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September 03, 2005
George W. Bush: A President of Inaction
So, you still think Bush is doing a good job? Doing everything he can for our country? Well let's examine how he has so far handled the aftermath of Katrina, perhaps the most devastating natural disaster in this country's history - casually, as always.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest Category 5 storms in history, with winds up to 170 MPH, makes landfall on the US gulf coast at 6:30 - 7:00 AM EDT
The storm lashes New Orleans, Mobile, AL, and Gulfport, MS with winds over 145MPH throughout the morning and into the afternoon. It is apparent, even before landfall, that this will be a terribly devastating storm
President Bush decides to stay in Crawford, TX on vacation rather than fly back to Washington to lead the country through this catastrophic disaster. Also decides not to fly to DC on Tuesday, but to give a speech in San Diego commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Citizens of New Orleans, Gulfport, Mobile, and other costal cities wake to find their cities all but destroyed. New Orleans looks bad, but seems to have escaped the worst of the storm because the levees are still holding back the lake at this point. There are 55 people known dead, 1 million homes in three states without power, 40,000 homes underwater in New Orleans, 3 of 5 hospitals in Gulfport are left without Emergency Rooms, 3/4 of the homes in Gulfport have catastrophic roof damage or no roof at all. The number of homeless is unknown. Water levels of the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain are rising steadily. Late Tuesday two large levees between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain gave way and the city started filling up fast:
President Bush decides not to head back to Washington to lead the nation and coordinate rescue and relief efforts. Instead, he flies to San Diego to give a speech celebrating the 60th anniversary of V-J Day to airmen at the San Diego Naval Air Station. Plays guitar and jokes around with country star Mark Wills during the V-J Day event:
During his speech he compared the war in Iraq to WWII, stating “As we mark this anniversary, we are again a nation at war. Once again war came to our shores with a surprise attack that killed thousands in cold blood.”
He didn’t mention, as he was giving his speech on the Japanese surrender sixty years ago, that the most devastating hurricane in US history had just struck, cities were destroyed, and the entire gulf coast was in shambles. He should have cancelled this speech and flown directly to Washington on Monday the 29. He is not fulfilling the duties of his office when he continues his vacation while the nation is crippled and mired in crisis. If Truman had decided to go on vacation in 1945 and not bother with the messy Japanese situation, we might not have a V-J Day to celebrate. He also neglected to mention his July 2005 budget that cut 75 million dollars from the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers for levee maintenance and flood control:
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Levees continue to give way and early Wednesday over 80% of New Orleans is flooded, over 20 feet deep in places. There are an estimated 50,000 – 100,000 people still stranded in New Orleans, and the death toll is estimated to be in the hundreds if not thousands. There is no power, no plumbing, no telephone service, all the businesses are closed, most houses are underwater, and no food or water is available unless you break into a store. It has been over two days since the landfall of the storm and the rescue and evacuation of the city has only just begun, mostly by Coast Guard boats and helicopters. On Wednesday only a handful of National Guard troops were in the city, most of them patrolling Canal Street trying to discourage looting and rioting. The distribution of food and water, the evacuation of the city, and rescue and relief efforts were slow, unorganized, and undermanned.
President Bush on Wednesday decided, since New Orleans was underwater and many other gulf cities practically destroyed, that maybe he should return to Washington and actually do something. He wanted to get a first hand view of the damage, so he looked out the window of Air Force One as he flew back to Washington. Four Navy ships were dispatched from Norfolk to distribute food and water, and to assist with rescue efforts, but the ships might not reach the gulf for a few days. President Bush convenes his cabinet Wednesday afternoon (got around to it two and a half days after landfall) and stated in the following press conference “The Coast Guard has rescued nearly 2,000 people to date.” Remember there are at least 50,000 – 100,000 people stranded in New Orleans. Bush also said in his Wednesday afternoon press conference “The National Guard has nearly 11,000 Guardsmen on state active duty to assist governors and local officials with security and disaster response efforts.” Why, Mr. Bush, wait two and a half days to offer National Guard assistance? Rescuers speak of a ‘Golden 72 Hours’ when successful rescues are most likely, and you don’t convene your cabinet until over 60 hours have passed. The National Guard and Navy should’ve already been mobilized and ready to go before Katrina made landfall. Why did you wait so long to do something? I remember another time that the country really needed you to be a strong leader, and to take action, and all you did was sit there:
Thursday, September 1, 2005
The disaster area of Katrina was officially declared over 90,000 square miles in three states. Three days after the storm cholera and typhoid become a real threat to the refugees in New Orleans. Widespread looting and gunfire continue, even hospitals were looted and vandalized. Riots break out in the streets and structures are on fire across the city. Many people have gone four days without food, water, medicine, or any means of escape.
