To the idiots looting in th gulf...

[Slamminc11]

Some of these people didn't have the means to get out, some of them tried to get out but couldn't because it was too late for them. Yes, some of them stayed to defy mother nature but some of them wanted to get out and couldn't.

I will agree with the statement about those who didn't have the means, but for those who tried and couldn't because it was too late is a load of crap! This wasn't a tornado where it snuck up on them in 15 or 20 minutes, they had days, yes DAYS to leave and didn't do it. Why? "I have riden these things out before, I can do it again". Ignorance and stupidity doesn't count as an excuse on this one. For those who couldn't leave because they didn't have the means (i.e. no vehicle, no money, to sick to travel) I truly feel sorry for and have my complete sympathy, but for those who tried to "ride it out" and didn't listen to the warnings that started what, last Thursday, and now they are pissed. I have a bit more touble feeling sorry for them. Don't get me wrong, no one deserves this, but when you have the chance and have the means, and still don't leave...

 

[Matt]

As some of you might know by now, I am originally from Germany and I do live here on my own free will and I love and appreciate it a whole lot! I would NOT be alive anymore, if I wouldn't have experienced the HUGE TREMENDOUSLY BIG hearts of american - friends-nurses - neighbors. Something a lot of people miss, when they live in other countries.
I worked for almost 4 years as X-Ray tech in Jamaica and I did experience a lot!
What I have never experienced is such a huge bundle of complete helpless, careless and worthless government agencies as now in the US. I don't know of any country, where the people - the very own citizens deserve anything like that!
Sorry for ranting - I just refuse to believe it.

 

[vurbano]

The IDIOT mayor of New Orleans is now on CNN blaming Bush because New Orleans didnt ask for help soon enough. Just heard him crying on the phone. The pass the blame game has begun!!!!!!!

 

[Slamminc11]

The IDIOT mayor of New Orleans is now on CNN blaming Bush because New Orleans didnt ask for help soon enough. Just heard him crying on the phone. The pass the blame game has begun!!!!!!!

Why should they have asked, Bush should have been on tv Monday afternoon saying "whatever they need". Instead he hides out on his "ranch" until Wednesday before he makes even a statement. I'm sure it would have been different if the storm had hit Galveston or Houston or Corpus Christi. But then again, Bush is pretty good at taking care of his own.

 

[vurbano]

I will agree with the statement about those who didn't have the means, but for those who tried and couldn't because it was too late is a load of crap! This wasn't a tornado where it snuck up on them in 15 or 20 minutes, they had days, yes DAYS to leave and didn't do it. Why? "I have riden these things out before, I can do it again". Ignorance and stupidity doesn't count as an excuse on this one. For those who couldn't leave because they didn't have the means (i.e. no vehicle, no money, to sick to travel) I truly feel sorry for and have my complete sympathy, but for those who tried to "ride it out" and didn't listen to the warnings that started what, last Thursday, and now they are pissed. I have a bit more touble feeling sorry for them. Don't get me wrong, no one deserves this, but when you have the chance and have the means, and still don't leave...

They had one day Einstein. Less than a day. Saturday Katrina was a Category3 Hurricane. Living in an area frequequented by Hurricanes I know what I can ride out and what I cant. At Cat3 many leave but many will stay. But Sunday morning everyone woke up to a nightmare IMO. A cat5 Hurricane and if you didnt hit the road immediately Sunday morning it was too late to get out. So lets get off this "oh they had plenty of time and warning CRAP.

