IValueFreedom
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- Jul 23, 2005
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With the recent failures of the local, state, and federal government's handling of Hurricane Katrina, much of the nation has turned to demand answers to some difficult questions from each level. Is this how it should be?
I live in Oregon.
I am not a constituent of either Mayor Ray Nagin or Gov. Kathleen Blanco. They are not responsible to me nor my views. Therefore, do I really have a right to be personally mad at them?
I'm not sure.
Yes, I concede that overall they both failed to provide the leadership, organization, initiative, and follow through that the hurricane and their job descriptions demanded of them. Neither were pro-active before, during, or after the hurricane in providing adequate food, water, or shelter for the people of New Orleans. The only thing that I witnessed them do well was ***** and moan.
Does that give me the personal right to be angry with them personally?
I still do not think so. If I were a resident of New Orleans or Louisiana, I would demand their jobs. But I'm not. I do not feel that I have the right to demand another state's governor to be fired, as I don't want residents of other states to have a say in my Oregon's government.
Now, here is my interpretation of how national disasters should be handled, which to the best of my knowledge is how our government views it too.
The local level handles what it can (i.e. storms or minor floods) on its own. If something is too large to for a single community to handle, or the disaster encompases multiple communities, the state government is called in for backup (i.e. large floods, forest fires, tornadoes). Now, if something is too big for the state level to handle or something encompasses multiple states, the federal government comes in for backup.
In this situation, the federal government failed to provide backup. As the local and state levels didn't get the job done, it was up to the federal government. Their grade: F.
It is completely unacceptable that Canadian Search and Rescue was able to come from Vancoucer, B.C. to New Orleans and bring out old folks from a nursing home DAYS before our own government had any National Guard there.
It is completely unacceptable that three Duke students were able to forge media passes, get past the police barrier, and drive their pickup to the superdome through "unpassable roads" to bring out people DAYS before the federal government "knew" they were even there.
There are infinate reasons to be angry with the handling of Katrina, but only the federal government is accountable to me. That's why I feel justified in my anger towards Bush and the people who work under him.
I live in Oregon.
I am not a constituent of either Mayor Ray Nagin or Gov. Kathleen Blanco. They are not responsible to me nor my views. Therefore, do I really have a right to be personally mad at them?
I'm not sure.
Yes, I concede that overall they both failed to provide the leadership, organization, initiative, and follow through that the hurricane and their job descriptions demanded of them. Neither were pro-active before, during, or after the hurricane in providing adequate food, water, or shelter for the people of New Orleans. The only thing that I witnessed them do well was ***** and moan.
Does that give me the personal right to be angry with them personally?
I still do not think so. If I were a resident of New Orleans or Louisiana, I would demand their jobs. But I'm not. I do not feel that I have the right to demand another state's governor to be fired, as I don't want residents of other states to have a say in my Oregon's government.
Now, here is my interpretation of how national disasters should be handled, which to the best of my knowledge is how our government views it too.
The local level handles what it can (i.e. storms or minor floods) on its own. If something is too large to for a single community to handle, or the disaster encompases multiple communities, the state government is called in for backup (i.e. large floods, forest fires, tornadoes). Now, if something is too big for the state level to handle or something encompasses multiple states, the federal government comes in for backup.
In this situation, the federal government failed to provide backup. As the local and state levels didn't get the job done, it was up to the federal government. Their grade: F.
It is completely unacceptable that Canadian Search and Rescue was able to come from Vancoucer, B.C. to New Orleans and bring out old folks from a nursing home DAYS before our own government had any National Guard there.
It is completely unacceptable that three Duke students were able to forge media passes, get past the police barrier, and drive their pickup to the superdome through "unpassable roads" to bring out people DAYS before the federal government "knew" they were even there.
There are infinate reasons to be angry with the handling of Katrina, but only the federal government is accountable to me. That's why I feel justified in my anger towards Bush and the people who work under him.