Or as Hugh Hewitt calls these people. Armchair First Repsonders. HA. I love that one.

I’d call anyone until an investigation is done an Amrchair First Responder who puts up quotes like the ones ABOVE.

You guys are great. Way to go.

And he was supposed to know this in advance of the hurricane?

So it’s one thing to call for people to evacuate and it’s another to evacuate the people.

For whatever reason the people who are mostly poor and mostly African American were left stranded.

Those are the facts. During a disaster like this it is the job of the president to oversee emergency relief efforts. And it was the job of Louisiana to protect its citizens. Did Nagin or Blanco call in the National Guard to evacuate the area? If they did not, then they screwed up. If they did and were rebuffed than the President holds the blame.

Someone with greater awareness as to the capabilties of our military recently said

” There literally is no other force in the world capable of responding as quickly as ours is doing now, nor with such flexibility or resolve to save lives and help get the Gulf Coast states back on their feet.”

So later in about a month we will probably find out if the guard was called in or not to evacuate the poor. Because of the size of the Katrina they were not even able to walk out on there own. It was too dangerous.

In any event all of that will be sorted out in good time. Thank G_d that things seem to be turning around at last with the arrival of the troops on the ground. Just too bad it didn’t start 5 days ago.

Oh yes it is. I took issue with your criticism of how the President reacted to Hurricane Katrina. I’m not quite sure why your ire hasn’t been directed towards the local officials there in La., who had a emergency plan in place and failed to act on it. The fact of the matter is that natural disasters like hurricanes are handled on a state level first, then a national level as assessments of the level of damage start to roll in.

“The situation speaks for itself and there will be reverberations from this for years to come. I’m a staunch, dyed in the wool conservative, as clearly supportive of our President as they come.”

That’s fine, and I’m not questioning that. I’m a staunch supporter of the President too but have also had issues with him in the past.

“But sadly I know a 24 carat royal CF when I see one.”

Well then (IMO) you should see where the biggest 24 carat royal CF began, and it was right there in La. between the governor herself down to the mayor. If the President didn’t have a sense of urgency about this situation, then why did he himself call officials in La. on Saturday and personally request a mandatory evacuation? When it comes to natural disasters, National Guard troops are stationed and moved at the request of state offices first, federal second. The incompetency of the state officials there in La. cannot be understated. Yes, the feds do have a role to play in this, but it starts locally with the state and the state royally f’d up the response to this big time. The more time that goes on, and the more news that trickles out about the lack of preparation on a state level, the more that becomes painfully obvious.

Sorry for the typo’s -

- ST… its not a matter of opinion or argument. The situation speaks for itself and there will be reverberations from this for years to come. I’m a staunch, dyed in the wool conservative, as clearly supportive of our President as they come. But sadly I know a 24 carat royal CF when I see one.

My opinion: the blame in the ineptitude of the New Orleans relief effort can be apportioned in a bipartisan manner – there’s enough to go around for everyone, Democrat or Republican.

Bang: I disagree with about 85% of what you wrote but don’t feel like arguing about it tonight

Mo: Yep … bless ‘em all

I have to say I don’t think the storm was Bushes fault. Thats specious nonsense. The point is Bush didn’t do his job. Maybe it wouldn’t have made all that much difference, no one will ever know. But He didn’t even try. So this is one time I’m not going to defend him against the oppotunistic yammering of the left. The politics do not matter. Lives are what matter. Human lives were, and still are at stake.

From the very begining no one in Washington, and apparently even the state leadership itself, had the right sense of urgency. That was plain in just watching whats been going on for 5 days. Bush had a chance to get on top of the situation and make a win out of it, as much as you can ever make, or want to make, a win out of a tragic event. But he did not. He made a speech.

As a matter of practicality, I wonder how many levies the billions that congress approved last night for the cleanup, would buy. Are we forever as a people doomed to make these kinds of mistakes in common sense and judgement.

Right or left, whatever your politics, a lot of people out there have to be wondering if there’s anyone in Washington that knows how to run a country.

Just for the record, is the Sen. Kerry you refer to the “Vietnam war hero?”