 

[vurbano]

Why should they have asked

Because the Federal government will not act until the governor asks for it. To imply that the federal govt was not interested because Bush was somewhere else in the country is idiotic. Those governors can contact him no matter where he is. I suppose you think that decisions can only be made if Bush is sitting at his desk? Thats laughable. But dont let me spoil your Bush bashing And as a member of our City's Emergency Operation Center Staff that coordinates with the state and federal agencies in time of crisis I find your opinion utter CRAP. The president is to blame. Bologna. The Governor asked for too little too late. She was just on CNN sidestepping the questions very poorly. Absolute incompetence on the local and state level. Now even the mayor, the incompetent result of his minority constituency, is screaming acting like the typical politician trying to save his political ass. What I would like to know is that if the extent of the devastation was known around Tuesday after the storm past then why did this "governor" wait until thursday to ask for 40,000 troops? Did she want to sit on her ass and watch the situation deteriorate first? And what is the problem with those troops taking 24 hours to start pouring in? That sounds pretty fast to me. The problem IMO is that the GOVERNOR did NOT understand the dangers of this storm and the potential for levees to fail. If she had the SHE would have requested troops on Monday. Tell me, what this "governor" do when Delta cancelled the flights on Sunday? Not a damn thing! Did she ask Bush to order them to fly? NO!!!! Guess what Governor? Thats YOUR resopnsibility and like so many of them YOU neglected them.

 

[Purogamer]

Both are to blame. Bush should have enough common sense to say "Oh man, that place is destroyed, maybe i shouldn't stay on vacation while these people who voted for me suffer"...

The Governor and Mayor can't really say "Give me this, this and this" until AFTER the damage is done, and by then there's so many things going on, I can understand not requesting help that should already be on the way. It's obvious they needed help, so are you saying the gov't wouldn't have moved until they were asked? That's not true...

I love how bush just said he's looking forward to the trip (to see the damage). What's to look forward to exactly? Watching the people who voted for him suffer? That's his idea of fun we know, but to actually say it, wow...

And he said he looks forward to talking to the suffering people on the ground. If he's got half a brain cell left he won't do that. I'm glued to my tv now because I want to see him try that, he won't make it back to the helicopter if he does...

 

[asousa]

What I have never experienced is such a huge bundle of complete helpless, careless and worthless government agencies as now in the US. I don't know of any country, where the people - the very own citizens deserve anything like that!
Sorry for ranting - I just refuse to believe it.

deleted what I said, realized it was not called for.

 

[Slamminc11]

Because the Federal government will not act until the governor asks for it. To imply that the federal govt was not interested because Bush was somewhere else in the country is idiotic. Those governors can contact him no matter where he is. I suppose you think that decisions can only be made if Bush is sitting at his desk? Thats laughable. But dont let me spoil your Bush bashing And as a member of our City's Emergency Operation Center Staff that coordinates with the state and federal agencies in time of crisis I find your opinion utter CRAP. The president is to blame. Bologna. The Governor asked for too little too late. She was just on CNN sidestepping the questions very poorly. Absolute incompetence on the local and state level. Now even the mayor, the incompetent result of his minority constituency, is screaming acting like the typical politician trying to save his political ass. What I would like to know is that if the extent of the devastation was known around Tuesday after the storm past then why did this "governor" wait until thursday to ask for 40,000 troops? Did she want to sit on her ass and watch the situation deteriorate first? And what is the problem with those troops taking 24 hours to start pouring in? That sounds pretty fast to me. The problem IMO is that the GOVERNOR did NOT understand the dangers of this storm and the potential for levees to fail. If she had the SHE would have requested troops on Monday. Tell me, what this "governor" do when Delta cancelled the flights on Sunday? Not a damn thing! Did she ask Bush to order them to fly? NO!!!! Guess what Governor? Thats YOUR resopnsibility and like so many of them YOU neglected them.

I sure didn't want to imply that it is ALL Georgie's fault, I place as much blame on the feet of the governors and mayors for not doing more to get things done. Now I won't have wanted to be in any of their shoes, but to now travel to the area seems a bit pointless. How much is this trip costing us? There is some money that the red cross could use. I know it's tax dollars and wouldn't transfer, but at this point it is all about perception, and my perception is that the secret service better really be on their toes if George thinks he is going to go have a chat with the people. He, the Governor, and the Mayor would be the last people I would want to have a talk with right now. I would like to take them behind the woodshed though.

 

[Juan]

Why should they have asked, Bush should have been on tv Monday afternoon saying "whatever they need". Instead he hides out on his "ranch" until Wednesday before he makes even a statement. I'm sure it would have been different if the storm had hit Galveston or Houston or Corpus Christi. But then again, Bush is pretty good at taking care of his own.