Only after the 'golden 72 hours' had already passed did President Bush mobilize a few thousand National Guard troops, and it would take still another day for them to arrive in New Orleans, Biloxi, Greensboro, and other towns. Which means that the first National Guard troops that roll in will arrive four days late. The Coast Guard and FEMA continued their rescue and relief efforts by helicopter and small boats, but their rescue and evacuation efforts were suspended after someone reportedly fired upon a helicopter sent out to rescue survivors. The first semi-coordinated evacuation began as buses ferried refugees from the Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston. Still thousands are stranded and need rescuing if they hope to survive.
In a television interview with ABC on Sept. 1 Bush had this to say, “There's a lot of food on its way, a lot of water on the way and there's a lot of boats and choppers headed that way... it just takes a while to float them.” He continued, “I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday. I mean I understand the anxiety of people on the ground... So there is frustration but I want people to know there's a lot of help coming. But... it's very important for the citizens in all affected areas to take personal responsibility and assume a civic sense of responsibility, so that the situation doesn't get out of hand, so people don't exploit the vulnerable.” After letting his citizens suffer and die off for four days he’s imploring people to take “personal responsibility” and not to “exploit the vulnerable.” Mr. Bush, we all wish you would follow your own advice, and realize that you are responsible for a great deal of suffering and death.
Friday, September 2, 2005
Friday morning, more than four days after the storm, the evacuation was still moving rather slowly. Even Republicans started criticizing Bush. "I think FEMA has been completely dysfunctional, and I don't understand it because the [hurricane] scenario is completely predictable," said U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). "It seems like there has been no coherent plan, and I don't understand, because there has been plans for this scenario for 20 years." Vitter personally estimated Louisiana’s death toll to surpass 10,000 people.
Finally on Friday a few positive things actually started to happen. About 30 trucks and amphibious vehicles carrying around a thousand National Guard troops rolled into New Orleans Friday afternoon, speeding up the evacuation process, and bringing much needed food and water to the stranded refugees in the city. Congress also gave their final approval on a 10.5 billion dollar hurricane relief bill.
Bush’s advisors must have convinced him to put in an appearance because Friday the president toured the cities of Biloxi, Mobile, and New Orleans, although the streets of downtown New Orleans were deemed too dangerous for Mr. Bush so he gave his speech at the airport about 20 miles away. In his speech Mr. Bush stated, “I know the people of this part of the world are suffering, and I want them to know that there's a flow of progress,” and that Katrina “is a storm that's going to require immediate action now.” Actually, Mr. Bush, it required immediate action four days ago.
Saturday, September 3, 2005
While the situation does seem to be improving with the arrival of National Guard and Navy troops, many citizens, including New Orleans’ mayor Ray Nagin, didn’t seem very confident in the President’s rhetoric. "Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here," said Mayor Nagin in a radio interview on Thursday night. "They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country." And an editorial in today’s edition of the Times Picayune read "It's good to hear the president admit his administration's shortcomings, and it's even better to hear his promise to help all of us who are in need, but the sad truth remains that the federal government's slow start has already proved fatal to some of the most vulnerable people in the New Orleans area. Water has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people. A lack of water to drink is exacting its toll on others.” It continued, “The president's admission of his administration's mistakes will mean nothing unless the promised help is deployed immediately. Each life is precious, and there isn't a second chance to save a single one of them. No more talk of what's going to happen. We only want to hear what is being done. The lives of our people depend on it."
How could this happen in the United States? Why would the president wait four days to deploy the Navy and National Guard? I, for one, do believe it has a lot to do with the social and economic class of the refugees. If an event of this magnitude happened in, say, Beverley Hills, do you think it would have taken four days for the National Guard to be deployed? I don’t. Of course no one is claiming that the Bush Administration is at fault for Katrina, it was a natural disaster. But the reality of the situation is that ten thousand or more people will likely end up dead as a result of the Bush administration’s neglect and inactivity. Bush may have caused more American casualties by doing nothing than the Taliban did on September 11, 2001. That, folks, is your president, and you would have to be crazy to defend him.
| By Joshua Daniels | 12:14 PM
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