Theory
I heard a theory in response to the Meet the Press from yesterday, and I pray it isn't true. I hope it isn't. But with this administration's history, I can't be CERTAIN it isn't.
What this person pointed out was, following my comments on how Broussard looked like he hadn't slept and Barbour looked tanned and rested, that it wasn't surprising that Mississippi had gotten quick response (being run by a faithful Republican and former head of the RNC) while Louisiana had gotten a piss poor one (with a Democrat as Governor and in a few other key New Orleans positions).
Until this point, I've been assuming that the difference was merely in scale of the task. Mississippi had deaths numbered in the low 100s (last report I heard), and so the damage was predominantly property damage.
On the other hand, Louisiana's we don't even know yet, but numbers in the thousands and even tens of thousands are being theorized, all in one major area.
But in the back of my head keeps ringing the question why did Haley Barbour say they had federal troops on the ground by Sunday, when Louisiana couldn't get anyone in place until Tuesday evening for FEMA and Thursday evening for any kind of law enforcement (National Guard troops). And the only answers I can come to are:
- Republicans reward their own.
- The areas of Mississippi hit weren't as saturated with poor people.
Rewarding their own (and demonizing all opposition) does seem to be what this administration is best at, terming all dissenting opinion "unpatriotic", "unamerican" or "treasonous". Not to mention leaking blatent lies about when a state of emergency declaration was formally made.
On the other hand, I have not been sleeping much, with migraines and continued obsessing about the devastation in Katrina's wake. I am probably much more open to conspiracy theories at this point than I should be.
I hope so. I sincerely hope that once I've had a bit more sleep, regardless of what I think of our leadership, I don't actually believe they'd let additional people die in numbers exceeding those on 9/11 just to drag their feet and punish opposition.
Liam.
posted by Liam at 9/05/2005 09:43:00 AM
4 Comments:
We have a Republican Senator.
Monday, September 05, 2005 4:45:00 PM
Louisiana governments are corrupt and incompetent.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:41:00 AM
Most governments are.
However, according to the facts I can gather, the LA Governor declared a state of emergency on Friday, 8/26 (before the hurricane hit) and sent a letter to Bush through the local FEMA coordinator on Sunday, 8/28 asking for Federal help.
On Tuesday, 8/30 marshal law was declared in New Orleans.
So continued allegations that she was slow to sign the declaration, slow to accept help, and slow to declare necessary marshal law appear to be fabrications.
And I'd still like to know why there are reports of FEMA turning back aid (trucks full of water from Wal*Mart, instructing tankers not to release diesel fuel to local authorities, etc).
I've been reading both conservative and liberal blogs and news sources regarding this past week, and although both have tended to be rather inflamatory, when they get around to stating researchable fact, it appears the left wing sources base facts bear out scrutiny, while the right wings tend to fall apart under careful research.
But if you have better sources of information, I'm open to hearing them!
Liam.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:51:00 AM
Oh, I should add that I don't think you'll get much argument on that point from residents.
Related (by marriage) as I now am to people whose families have a long standing Louisiana heritage, I've heard enough about local corruption to agree with your statement.
Liam.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:55:00 AM
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