Freeper friend responds to FEMA's incompetence

[phusion]

I received this from a "friend" after writing about FEMA's incompetence. In all honesty, I have distanced myself from him these past few months for different reasons and this really validates that decision for me.

:eyes:
------

Yeah, let's get something straight here. FEMA responded very quickly. Here is the problem with people today; they don't understand the way that this country is supposed to work. We have local governments and state governments for a damn reason. It's not the federal government's job to be the first to respond. Responding in 3 days is pretty fast, and you can go compare that to other disasters that FEMA has responded to in the past. If anyone needs to be taking the blame here, let's blame the local governments that are RIGHT there, and not a government who is
1. 2000 miles away
2. Not their job to be first on the scene.

The mayor and the governor were derelict in their duties to the people of their state and deserve to take their part of the responsibility for the problems.

What I really love is polls on Gallup.com about who is responsible for the "delayed reaction". 18% still said George W. Bush. As if one man could have stopped this. That jsut shows the literal obsession of some on the left wing that no matter what the issue is, IT MUST BE GEORGE BUSH'S FAULT. Welcome to America, sure you have freedom of speech and the freedom of opinions, and hence the freedom to be ignorant, but some people are just abusing that right.

[aquart]

1. Send him the FEMA regulations gathering power into their own hands.

[phusion]

14. Just found this...

I think I will forward it along.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Sept05/Brasch0912.htm

Excellent report.

[BloodyWilliam]

20. By Walter Brasch?!

Holy crap, That's my dad's friend! He teaches/taught journalism at my hometown college!

Heh, small world.

[DU me]

2. He really just sounds dumb

[meegbear]

9. Freepers usually are ...

and :party: WELCOME ABOARD!!!:party:

and :spank: DU me?:spank:

:rofl:

[Vincardog]

3. Freepers only care about one freedom

the freedom to be ignorant.

[TwentyFive]

10. Ignorance is more than a freedom for Freepers - it is a Sacred Right!

Even though Freepers are ignorant, it seems they pretend they are even more ignorant then they are. Hard to do, but just look at their support of Iraq, Global Warming, hatred of ALL laws protecting minorities, endangered species, etc.

And, the most ignorant among them is held in the highest regard. That's why he's their president.

[ComerPerro]

4. Memo to conservatives: Bush is THE PRESIDENT

And, according to the talibornagains, he can walk on water.

So why can't he actually act like a leader?

[Cassandra]

7. If he can walk on water...

then he should be doing the clean up in NO personally. He wouldn't need a boat. ;-)

[ComerPerro]

15. Great point

[sui generis]

5. straw man argument

It IS GWB's fault for appointing incompetent unqualified people into positions reponsible for the lives of millions.

If Katrina had been a terrorist attack, then what.

Also, the responsibility wasn't just for the aftermath - it was for not having an infrastructure better suited to withstand a Cat 5 storm and for not having a realistic evacuation plan - all of which require intense cooperation between federal and state and local authorities.

I wouldn't qualify that person as a "friend" - it is doubtful you could depend on him to do anything but save his own ass in an emergency.

[TwentyFive]

6. If KERRY was in the WH - would he have had the same reaction?

We all know President Kerry would have made sure the FEMA/Homeland Security directors were competent - so it's a mute question. This kind of stuff would never happen under a Democratic President.

Democrats know how to govern.

[jilln]

8. FEMA is paid for by federal funds

and they should respond anywhere in the country IMMEDIATELY for that reason alone.

[Cassandra]

13. You mean that...

the major of one city wasn't supposed to be able to coordinate a response to a storm the size of the state of Florida? What a wimp!
:sarcasm:

[jilln]

22. Wow, was the storm really that big?

I didn't realize that.

[ET Awful]

11. Three days is pretty fast?

It didn't take them that long to respond during an election year in Florida now did it? Hell, Bush himself was handing out water and ice on day two.

[BR_Parkway]

12. So glad they got the response time DOWN to 3 days after all those

miilion$ spent on Homeland Security and the promises that they were the administration that was the only one that could keep us all safe.

• 2001 response to 9/11 - hours
  
• 2003-4 response to hurricanes in Jeb's backyard - 1 day
  
• 2005 response to hurricane in NO & MS - 3-4 days

Yep, just like everything else Shrub's ever touched. Turned to shit.

[tech3149]

16. If he cares to know the truth

He can read the complete National Response Plan to understand how things should operate.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf

He can also compare how FEMA operated after the Clinton restructuring.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/562/5610904.html

[jedr]

17. What you saw on your TV, never really happened;

the way Rove can rewrite history is obscene. Tell your friend that I hope he dies on a roof waiting for someone to rescue him.:sarcasm:

[quisp]

18. No one ever said "one man could have stopped this"

but it is Smirks* fault.

I just make the Ship Captain analogy. The captain of the ship has the ultimate responsibility for anything and everything that goes wrong. If you don't want that responsibility don't apply for the job.

[Iris]

19. Pretty quickly?

They were in FL within 24 hours of hurricanes striking in FL - but that was right before the election, so go figure.

[justgamma]

21. A real leader would have picked up a phone!

Unfornately, we have a "leader" who has to be told what to do. A real leader would have had the resources in place before the storm hit.