California Conservative

It didn’t take any flood water to recede before the finger-pointing over Katrina began.

Government officials are blaming each other, liberals are blaming Bush, black leaders are blaming racism (of course, on Bush), and New Orleans’ mayor and Louisiana’s governor are blaming each other. Even the Middle East got into the blame-game action, asserting that Katrina was sent from Allah.

Last, but surely not least, even FEMA is pointing a finger (perhaps with some reason) by suggesting that even the victims bear some responsibility. (Political correctness will have the chief’s badge by month’s end) UPDATE 9/9: Actually, didn’t even take that long. Michael Brown is “relieved of duty”

Yet, for all those pointing to the President, the federal government and society-at-large, it makes better sense to look closer at where Katrina struck down and scrutinize the leadership of NOLA, for they are the true first responders.

In an editorial entitled, “The Mayor Who Failed His City,” Ben Johnson examines the facts in excellent detail:

“In accordance with the “City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan” – a blueprint drawn up to deal with emergencies like this one – all “Authority to issue evacuations of elements of the population is vested in the Mayor.” The document specifically states, “The person responsible for recognition of hurricane related preparation needs and for the issuance of an evacuation order is the Mayor of the City of New Orleans.” This outline does not mention any specific federal government’s role in disaster relief, instead carving out roles for state and municipal governments. In fact, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld noted this holiday weekend, posse commitatus statutes bar federal officers from working as law enforcement officials.

Charged with so heavy a responsibility, Mayor Nagin punted, then passed the buck. The National Hurricane Center called Nagin Saturday night asking him to evacuate New Orleans, and President Bush also begged him to get his people to safety. As mayor, the final decision was Nagin’s. He was expected to issue such an order 48 hours before the storm made landfall; however, the storm touched down and the levees gave way less than 48 hours after his proclamation.” (See full article for much more)

Since black activists like Al and Jesse have tried to turn the NOLA tragedy into a story of racism, can you imagine the political fallout were Nagin white?

Given the vitriol we’ve seen so far, if Nagin were white (or maybe Korean, since blacks don’t like them either), he would be accused, most assuredly, for purposefully failing to evacuate in order to kill thousands of stranded poor blacks. And, yet, because he’s a “brother,” the same critics turn a blind eye.

And what about the Governor, Kathleen Blanco? Well, she’s a Democrat. And besides her poor leadership in general and her quick resort to finger-pointing, now the facts are revealed that she prevented the Red Cross from delivering assistance.

Since the blame game is in full swing, hopefully those truly responsible for mismanagement of the hurricane relief - NOLA’s first responders - will have to answer publicly for their proven ineptitude.

UPDATE:
Major Garrett Interviews Red Cross Rep (video)

The Katrina Blame Game:
Kevin Patrick separates fact from fiction

UPDATE: (9/9)
Gov. Blanco: “Nobody told me that I had to request that”
Duh.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2005 at 8:17 am and is filed under Activism, Humanitarian, Liberals, Race, Special Interests, W, Washington, DC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.