Victory Is Mine

"The U.S. Government has failed us"

Thread on the Saints forum discussing this. I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed in the general inability to get any sort of enforcement going on in New Orleans. My friend whose LSU season tix I share tells me that one of his colleagues has a son in the NOPD who just gave up and left to go up to Shreveport because of the lack of command and communication down there.

So to recap:
1. people are getting raped and murdered.
2. Gunfire is preventing physicians from evacuating hospitals.
3. Essentials aren't getting to those who need them.
4. Non-essentials are getting stolen, resulting in a declaration of martial law...
5. ...But law enforcement is largely ineffective (88 troops who went to control the mob at the Convention Center were turned away by that angry mob). Scroll down to 4:15pm on that blog for the relevant post.
6. The mayor and governor are breaking down on national television (no link, you've all seen it).
7. Meanwhile, we have a Speaker of the House in Dennis Hastert who thinks New Orleans isn't worth rebuilding. Great timing for this statement, you son of a bitch. I hate you.

Bush (who most of you know I'm a big fan of) seems to be taking his goddamn time. Maybe it's not his direct responsibility, but we all know he can get it done - so how long does it take to mobilize national guard from other states? Wasn't it clear on Sunday that we should be prepared for one of the worst natural disasters in our history (because it was clear to everyone in New Orleans)? Shouldn't they have been prepared RIGHT THEN to mobilize ASAP? I don't understand how it could be nearly 100 hours after the event and STILL we don't have a decent authority presence in the area. There's no excuse for this, and it's despicable. Nagin and Blanco should be breaking down because they've been hung out to dry thus far.

posted by Publius @ 6:41 PM