More On The Levees

The recent release of a video tape showing that President Bush was briefed about the dangers of Katrina have added fuel to the fire about federal incompetence with regard to response. It is well documented that the federal government attempted to intervene but that Governor Blanco resisted help in fear of looking like she was not in charge of the situation. Regardless, critics claim that Bush knew and did nothing. I recently posted the weather report for that area just prior to Katrina making landfall. Anyone with a half an ounce of sense can tell it was going to be deadly.

The curious thing to me has been how Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco have been relatively immune from the blame game. Nagin indicated the Bush tapes vindicate him. The fact is, the President was made aware there was a dangerous situation. Help was offered to Governor Blanco and she did not accept it. Now, some of those tapes indicate she was saying the levees had not been breached:

“We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29 – the day the storm hit the Gulf coast.

“We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee,” she said on a video of the day’s disaster briefing that was obtained Thursday night by The Associated Press. “I think we have not breached the levee at this time.”

The report says she appeared uncertain and indicated that this could change. This is a true statement. In all the confusion, I am sure unconfirmed reports were rampant. Anyone remember all the reports of gunfire, rape and murder? The thing is, all the critics are trying to implicate President Bush because he was told about the breaches. He was in not in Louisiana and Blanco was. If she was getting, and reporting, information that the levees had not been breached, then how was the federal government supposed to know anything different.

The information from local officials indicated the levees had not been compromised. While critics are pointing the finger at the White House to indicate that refusal to act prevented immediate repair and cost lives, they overlook the basic fact that information was unreliable. The National Weather Service received a report that the levees had been breached at 9:12 am yet Blanco kept saying that she did not think they had been breached.

For those in the blogosphere who continually blame the federal government the facts are not important to their claims. They refuse to look at the series of event or to even believe that the inept handling by local officials had anything to do with the disaster. Some claim that right wing supporters will come up with flimsy excuses for the handling by the White House. These are not flimsy excuses, they are the facts in the case. The left wing just refuses to believe or report reality because of their incredible desire to put blame on George Bush. They allow their hatred to blind their vision. As for FEMA and the federal response, here is what a local Louisiana official had to say:

By that time, an estimated 15,000 evacuees had gathered at the stadium, where food and water was beginning to run out, said Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana’s emergency preparedness deputy director. Smith also reported up to 10 feet of flooding in neighboring St. Bernard Parish and that there were 45 patients on life-support at one area hospital that lost its power.

Still, “the coordination and support we are getting from FEMA has just been outstanding,” Smith said. (emphasis added)

It is clear there were problems at all levels but to place all the blame on the federal government is irrational and illogical. Local officials had the responsibility and they failed miserably. When people realize that the federal government is not a savior that swoops in ever time there is a problem they will live much better lives. It will take a while because the left has cultivated an entitlement society dependent upon government for every aspect of their lives. They shun personal responsibility because they do not really know what it is.

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One Response to “More On The Levees”

  1. The AP Takes a Que From Dan Rather…

    Kevin Aylward reports that the author of the AP report which alleges that President Bush was warned about the possibility of a levy breach used to work at CBS’s 60 Minutes II.
    Now, Rob at Say Anything notices that the video was selectively edited…