Most of my city and county government is corrupt and incompetent.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

Five Commissioners have ended up being indicted for taking bribes, etc. and our transportation system is an absolute mess.

The Repubs claim that the Feds can't do anything without the mayor and governor's permission and leadership. The Feds cannot act on their own or even help out or advise the local/state governments.

So - by that reasoning - if our Governor goes on a three day drinking binge - or goes crazy and tells them to go away - we are screwed. Or let's say we have a mayor who just got into office and doesn't know how to deal with emergencies... I guess it's not FEMA'S role to help us out.

[bullimiami]

1. but the facts are the mayor and governor begged for help

before the storm even hit and did all they could do with the resources they had afterward.

and they got bagged by the feds.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

2. I'm poking a hole in one of the excuses they're using.....

That the Feds couldn't step in to help even if they knew there was a risk to peoples lives.

[magnolia]

4. I think that what the poster is saying is....

In this case the mayor and governor were there, they did their jobs and made their best effort. But suppose they hadn't, suppose they were complete screw-ups...that doesn't excuse Bush or FEMA for not doing THEIR jobs...know what I mean.

The Bush team is playing the "blame game". They imply that by finding fault with one person it exonerates the rest. Each person is responsible for there own thing. The more power, the more responsibility.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

5. Thank You for explaining what I'm trying to say....

n/t

[GreenArrow]

3. that government is best which governs least

"I heartily accept the motto, -- "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, -- "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure."

-- Thoreau --

By and large, politicians are self-serving crooks.