President Bush declared the area a disaster area before the storm even hit.. Believe it or not FEMA was busy supplying food to areas that got hit worse than new orleans got hit. You wont see much coverage on the cable networks though.. entire towns were leveled in missisippi..FeMA is just another government beuracracy they do things at their on pace and ignore reality

 

[Tom in TX]

\ I'm sure it would have been different if the storm had hit Galveston or Houston or Corpus Christi. But then again, Bush is pretty good at taking care of his own.

And I am eternally gratefull!! My mom lives about 1/8 mile from the water!!
Tom in TX

 

[vurbano]

I sure didn't want to imply that it is ALL Georgie's fault, I place as much blame on the feet of the governors and mayors for not doing more to get things done. Now I won't have wanted to be in any of their shoes, but to now travel to the area seems a bit pointless. How much is this trip costing us? There is some money that the red cross could use. I know it's tax dollars and wouldn't transfer, but at this point it is all about perception, and my perception is that the secret service better really be on their toes if George thinks he is going to go have a chat with the people. He, the Governor, and the Mayor would be the last people I would want to have a talk with right now. I would like to take them behind the woodshed though.

I know that we have all sorts of different emergency plans that go into effect here depending on the circumstance. Id like to see Mayor Nagels. I wonder if that includes 1/3 of the police force fleeing (theres some great leadership on his part) or herding people into the superdome with no security The more I think about it though the more I think thre may have been no plan for anything above Cat 3 Hurricane. Maybe everyone knows that it would be total devestation and their plan was just to try and keep people in one central location for rescue. Maybe thats what they are afraid to come out and say. "Our plan was just to yell for help". The really incompetent thing is that he and the governor didnt even do that right. I cannot believe that if they had requested40,000 troops on Monday that they would not have been there by Wednesday. I think they tried to handle the unrulely and disorderly people themselves and failed. Then they realized they needed more help. But instead of telling it like it is, the mayor wants to blame the "white" president letting the poor blacks suffer. That really upsets me.

 

[vurbano]

President Bush declared the area a disaster area before the storm even hit.. Believe it or not FEMA was busy supplying food to areas that got hit worse than new orleans got hit. You wont see much coverage on the cable networks though.. entire towns were leveled in missisippi..FeMA is just another government beuracracy they do things at their on pace and ignore reality

Agreed, And you should see what a city has to go through to be reimbursed for damages. They will fight every single line item on the bill. Just as they fight home owner claims.

 

[Cliff]

I can't understand why anyone would want to live in a city that's below sea level to start with!

 

[EEJay]

I cannot believe that if they had requested40,000 troops on Monday that they would not have been there by Wednesday.

Vurbano, I agree with most of your posts, but this could have been managed better. You've got to find that 40,000 number first. Thirty-five percent of LA's National Guard is in Iraq dealing with that mis-managed mess. That's why they're called the National Guard, they are supposed to be available to help at home. The first set of helicopters was going to drop reinforcements to the levees, but had to switch to rescuing people on rooftops. Neither decision is the right one, you have to have enough people to do both, and that would have been more possible with all the National Guard here at home where they should be.

 

[redhawk]

The bottom line is these people STAYED for no reason. They knew bad sh*t was coming, but they didn't leave. It's the most blatant example of ignorance i've seen in a while.

What if you had no car/truck? Understand the concept of having nothing???Do you think those folks could have walked out, as one idiot emailed to MSNBC (and they put it on the air!)??? Ever walked at 20 mph, the speed at which Katrina headed toward N.O. - ever even walked 20 mi. in a day???? How far do you think those people could have walked in one day or two???

I'm not trying to defend the looters/murderers - up theirs - but there were a lot of good people left in the city along with the bad - some local, some tourists. As far a stealing to survive - I'm not even sure stealing the essentials (food, water) to survive is illegal when it is an immediate need for survival.

