Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job

You can tell Brownie was hired by Bush. He said it was in FEMA and the president's best interest that he resign. Never said a word about it being in the best interest of America.

So Bush got caught in another lie. He has got to do a better job of coordinating his lies with McClellan.

As president of the United States, Bush should be on top of the news, not just in America but throughout the world. I find it shocking that the president is not given official daily briefings and that he relied on an edited version of the T.V. news (all Fox TV, I'm sure) to get his information.

Are they afraid to tell the president about national security threats or about the conditions in Iraq too? He probably only hears about the stuff when he has to do a speech. No wonder why he's always clueless.

Condoleezza buys shoes

I love that they heckled Condoleezza. Bush's administration did not take Hurricane Katrina seriously.

I'd bet Bush wasn't even thinking about the hurricane while he was at his ranch.

There is enough blame to go around to local, state and federal authorities.

Just when I think it can't get any worse, it does. We have 3 more years with this bozo. I pray the democrats take the house and senate and impeach him.



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Who's on first?

Even me, a card carrying Bush-basher, feel the local authorities didn't do enough. FEMA was slow getting there but legally, the responsibility fails on the local and state authorities. States have to request assistance. That's how our laws are written.

I can't imagine that my city or state (CT) would ask everyone to evacuate without giving them the means to do it. It does not appear that the evacuation plan was followed at all.

I find it very disturbing that the mayor and governor were on radio and TV demanding federal assistance when they themselves didn't do their job. Every police officer, fire fighter, national guardsmen (women) and any other emergency technician should have been utilized immediately.

The part that really does bug me about FEMA is when I've heard Bush and Brownie and General Myers all talk about reading the newspaper's headline on Tuesday that read, 'Dodged a Bullet'. I find that very disturbing. They need to get their information from the National Weather Service and not the newspaper. Since when are jounalists meterologists? The sad part is they don't even realize that is a poor excuse.

That's not to say that Bush is off the hook either. Like I said, FEMA was late getting there.

How can one man do so much while doing so little

It certainly is something how one man can screw up so many lives and yet people still defend him. Bush knows nothing will happen to him as long as the house and senate are controlled by the republicans. I pray this election brings in enough democrats to take control away from Bush's cronies.

I don't believe that the war in Iraq is just about oil. It's just a bonus. Shrub was paying back an old vendetta for his daddy. If memory serves me, Dubya said many years ago that he wanted to run for president just so he can finish the job that cost his father the reelection. Not capturing Saddam was something his father was heavily criticized for not doing. I'm not sure how much of a role this played in Bush Sr. losing the reelection but I do know that it did.

All the injustices that normally occur in other countries are happening here and yet we can not stop it. I feel so helpless, like I'm screaming inside but no one can hear me.

This is not the America that I know and love.
I also don't believe FEMA was slow getting to New Orleans because of the black population. I just think they are so incompetent that was the best they could do.

Higher standards for our president

I agree that we need to hold our president to a higher standard.

I expect the president to have superior intelligence, a good command over the English language and to be unusually knowledgeable about internal and world affairs.

I also expect him to be compassionate and know how to calm the nation. Most importantly, he shouldn't be smirking nor taking it so lightly.

FEMA/New Orleans/Louisiana

I've read what you all have written including the link to Meet The Press that Shea gave. I've heard many great ideas: the buddy system, evacuation drills and bringing the homeless to the army bases.

I've also learned some things. I didn't know there was only one highway out. I also hadn't thought about traffic or those that wanted to leave but ran out of time.

The transcript to Meet The Press allowed me to gain some insight into those at the helm of the wheel. I'm just going to randomly mention some of the things that irked me.

Tim Russert asked Secretary Chertoff how it could be that the White House and FEMA were surprised that the levees broke. Here is part of Chertoff's response:

"What I said is in this storm, what happened is the storm passed and passed without the levees breaking on Monday. Tuesday morning, I opened newspapers and saw headlines that said "New Orleans Dodged The Bullet," which surprised people. What surprised them was that the levee broke overnight and the next day and, in fact, collapsed. That was a surprise."

What this tells me is that the top official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency used the newspaper to learn of the storm's direction. Yes, you read it right, the newspaper. Why was he not given frequent up-to-the-minute reports from the National Weather Service or a similar panel of experts? That one sentence tells me how Chertoff just doesn't get it.

Tim later spoke with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. He mentioned a couple of examples where FEMA actually hindered the process. Mr. Broussard said that FEMA turned back three trucks full of water they had ordered from Wal-Mart. Whose side is FEMA on anyway? Their job is to save lives, not to end them.

The governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour had a much different outlook on what happened in the territory of which he is responsible. This shows what can happen when the local and state officials do things right.

"But my experience is very different from Louisiana, apparently. I don't know anything about Louisiana. Over here, we had the Coast Guard in Monday night. They took 1,700 people off the roofs of houses with guys hanging off of helicopters to get them. They sent us a million meals last night because we'd eaten everything through. Everything hasn't been perfect here, by any stretch of the imagination, Tim. But the federal government has been good partners to us. They've tried hard. Our people have tried hard. Firemen and policemen and emergency medical people, National Guard, highway patrolmen working virtually around the clock, sleeping in their cars when they could sleep. And we've made progress every day."

For those old enough to remember, I imagine that Pearl Harbor and President Kennedy's death were life-altering events. In my life, it has been 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

I don't know how many days or hours it was before the city of New Orleans was notified of Hurricane Katrina but there was at least enough time for some people to leave the city. As we are well aware, for a variety of reasons, many people did not or could not leave.

The mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana made many impassioned pleas for help. We are all disgusted and horrified at FEMA's slow response time. Hundreds or thousands of people may have been saved. For all their preparedness, the federal government didn't deliver.

Here's where it becomes unsettling for me. The people of New Orleans were told to leave but how did the city and state officials expect the elderly and infirm to leave? The city of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana made no provisions for mobilization. Telling people they need to evacuate is simply not enough.

Where was the Louisiana National Guard? Why weren't they in full force helping to evacuate. Where were all the busses before the hurricane hit? Does the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana have an evacuation plan? If so, I doubt the plan says to wait for the federal assistance. Emergency responsiveness expands from local to state to federal. It does not bounce straight to the federal level.

And so I say to the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana, where were you and why did you let the people of New Orleans down?

The government really doesn't have an excuse and that's they're running around the question instead of answering it. I'm watching Gen. Myers on TV right now and he just mentioned the headline of 'Dodged a Bullet'. They don't even get that that's a bad answer. I hadn't thought about the governor of Mississippi being republican. I'm sure that has a lot to do with why he didn't criticize FEMA. ~gg