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Mmmm useless drivel... - I agree - Katrina is a horrible disaster, but
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09:23 am
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I agree - Katrina is a horrible disaster, but
I think it is wrong of local officials to shift the blame. This opinion piece expresses this idea perfectly.
September 6, 2005
Magic Marker Strategy By JOHN TIERNEY
It was the climax of George W. Bush's video introduction at the Republican convention: the moment at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series when he threw a pitch all the way to home plate. The video ended, and the conventioneers cheered as Mr. Bush strode onto a stage shaped like a pitcher's mound.
Well, live by the pitch, die by the pitch. When you campaign as the man on the mound, the great leader whose arm rescues Americans in their moment of need, they expect you to deal with a hurricane, too.
Mr. Bush made a lot of mistakes last week, but most of his critics are making an even bigger one now by obsessing about what he said and did. We can learn more by listening to men like Jim Judkins, particularly when he explains the Magic Marker method of disaster preparedness.
Mr. Judkins is one of the officials in charge of evacuating the Hampton Roads region around Newport News, Va. These coastal communities, unlike New Orleans, are not below sea level, but they're much better prepared for a hurricane. Officials have plans to run school buses and borrow other buses to evacuate those without cars, and they keep registries of the people who need special help.
Instead of relying on a "Good Samaritan" policy - the fantasy in New Orleans that everyone would take care of the neighbors - the Virginia rescue workers go door to door. If people resist the plea to leave, Mr. Judkins told The Daily Press in Newport News, rescue workers give them Magic Markers and ask them to write their Social Security numbers on their body parts so they can be identified.
"It's cold, but it's effective," Mr. Judkins explained.
That simple strategy could have persuaded hundreds of people to save their own lives in New Orleans. What the city needed most was coldly effective local leaders, not a president in Washington who could feel their pain. It's the same lesson we should have learned from Sept. 11 and other disasters, yet both liberals and conservatives keep ignoring it.
The liberals bewailing the insensitivity and racism of Republicans in Washington sound like a bad rerun of the 1960's, when urban riots were blamed on everyone but the rioters and the police. Yes, the White House did a terrible job of responding to Katrina, but Democratic leaders in New Orleans and Louisiana didn't even fulfill their basic duties.
In coastal Virginia - which, by the way, has a large black population and plenty of Republican politicians - Mr. Judkins and his colleagues assume that it's their job to evacuate people, maintain order and stockpile supplies to last for 72 hours, until federal help arrives. In New Orleans, the mayor seemed to assume all that was beyond his control, just like the mayors in the 1960's who let the riots occur.
They said their cities couldn't survive without help from Washington, which proceeded to shower inner cities with money and programs that did more damage than the riots. Cities didn't recover until some mayors, especially Republicans like Rudy Giuliani, tried self-reliance.
Mr. Giuliani was called heartless and racist for cutting the welfare rolls and focusing on crime reduction, but black neighborhoods were the greatest beneficiaries of his policies. He was criticized for ignoring social services as he concentrated on reorganizing the Police and Fire Departments, but his cold effectiveness made the city a more livable place and kept it calm after Sept. 11.
Yet Mr. Bush, with approval from conservatives who should have known better, reacted to Sept. 11 by centralizing disaster planning in Washington. He created the byzantine Homeland Security Department, with predictable results last week.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, often criticized for ineptitude, became even less efficient after it was swallowed by a bureaucracy consumed with terrorism. The department has spent billions on new federal airport screeners - with no discernible public benefit - while giving short shrift to natural disasters.
The federal officials who had been laboring on a one-size-fits-all strategy were unprepared for the peculiarities of New Orleans, like the high percentage of people without cars. The local officials who knew about that problem didn't do anything about it - and then were furious when Mr. Bush didn't solve it for them. Why didn't the man on the mound come through for them?
It's a fair question as they go door to door looking for bodies. But so is this: Why didn't they go door to door last week with Magic Markers?
I'm not saying our National government is pristine in the matter, but I think it is ridiculous to blame the disaster on it & W. specifically. So basically local & state government are to blame, especially when they won't let private groups like the Red Cross & Salvation Army help. At least Walmart had it's act together!
Current Mood:  hungry
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| | ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/100554040/522737) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) zonk |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 01:37 pm (UTC) |
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I think the Libs would bitch if we hung them with a new rope. True. It isn't to say the National government isn't troubled in their response either BUT c'mon! | | From: | zonk |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 01:50 pm (UTC) |
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I know, but it's governments job to take care of everyone. | | From: | zonk |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 02:36 pm (UTC) |
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Too funny. C'mon I want my free, food, free medical care, and oh yeah and build me a house too while you're at it. Not entirely. It's the governments job to OFFER care for everyone. If people choose not to take it, that's their decision. I LOVE YOUR ICON OMG YOU RULE.
