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White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials

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posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 09:38 AM
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Admist the Mayor of New Orleans as well as the media blasting the administration for it's lethargic response, misappropiated resources as well as lack of overall control, the administration seems as if they are shifting the blame to local and state officials.

The finger of blame is really a merry-go-round. Not sure who its going to land on next.



NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 -- Tens of thousands of people spent a fifth day awaiting evacuation from this ruined city, as Bush administration officials blamed state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management.

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
www.washingtonpost.com...



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 10:22 AM
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Good thread, now is anyone surprized by this. 9/11 wasn't there fault [even though they were in charge]...remember the president flying around the country "running" from the situation instead of leading the situation...the disaster in Iraq wasn't there fault[even it was there design]remember "mission acomplished" Remember in the campain for reelection, Bush admitted he had not made any mistakes.

Its all to easy to criticize whats goin on in the comforts of Washington


He should stand tall, be a man and admit his FEMA and department of homeland security only focused on potential terrorist actions that Might happens, when Natural disaster Do happen, and they where Tottally unprepared and on vacation.


peace



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 10:42 AM
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As I have stated in other threads, the state and local government of Louisana is as much to blame as the federal government is.

The state of Louisiana had no contingency plans. The city of New Orleans had no contingency plans. Officials on ALL levels knew something like this would happen one day. The Mayor was quick to point fingers at the Federal Government all the while sitting in Baton Rouge. The Mayor failed to keep 66% of the police force in New Orleans. The Governor failed to declare martial law after the hurricane or after the levy broke. The Mayor failed to assist his own city until federal help arrived, except for complaining that federal help wasn't fast enough.

Now, I'm not defending the Federal Government, because they dropped the ball too. The director of FEMA, who should reconsider his job, has absolutely no experience with the position he is in. The Federal Government seemed to be disconnected from the event with statements like "We didn't know it was this bad" or "We didn't know those people were at the Superdome" (hello.... ever hear of CNN? Fox News? Don't these people watch TV???).

If anything, this proves that we are NO WHERE near ready for a terrorist attack, much less another natural disaster.

I do want to give the Armed Guard, the Coast Guard, and our military major kudos though, for - again - they are the ones on the front lines that are working tirelessly to restore peace and bring life back to the Gulf Coast region. God bless our armed forces.



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 10:54 AM
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THIS IS A LIE.....

Note this in the article




...As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said...


Yet, see this Declaration of State of Emergency by the Governnor on August 26!!!

This is an outright misinformation campaign. The feds had no legal bar to react immediately. I implore you to please look at the President's statutory (under the Stafford ACT) and constitutional authority to have done what was necessary WITHOUT ANYONE's permission....

www.abovetopsecret.com...

This is ridiculous and scandalous beyond all belief......



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 11:10 AM
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I blame it on the heiarchial structure,,,,Big wig A has to wait for the greenlight from Big wig B and Big wig C has to wait for the greenlight from Big wig D.


You dont heiarchey Emergency services.

FEMA should be responsible for natural disasters only. ie( hurricanes, volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis, asteroids) Every imagineable "What if" question should be asked and actions taken beforehand.

Dept of Homeland Security should be responsible for man made disasters only. ie(Bio attack, bombings,Nuke, food supply attack) Again, every imagineable "What if" question should be asked and actions taken beforehand.

You dont put one under the control of the other.

Dept of Homeland Security should back up FEMA and FEMA should back up Homeland Security.



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 11:14 AM
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Pres. Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk that read "The buck stops here"

The current administration blamed Clinton for their shortcomings for as long as they could.

What is it about "Commander in Chief" they don't understand?

They may not want to take responsibility but they will have to eventually.



posted on Sep, 4 2005 @ 11:35 AM
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For convenience:

There are (and have been) plenty of exceptions to Posse Comitatus. To allow the feds to currently assert otherwise as justification for their failure to act in this instance is simply unacceptable. This is the height of “double speak”!

First, the Posse Comitatus act does not apply to the Coast Guard or the National Guard. Moreover, its prohibitions, relative to the rest of the armed services, are in instances of “civil law enforcement”.

Secondly, the Stafford Act , explicitly governs as one of several statutory exceptions to Posse Comitatus.

While the act bureaucratically requires in several sections the consent of a state’s governor to trigger the exceptions, Section 5192 specifically states:



§ 5192. Federal emergency assistance [Sec. 502]

a. Specified

In any emergency, the President may--

1. direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to utilize its authorities and the resources granted to it under Federal law (including personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical and advisory services) in support of State and local emergency assistance efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe;

2. coordinate all disaster relief assistance (including voluntary assistance) provided by Federal agencies, private organizations, and State and local governments;

3. provide technical and advisory assistance to affected State and local governments for--
A. the performance of essential community services;
B. issuance of warnings of risks or hazards;
C. public health and safety information, including dissemination of such information;
D. provision of health and safety measures; and
E. management, control, and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety;

4. provide emergency assistance through Federal agencies;

5. remove debris in accordance with the terms and conditions of section 407 [42 U.S.C. § 5173];

6. provide assistance in accordance with section 408 [42 U.S.C. § 5174]; and [(Pub.L. 106-390, § 206(b), October 30, 2000)]

7. assist State and local governments in the distribution of medicine, food, and other consumable supplies, and emergency assistance.


b. General

Whenever the Federal assistance provided under subsection (a) with respect to an emergency is inadequate, the President may also provide assistance with respect to efforts to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, and lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.


Additionally, the President of the United States has the constitutional power and inherent right and duty to use military forces in the context of homeland defense and in the preservation of federal functions (transportation, commerce, education, civil rights).

Federal troops were used in the South during the 1960s to preserve access to educational institutions for blacks under this constitutional presidential authority. As another example, over ten thousand U.S. troops were deployed during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta under this “inherent presidential authority rationale” because of the potential for terrorist activity.

To see the federal government use Posse Comitatus as cover for their inexcusable inaction, and incompetence, is an affront to the most basic standards of common sense and human decency.

How many of you will let the Feds & President pass on this one???? Absurd!




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