To many, it seems that the proper response in any event is to blame the President. This has proved itself to be more true during Mr. Bush's Presidency than any other I have been alive to remember.
President Bush has many opponents in this country. Many will use this as one more opportunity to villify him.
George W. Bush, as an individual has very limited options here. The office of President of The United States does not include a cape or super powers. He can issue any order he likes, but that does not remove the miles of red tape involved. His orders also have to be carried out by someone else, and if that someone else (in this case, the heads of various relief organizations) bungles the job, it is not fair to assign blame to the President based on the crap-tastic actions of another. If the President tells FEMA to get down there and clean up right now, and FEMA takes three days, that's not the President's fault.
As has been pointed out by TFL member XavierBreath in his most recent thread, the whiners, complainers, and blamers in N.O. are few and far between, and do not give an accurate representation of the opinions there. As far as the media talking heads, they cannot evaluate the response from New York or DC, and I daresay they cannot evaluate it while wearing a tie and wingtips, either.
As far as the party approvals of his performance, many of those people cast their vote in favor of their party or it's agenda, not neccessarily what their personal beleifs are.The ones that did vote honestly most likely have never had to head up an emergency or disaster relief, so they do not understand the challenges associated, or what to consider an "acceptable" or "unacceptable" success rate.
It is not the job of the President to manage disaster relief. That is what FEMA was created for, that is what STATE FUNDED and STATE MANAGED National Guard units are for. (which are admittedly taking a beating in Iraq).
The President has far too many responsibilities associated with his office to ignore them all. While my preferred method of problem solving is one problem at a time, on the world stage that just does not work.
Many people also do not understand the role of the Red Cross in hindering aid efforts in favor of their politics. Here, XavierBreath and his crew (medical personnel with a boat) were turned away because of their guns. On another board(Pregnancy Weekly, where my wife is a member) a woman reported problems donating items. It seems that many people began collecting food, clothes, hygeine and comfort items, looking to donate them to the local shelter. The Red Cross manager their told them that THEY PREFERRED NOT TO ACCEPT DONATIONS!!
Yet another arena is world politics. The remainder of the world has not stopped because of our storm. President Bush still has to deal with the UN attempting to villainize the US on a daily basis, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the cost of oil, illegal immigration, and the illegal drug trade, to name a few. These do not stop for us. In fact, the carry on in force to take advantage of teporary vulnerability.
Before blame is laid upon one man, the entire situation, and ALL of that one man's responsibilities must be considered. While some here do not approve of Mr. Bush as our President, I doubt that too many would be willing to step into that office to replace him.
The local government was aware of the problems their city faced, state budgets offered no money, congressional budgets allocated no funds to the Corps of Engineers, and big industry was too concerned with itself to worry about the city that hosted it. In addition, the volunteers that are down there right now have little organization and even less money to direct or assist their efforts.
Also consider that while we are the helping hand (and wallet) for many foreign emergencies, that few have offered to do the same for us. In addition, the few that have offered have yet to provide what we need most, which is volunteers on the ground. Many of those same countries are watching and waiting for the chance to criticize the disaster response from their office far, far away. Once again jackets and ties where hard hats and work boots are needed.
Let's not forget the people in New Orleans. They either had no ability to evacuate, or in some cases, no inclination. The elderly, infirmed, and the children cannot help that their police and fire departments, their State Governments, and their city neighbors abandoned them. How many cars do you think left that city well before hand with only two or three people in them? That is not George W Bush's fault.
The broken levies? State and local government, and Congress, not the President.
The hurricane itself? Nature, not the President.
The able bodied still in the city? Inclination, not the President.
The infirmed and elderly still there? Inability, not the President.
The disorganized relief? FEMA, Red Cross, etc. Not the President.
The slow moving military? Red tape and logistics, not the President.
I could continue, but I doubt the pattern would change.
These, not George W. Bush, are the considerations for the effectiveness or the Katrina response.
While I am saddened and sickened to have to watch fellow American citizens suffer, I am not yet so emotionally charged or politically motivated as to lay blame on ONE MAN for the failings of many.
And it is National Spirit, Pride, and Brotherhood that will successfully aid New Orleans, not George W. Bush.
Rich, sorry to waste bandwidth with my rant. Feel free to delete if you deem appropriate. I just cannot tolerate the media, the foreign politics, and even some members of this board using this as a chance to attack the President rather than focus on the issue at hand, which is saving Americans.