[kids show/wondershowzen 4-eva] ![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/116479716/577105) | | From: | ![[info]](http://l-files.livejournal.net/userhead/472?v=1320742096) gwai_lol |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 02:37 pm (UTC) |
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Mind if I like this entry of your in my current journal entry? It kinda ties in with my "help now, point fingers later" opinion. Go for it! :) Glad you feel the same way at least sort of. | | From: | gwai_lol |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 02:55 pm (UTC) |
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I do.
Because most of the people I have heard complaining did not do anything.
I thought it was interesting the steps VA has for hurricanes, I was not aware of it, and Im surprised a city below sea level did not have a system like that.
I thought VA's plan was interesting too. I wasn't aware of details, although I vaguely knew we had something set up. Houston obviously had a plan too, which they implemented to help New Orleans. I find it completely outrageous that New Orleans didn't have something in place to help minimize the catastrophe... | | From: | gwai_lol |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 04:36 pm (UTC) |
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*insert bad taste thats the French for ya joke here* OMG when people want to point the finger they only make themselves look bad (No, Bush does not hate black people, Kanye. Lest we forget the appointment of Ms. Rice). The mayor of the city of New Orleans should have taken actions to prevent these sorts of things. The city should have had funding to take care of things. It didn't. Good job, Mr. Nagin... Keep on pointing and wagging your finger. Anyone with any sense will just keep staring at you in disbelief. I just wish there were more people with sense, like us, out there!!! :) | | From: | gwai_lol |
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| Date: | September 8th, 2005 04:46 pm (UTC) |
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LOL!!!!!!!!
*imagines a frightened looking Bush pointing at Condoleeza saying "You have it all wrong Kanye, I HAVE A BLACK FRIEND!!!!!" *
Someone plese photoshop that heheh. I bet you right now in some illustration class some prof. is telling his class to draw up sketches of an editorial illustration in regard to this very hot topic (it's an excersize we did almost every other week in school). It's unfortunate that I am not a part of that class -- I would have the best illustration EVER!!111! I was going to reply to your posting Sarah, but by the time I finished it was about 5 paragraphs, so if anyone cares check out my journal for the message I was going to reply with. | From: | tardass |
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| Date: | September 9th, 2005 03:28 am (UTC) |
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It seems there is a tug of war between the federal and state (specifically Louisiana) government regarding this crisis. The people of New Orleans are the rope which is being tugged on. With each pull, hundreds die, and the rope frays. Does it have to break before they realize no one is going to emerge victorious?
There is one thing which I must point out though. While local and state governments did not have a plan for this kind of disaster, Hurricane Katrina devastated more than just New Orleans. 3 States, covering a large swath of land, require aid and I think this qualifies as falling mostly under federal responsibility, since most local and state governments would be overwhelmed from the sheer size of this crisis, regardless of their preparedness.
I mean, we're talking about Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama here. I used to live in LA and the street I lived on wasn't even paved. We lived in what was considered the more affluent part of town and by affluent, I mean one step up from dirt broke.
DHS and specifically FEMA are responsible for disasters of this size. If they can't get a handle on how to respond to a hurricane, how can we expect them to respond to an NBC attack? Hopefully, this event reforms those organizations and redefines the chain of command for federal and state governments when faced with a catastrophe of this magnitude. I do wish they would focus on fixing it & do the blame part later. It only gets uglier as more time goes by.
I also agree that the FEMA/DHS aren't acting effectively or appropriately as far as I can tell (in New Orleans). But why aren't we hearing about their trouble in AL & Miss.?
A co-worker of mine is from Miss & went to school in New Orleans...He said the damage was equivalent in Miss., but they were using their state & local gov't to deal and had received the aid they needed from the Federal Gov. It's interesting how each state reacts differently. | From: | tardass |
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| Date: | September 9th, 2005 02:57 pm (UTC) |
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The main difference between New Orleans and the areas outside of NO, were the levees breaking. For whatever reason(s), FEMA was unable to respond swiftly and where they did respond, it seems incorrect decisions were made. While FEMA may have not bungled relief efforts outside of NO, they and local and state government were slow to respond to the people who needed help in those areas. CNN's Anderson Cooper spent much of his time in Mississippi, and four days after Katrina hit, he had yet to see any action taken, by either state or federal government. http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/01.htmlhas links to video of his interview with LA Sen. Landrieu, who interestingly, is praising the Bush Administration for their efforts. Now, she is doing her utmost to place the blame on them. Further down on the page, there is a link to a video of a Biloxi survivor who isn't satisfied with relief efforts, or rather, the lack of relief. http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/08/31.htmlMore video of Anderson Cooper wondering where the help is in Mississippi. Media attention has been diverted from these stories, possibly because the situation has pretty much stabilized outside of New Orleans. It's a numbers game to them. Which will draw more viewers? 200+ deaths in MS? Or the possibility of 20,000+ deaths in New Orleans? Media bias may also play a part in how the coverage is proceeding. They seem to be out for blood in a way I haven't seen for a long time, which is at the same time both refreshing and disturbing. I hope the Congressional commission will do a proper job of investigating what happened, but I fear it will devolve into petty party politics. I agree. Now is the time to pull together, not throw stones. |
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