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mercifulserpentHere's another angle from which to look at the hurricane response: a retropsective on past presidents' responses to hurricanes.
President: Nixon
Category 5 Hurricane *Camille* (August 1969)
Area: About the same area as that affected by Katrina
Response: Nixon prepared the National Guard in advance, ordering rescue ships from Tampa, FL and Houston, TX to stand waiting along with over a thousand regular military, 24+ helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard about as soon as the hurricane passed.
President: Bush (the Elder)
Category 5 Hurricane *Andrew* (August 1992)
Area: Florida
Response: In the middle of a re-election campaign, Bush ceased campaigning the day before the hurricane, went to Washington, and assembled one of the largest military forces ever mustered on U.S. soil. 7,000 National Guard and 22,000 regular military were sent in with the necessary equipment shortly after the hurricane passed through.
President: Clinton
Category 3 Hurricane *Floyd* (September 1999)
Area: Virginia and Carolinas
Response: Meeting with China's president Jiang in New Zealand, Clinton immediately declared the hurricane-affected areas as federal disasters, allowing the military and National Guard to move in and help. Clinton flew home immediately, one day before the hurricane hit, to help coordinate the rescue.
President: Bush (the Lesser)
Category 5 Hurricane *Katrina* (August 2005)
Area: Gulf Coast
Response: National Guard troops are down about 8,000 members because they are in Iraq with much of the needed rescue equipment.
Bush was on vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before the hurricane landed. On that day, Bush attended a birthday party for John McCain.
The levees began to crack. While emergency 1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to strengthen the levee and exclude water, there were insufficient helicopters and pilots to set them before the levees broke. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded for federal-level assistance and got none. Bush went to San Diego to play guitar with a country singer and ended his vacation early -- but not until
the next day, because he had tickets to a San Diego Padres game.
President: Nixon
Category 5 Hurricane *Camille* (August 1969)
Area: About the same area as that affected by Katrina
Response: Nixon prepared the National Guard in advance, ordering rescue ships from Tampa, FL and Houston, TX to stand waiting along with over a thousand regular military, 24+ helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard about as soon as the hurricane passed.
President: Bush (the Elder)
Category 5 Hurricane *Andrew* (August 1992)
Area: Florida
Response: In the middle of a re-election campaign, Bush ceased campaigning the day before the hurricane, went to Washington, and assembled one of the largest military forces ever mustered on U.S. soil. 7,000 National Guard and 22,000 regular military were sent in with the necessary equipment shortly after the hurricane passed through.
President: Clinton
Category 3 Hurricane *Floyd* (September 1999)
Area: Virginia and Carolinas
Response: Meeting with China's president Jiang in New Zealand, Clinton immediately declared the hurricane-affected areas as federal disasters, allowing the military and National Guard to move in and help. Clinton flew home immediately, one day before the hurricane hit, to help coordinate the rescue.
President: Bush (the Lesser)
Category 5 Hurricane *Katrina* (August 2005)
Area: Gulf Coast
Response: National Guard troops are down about 8,000 members because they are in Iraq with much of the needed rescue equipment.
Bush was on vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before the hurricane landed. On that day, Bush attended a birthday party for John McCain.
The levees began to crack. While emergency 1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to strengthen the levee and exclude water, there were insufficient helicopters and pilots to set them before the levees broke. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded for federal-level assistance and got none. Bush went to San Diego to play guitar with a country singer and ended his vacation early -- but not until
the next day, because he had tickets to a San Diego Padres game.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-16 08:30 pm (UTC)Good grief, no matter how low my "respect" for Bush is, something else arises and makes me hate him more...
Seriously, even Osama would take better of America...
no subject
Date: 2005-09-17 03:29 am (UTC)Please give him another domestic disaster he won't be able to 'take responsibility' for -- like a San Andreas earthquake or something, to bury him and his legacy for all posterity, like he left thousands in New Orleans to do.