While I'm not exactly sure of what your trying to say, some of the comments I've been hearing/reading lately are the most blatant examples of the just barely hidden racism I've become used to since moving to the Southland. Seems to be part of the Neo-Cons' plan to deflect blame/responsiblity from the current administration in DC. Hope that is not what is going on here.

I have no doubt that the government did not realize the extent of the damage & devastation in N.O. - esp. since major flooding occurred after hurricane had passed, but have seen more rapid responses to smaller yet similar disasters in the states lived in. If the Fed's weren't ready for this, what should we expect in the event of a major terrorist attack...

 

[vurbano]

What if you had no car/truck? Understand the concept of having nothing???

Thats good for the poor in the Superdome but theres many idiots that they are pulling out of attics of their homes. Personally I cant remember ever meeting a homeowner that did not own a vehicle.

 

[vurbano]

Vurbano, I agree with most of your posts, but this could have been managed better. You've got to find that 40,000 number first. Thirty-five percent of LA's National Guard is in Iraq dealing with that mis-managed mess. That's why they're called the National Guard, they are supposed to be available to help at home. The first set of helicopters was going to drop reinforcements to the levees, but had to switch to rescuing people on rooftops. Neither decision is the right one, you have to have enough people to do both, and that would have been more possible with all the National Guard here at home where they should be.

This has nothing to do with Iraq but rather the governors inability to request national guard troops from other governors of other states and her inability to ask for federal troops from the president in a timely manner. The last time I checked the 35% of LA's national guard troops in Iraq was not kept a secret from the governor. It does not relieve her liability for this failure one bit IMO. The national guard is available to help at home but it is NOT thier only duty. They are tasked with far more than Civil defense or State emergencies. From the National Guard website, these were their duties as of 2004:

​

​

National Guard Global Full Spectrum Force

​

More than 100,000 Guardsmen and woman are answering the call to colors in an awesome range of activities including:

·[font=&quot] [/font]close quarters combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeeping in Kosovo, the Sinai and Bosnia,

·[font=&quot] [/font]state partnerships with forty five (45) sovereign nations as part of four combatant commanders’ theater security cooperation efforts (TSC),

·[font=&quot] [/font]counter narco-terrorism support to local, state and federal law enforcement officials and combatant commanders outside the United States,

·[font=&quot] [/font]disaster response in support of the Governors’ calls for assistance,

·[font=&quot] [/font]support to the lead federal agency and US Northern Command for National Special Security Events (NSSEs),

·[font=&quot] [/font]air sovereignty operations over the United States 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since September 11th 2001, and,

·[font=&quot] [/font]Homeland Defense and support for Homeland Security operations in every State, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.

 

[Purogamer]

What if you had no car/truck? Understand the concept of having nothing???Do you think those folks could have walked out, as one idiot emailed to MSNBC (and they put it on the air!)??? Ever walked at 20 mph, the speed at which Katrina headed toward N.O. - ever even walked 20 mi. in a day???? How far do you think those people could have walked in one day or two???

Yes I understand the concept of having nothing as I've actually been homeless in my life (and i'm only 25), and 20 miles in a day is nothing.

Like there's no way to hitch a ride with a neighbor, like people weren't getting on buses for free before it hit, like there was no possible way to leave...that's absurd.

 

[EEJay]

This has nothing to do with Iraq but rather the governors inability to request national guard troops from other governors of other states and her inability to ask for federal troops from the president in a timely manner. The last time I checked the 35% of LA's national guard troops in Iraq was not kept a secret from the governor.

It has a lot to do with Iraq, actually, and you cannot argue otherwise. If 35% of Louisiana's National Guard wasn't in Iraq, there wouldn't have been as great a need to "request National Guard troops from other Governors of other states." I'm not saying there would be no need entirely, but if she had all state resources available, she could have deployed everything under her power without immediately needing federal or other state help. There is no way to argue the against fact that Iraq is consuming vast amounts of human, financial, and equipment resources and has affected the ability to help in this crisis.

I am not absolving the Governor of her responsibility in this matter, nor the mayor of New Orleans. But do you actually believe that they need to request help from the federal government before it realizes something needs to be done?