Katrina Response Mismanagement

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Sad, but I'm fairly certain it's accurate.

Sadly, I agree with you (I'm not sad that I agree with you, rather that the statement is true).

This country as a whole is sadly lacking in personal responsibility.

[Nephythys]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Of course I can't find it now but yesterday I read that people living in NO were twice as likely as the average American to be without a car.

If that one bit from the article is true, then there is blame to be laid at the Mayor's office.

I fully believe that everyone fvcked this one up and I'm not going to join the crowd who want to pin it all on the feds.

There is a lot of blame to be laid at the mayor's feet- he has the authority to mobilize transportation to get people out who have no personal transport, no means, or are physically unable to get out on their own. The claim that people were too poor to leave and were left to die is a fallacy- the mayor COULD have gotten them out- he did not do so. He told them to hoof it with their own food and water to the Superdome.

That bus pic is not a joke- it's a very serious indictment of his failure. There is a NOLA evac plan- which said that in the case of a F-3 hurricane (let alone a 5) that the city would provide transportation OUT of there- they did not.

Whatever the FEMA failure- the massive catastrophic failure was at the local level.

[Not Afraid]

Who cares who failed. A failure of this magnitude is a failure to ALL of us. Everyone failed.

[Gn2Dlnd]

I started this thread to comment on the incompetence being shown in dealing with the rescue efforts. I named it "Katrina Response Mismanagement," not, "Who's to Blame?" Not, "Katrina Preparedness Mismanagement." I've made an effort to provide links to articles many of you may not have read in whole. Through the educational process of reading these articles, one is likely to assign blame to certain people and agencies.

I'm disappointed that people feel that there's too much to read. I, personally, dislike hearing opinions from people who haven't bothered to educate themselves.

I'm sure that, a year from now, CNN will do a nice anniversary show where all the facts will be nicely bullet-pointed and wrapped up into 40 minutes.

[Nephythys]

??????

How in the world do you judge who read them and educated themselves or not? You can't really make that assumption-


Oh well.....a link in the name of educating oneself

Link

[SacTown Chronic]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Americans? The usual - be outraged for a short period of time, figure it isn't their problem after a while, listen to feel good politicians who tell them the problem is fixed, and blindly move on with their lives until the next tragedy befalls with poor planning beforehand and horrid management afterwards. Then the cycle will repeat the next time.

You've nailed it.

[Scrooge McSam]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

??????

How in the world do you judge who read them and educated themselves or not?

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

I haven't read most of this thread as it is just that: about placing blame.

That's how.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Do you mean, how do I know who read the links? I don't. I know that one person posted that they hadn't, I would assume that person is representative. I know that one person told me on the phone they hadn't. Again, I assume that one person is representative of more.
Or do you mean, what right do I have to judge them? I don't. I like both of these people very much, no judgment. I merely stated that I was disappointed. Re-reading my post, it appears that I connected two thoughts, my desire to make sure everyone I like to talk to had access to information, and my dismay with people who only use as much information as they need to make their point.

Let me re-work my original post:

I'm disappointed that people feel that there's too much to read. I, personally, dislike hearing opinions from people who haven't bothered to educate themselves.

I'm disappointed that some people feel there's too much to read. My goal was to provide as much information as possible, so the discourse could be as educated as possible.


You may still dislike what I'm saying, but I clearly wrote a badly composed paragraph the first time around.

Now back to business:

ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.
Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

I started this thread to comment on the incompetence being shown in dealing with the rescue efforts. I named it "Katrina Response Mismanagement," not, "Who's to Blame?" Not, "Katrina Preparedness Mismanagement." I've made an effort to provide links to articles many of you may not have read in whole. Through the educational process of reading these articles, one is likely to assign blame to certain people and agencies.

I'm disappointed that people feel that there's too much to read. I, personally, dislike hearing opinions from people who haven't bothered to educate themselves.

Well, actually, I've read a lot more than just what you've posted. If, as you say, reading what you've posted will lead to assigning blame to certain people and agencies, then why do you have a problem with the blame being discussed here? True, it doesn't follow the title of your thread, but threads start discussion, and if what you've posted would lead to the likely assignment of blame, then that is a logical place for the discussion to head.

There is more to being educated then simply reading what you've posted. I would suspect that you would find your educational experience less than fulfilling if you limited your reading to links I posted. I don't bother to post many of them.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

Oh well.....a link in the name of educating oneself

Link

So, after a half hour, you edited your post to include a blind link to an editorial piece that is nothing but blame-laying? Can I now assume that you didn't even read the first paragraph of the post that you were responding to?

I suggest you go ahead and start that "Who's to Blame?" thread.