President Bush has many opponents in this country. Many will use this as one more opportunity to villify him.
George W. Bush, as an individual has very limited options here. The office of President of The United States does not include a cape or super powers. He can issue any order he likes, but that does not remove the miles of red tape involved. His orders also have to be carried out by someone else, and if that someone else (in this case, the heads of various relief organizations) bungles the job, it is not fair to assign blame to the President based on the crap-tastic actions of another. If the President tells FEMA to get down there and clean up right now, and FEMA takes three days, that's not the President's fault.
As has been pointed out by TFL member XavierBreath in his most recent thread, the whiners, complainers, and blamers in N.O. are few and far between, and do not give an accurate representation of the opinions there. As far as the media talking heads, they cannot evaluate the response from New York or DC, and I daresay they cannot evaluate it while wearing a tie and wingtips, either.
As far as the party approvals of his performance, many of those people cast their vote in favor of their party or it's agenda, not neccessarily what their personal beleifs are.The ones that did vote honestly most likely have never had to head up an emergency or disaster relief, so they do not understand the challenges associated, or what to consider an "acceptable" or "unacceptable" success rate.
It is not the job of the President to manage disaster relief. That is what FEMA was created for, that is what STATE FUNDED and STATE MANAGED National Guard units are for. (which are admittedly taking a beating in Iraq).
The President has far too many responsibilities associated with his office to ignore them all. While my preferred method of problem solving is one problem at a time, on the world stage that just does not work.
Many people also do not understand the role of the Red Cross in hindering aid efforts in favor of their politics. Here, XavierBreath and his crew (medical personnel with a boat) were turned away because of their guns. On another board(Pregnancy Weekly, where my wife is a member) a woman reported problems donating items. It seems that many people began collecting food, clothes, hygeine and comfort items, looking to donate them to the local shelter. The Red Cross manager their told them that THEY PREFERRED NOT TO ACCEPT DONATIONS!!
Yet another arena is world politics. The remainder of the world has not stopped because of our storm. President Bush still has to deal with the UN attempting to villainize the US on a daily basis, the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the cost of oil, illegal immigration, and the illegal drug trade, to name a few. These do not stop for us. In fact, the carry on in force to take advantage of teporary vulnerability.
Before blame is laid upon one man, the entire situation, and ALL of that one man's responsibilities must be considered. While some here do not approve of Mr. Bush as our President, I doubt that too many would be willing to step into that office to replace him.
The local government was aware of the problems their city faced, state budgets offered no money, congressional budgets allocated no funds to the Corps of Engineers, and big industry was too concerned with itself to worry about the city that hosted it. In addition, the volunteers that are down there right now have little organization and even less money to direct or assist their efforts.
Also consider that while we are the helping hand (and wallet) for many foreign emergencies, that few have offered to do the same for us. In addition, the few that have offered have yet to provide what we need most, which is volunteers on the ground. Many of those same countries are watching and waiting for the chance to criticize the disaster response from their office far, far away. Once again jackets and ties where hard hats and work boots are needed.
Let's not forget the people in New Orleans. They either had no ability to evacuate, or in some cases, no inclination. The elderly, infirmed, and the children cannot help that their police and fire departments, their State Governments, and their city neighbors abandoned them. How many cars do you think left that city well before hand with only two or three people in them? That is not George W Bush's fault.
The broken levies? State and local government, and Congress, not the President.
The hurricane itself? Nature, not the President.
The able bodied still in the city? Inclination, not the President.
The infirmed and elderly still there? Inability, not the President.
The disorganized relief? FEMA, Red Cross, etc. Not the President.
The slow moving military? Red tape and logistics, not the President.
I could continue, but I doubt the pattern would change.
These, not George W. Bush, are the considerations for the effectiveness or the Katrina response.
While I am saddened and sickened to have to watch fellow American citizens suffer, I am not yet so emotionally charged or politically motivated as to lay blame on ONE MAN for the failings of many.
And it is National Spirit, Pride, and Brotherhood that will successfully aid New Orleans, not George W. Bush.
Rich, sorry to waste bandwidth with my rant. Feel free to delete if you deem appropriate. I just cannot tolerate the media, the foreign politics, and even some members of this board using this as a chance to attack the President rather than focus on the issue at hand, which is saving Americans.
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