Remembering Katrina

[slickdawg]

I put this together just after Katrina, it was an outlet for me.

Remember what Katrina did on August 29th, 2005, watch it, pass it on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQwTQ8JnNc

[TheLurker]

Nice work Slick

[VeeJay]

Nice work, indeed.

[StoopTroup]

Very cool.

[Okla-homey]

Cool pics.

I am tired of the media and political spinning of it all though. If you ask the average Bubba now, Katrina was one of the worst Federal government scru-ups in history. There are even tin-foil hat wearers (both in NOLA and elsewhere) who still incist it was all a racist plot to de-populate NOLA. Both are outrageous.

IMHO, the worst thing the Federal government did was "assume" Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco would at least attempt to execute their local plans and ask for federal aid which, under our federal system, could not begin to flow until the mayor and the gov pulled the trigger. Ray Nagin fled and Kathleen Blanco acted like somebody had hit her in the head with a baseball bat.

Here's the way I see it. Both of the above incompetents had days of warning about what was about to happen and blew it. The criminal element in NOLA, coddled for decades by successive NOLA administrations, rose up, overwhelmed the decent people on the police force and took over the city. The criminal elements on the police force, tolerated by decades of successive NOLA administrations, joined in.

Ray Nagin and his administration abandoned those shut-ins and old people and left them to drown. I have little sympathy for the able-bodied who died after watching the water rise around them. If you're too stupid to walk to higher ground during a flood, you need to be removed from the gene pool.

The bright spot? The rural people of the Mississippi and Alabama gulf coast who subsequently rolled-up their sleeves and went to work to restore their civilization.

[slickdawg]

Dead on, as usual, Homey!

thanks for the compliments guys!

Please send it to your friends, I think it's worth watching and definately worth remembering.

[TUSooner]

Cool pics.

I am tired of the media and political spinning of it all though. If you ask the average Bubba now, Katrina was one of the worst Federal government scru-ups in history. There are even tin-foil hat wearers (both in NOLA and elsewhere) who still incist it was all a racist plot to de-populate NOLA. Both are outrageous.

IMHO, the worst thing the Federal government did was "assume" Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco would at least attempt to execute their local plans and ask for federal aid which, under our federal system, could not begin to flow until the mayor and the gov pulled the trigger. Ray Nagin fled and Kathleen Blanco acted like somebody had hit her in the head with a baseball bat.

Here's the way I see it. Both of the above incompetents had days of warning about what was about to happen and blew it. The criminal element in NOLA, coddled for decades by successive NOLA administrations, rose up, overwhelmed the decent people on the police force and took over the city. The criminal elements on the police force, tolerated by decades of successive NOLA administrations, joined in.

Ray Nagin and his administration abandoned those shut-ins and old people and left them to drown. I have little sympathy for the able-bodied who died after watching the water rise around them. If you're too stupid to walk to higher ground during a flood, you need to be removed from the gene pool.

The bright spot? The rural people of the Mississippi and Alabama gulf coast who subsequently rolled-up their sleeves and went to work to restore their civilization.

The federal screw-up was the Corps of Engineers' admittedly substandard levee construction. But for that, the underlying ravaging disease would not have been revealed. Maybe some good will come out of it in the end. Many decent people are trying to make it happen.

Nice job on the video.

[sooneron]

I'd say that ALL facets of gov fouled up big time whereas Katrina was concerned. Bush knew what was going to happen when a cat. 4 or worse storm would hit NO. Anticipating a big ****storm is part of his job, especially when he is told that one is coming.

[sooneron]

Oh, and nice vid Slick. I think it's a big problem that so much attention is no longer on MS and LA and the rebuilding.

[Okla-homey]

I'd say that ALL facets of gov fouled up big time whereas Katrina was concerned. Bush knew what was going to happen when a cat. 4 or worse storm would hit NO. Anticipating a big ****storm is part of his job, especially when he is told that one is coming.

But the Feds couldn't do anything substantive other than pre-position supplies around the area unless and until the state asked for help. I knwo what I'm taking about. I worked with FEMA thru three separate natural disasters my last five years in the military.

[sooneron]

But the Feds couldn't do anything substantive other than pre-position supplies around the area unless and until the state asked for help. I knwo what I'm taking about. I worked with FEMA thru three separate natural disasters my last five years in the military.
During the now famous briefing the took place Katrina hit, were there any state level peeps involved in the call? Just curious.

[Okla-homey]

During the now famous briefing the took place Katrina hit, were there any state level peeps involved in the call? Just curious.

I have no idea, but if they weren't, it's on them.

[sooneron]

I have no idea, but if they weren't, it's on them.
I don't want to turn this into anything but if you weren't notified of a call that you prolly should have been on, is it your fault , entirely? Kind of an "oh, you didn't get the memo?" moment.

[VeeJay]

My issue with the feds were these incidents, isolated or simply indicative of bureaucratic largesse:

1. Truckloads of water donated by Wal-Mart and bottled water suppliers being turned around at checkpoints by FEMA officials because paperwork wasn't filled out properly. WTF??

2. Brownie's credentials. Enough said on that topic. That one goes right to Junior. May as well have had Paul Shaffer from Late Night With David Letterman out there directing FEMA.

3. Firefighters and paramedics from all over the U.S., volunteering their and their cities' time to help in the rescue effort, held up for three days in Atlanta to undergo federally mandated "sensitivity training" while people were dying.

Now, granted, a big reason those people were dying was because of the chicanery and inaction of the local and state officials. But there's certainly some common sense decisions that weren't made due to internal federal bullsh*t.

Lastly, Homey - you're spot on regarding the people of neighboring Mississippi. I have relatives that have spent their lives on the MS Gulf Coast. Some of the older ones left, and some stayed and have re-built. Earlier in my life, had one or two small things occurred with me, I could have easily found myself living there too. I am humbled by the spirit of those people. Interesting, the real rebuilding work has taken place with volunteer church groups rather than waiting for Uncle Sam to put things back together.