Ok, I've been quiet on this one for too long. If you don't want my opinions feel free to skip it.
First off, if you don't live in an area that is threatened by hurricanes every summer/fall, then sit down, shut up, and pay attention.
This is not President Bush's fault. I've lived through hurricanes affecting this area under Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. None of them were created by the President in question, the Congress, or anyone else. People have died in hurricanes under virtually every President to serve this country. There is always property damage. There are almost always looters. This is not a new situation. Bush told Louisiana to call for a mandatory evacuation, and Louisiana listened to him.
The National Guard has a job to do. Their job is to follow the orders of the state governor. If they were not in there soon enough, it is the fault of the state governor, and no one else.
Do you know what happens when a mandatory evacuation is called due to a hurricane on the Atlantic coast? The police force you to evacuate. You don't decide to stay at home. If you're in your home, you will be removed from it. That's why it's called a mandatory evacuation. I've been seeing it during hurricane season my whole life, although thankfully never in my city. If the people are not forced to leave, then it's not a mandatory evacuation, it's a voluntary evacuation.
After the storm, what the fuck do you expect relief workers to do when they're being shot at? I don't care if you're black, white, purple, or green, if you shoot at the people who are trying to save your ass, then you're an idiot. Today, a group of people opened fire on contractors being sent in to repair a levee. That is disgusting, and you can't blame it on Bush.
DHS has provided states with funding to plan evacuations and drills of those evacuations since its inception. No major city should be without an evacuation plan-- if it is, the state should be held accountable for its waste of that money.
I am disgusted with the behavior of the people of New Orleans in response to the storm. Shooting at rescuers? Sitting in stores trying on Nikes? Stealing jewelry, televisions? ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.
On August 7th, an author I respect said:
In my lectures on survival topics I often mention that there is just a thin veneer of civilization on our society. What is underneath is not pretty, and it does take much to peel away that veneer. You take your average urbanite or suburbanite and get him excessively cold, wet, tired, hungry and/or thirsty and take away his television, beer, drugs, and other pacifiers, and you will soon seen the savage within. It is like peeling the skin of an onion--remove a couple of layers and it gets very smelly. -- James Wesley, Rawles
Is there any doubt now as to the truth of that statement?
The lesson we all need to learn from Katrina is that no matter who is in office, the government (federal, state, or local), cannot and will not protect you. Take responsibility for yourself and your family. If you don't have at least a week's worth of whatever your family needs to survive (food, water, medicine, flashlights, batteries, candles, and yes, guns and ammunition) in your home, then you are not prepared. In the best case, it would all be in bags you could easily take if you had to leave your home in an emergency.
Some will question that statement, particularly the gun recommendation. To them I say, you can have all the food and water you like, but the people with the guns will be the ones eating it. That may sound harsh, but look at what we've seen in the past week and ask yourself if you can really argue with it.
They raided a nursing home and took whatever they could lay hands on. "We had enough food for 10 days," Peggy Hoffman, the home's director, told the AP. "Now we'll have to equip our department heads with guns and teach them how to shoot." TownHall.com