuate while they were alive? The ones you told in the published emergency plan that they were on their own? The ones that could have been taken out on the hundreds of busses that were available? Yeah - that's the feds fault, too.

Who is saying that this is entirely the Feds fault? Has anyone posted these arguments? I agree with iSm. I can't do anything about the Mayor of NO or the Governor of LA. That is up to the people that live there. My concern is, will we actually learn from our mistakes and fix a broken system...for real? I hope every Mayor and Governor in the US got a wake-up call here because I'm sure there is a hell of a lot more of them that are completely unprepared for a disaster.

But the federal government has to be prepared to step up immediately if things fail or get overwhelmed at the state and city level. They have to be prepared, authoritative, well-informed, and decisive. They were none of those things here and people died as a result, just like they died as the result of the Mayor and Governor's leadership. There is plenty of blame to go around and I think everyone understands that. So why does the right keep saying over and over again that we blame everything, including the hurricane itself, on the president?

That just isn't happening.