Three years ago, George Bush and the Republicans failed miserably in their response to Hurricane Katrina (and a few weeks later to Hurricane Rita). FEMA and other government agencies were not ready for the disaster, and their slowness to adequately respond make it even worse than it should have been.
Now another hurricane is heading for the same area. Hurricane Gustav is on track to hit the Louisiana coast as a catagory 3 storm late Monday or early Tuesday. Could we have a replay of three years ago? Is Bush paying attention? Is FEMA ready?
They had better be ready. They have had three years to study their mistakes and make things right. Doing it right this time may not help in the coming election, because after all, people really expect FEMA and other government agencies to be ready and be competent. But screwing it up again could be disastrous to any remaining Republican hopes in the coming election.
If I were John McCain, I think I'd be on the phone to the White House right now. He really can't afford for Bush to drop the ball again. The Gulf Coast and New Orleans can't afford it either.
UPDATE -- Gustav is now a catagory 4 hurricane, and could easily be a catagorey 5 by the time it hits land.
It just hit cat 4 and it's still on the outer edge of the gulf. Oh man.
ReplyDeleteI swear if it is a Katrina repeat, I'm gonna borrow a neighbor's boat and head south. I refuse to watch helplessly as people die from ineptitude again. My confidence in the ability of FEMA is zero. Hell, this time they'll be so busy posing for political ads that they'll be even more useless if that is even possible.
But hey! Global warming is a dadgum myth! Bastidges. Oh...and make sure Babs Bush tells people how lucky they are again. I really liked that part last time too. Ya know...the people that actually survived the uncaring response from their government and then were told by that old witch that they were probably living in better conditions now. Wasn't that fun for everybody?
How do these people sleep at night?
Yeah... I'm feeling the anger from Katrina again...you betcha.
Mick
Is FEMA Ready?
ReplyDeleteYes. Were you disappointed?
But hey! Global warming is a dadgum myth!
No, but anthropogenic global warming may be. Are you familiar with the research of Henrik Svensmark? Apparently, the lack of sun spot activity last month may portend a new age of global cooling.
Have you read this?
Was I disappointed that innocent lives were not lost by ineptitude and apathy?
ReplyDeleteIs that really what you're asking? You think I wanted people to die so that anyone who doesn't remember Katrina could be reminded by a repeat?
The Svensmark paper:
Yes, I've read his cosmic connection theory. Hope he's right. He's one of a handful of scientists who believe something that the rest of science rebukes.
I hope he's right because I want my grandkids to inherit an inhabitable planet and human beings are unlikely to change quickly enough to stop this environmental train wreck. But, I won't bet my grandchildren's lives that his theory is correct and everyone else is wrong.
The economics of a limited resource will force the issue. They already are to some extent.
Mick