The President's Role During a Crisis

reply to post by Advantage


I'd say the fact it's election time simply means these people will see the best and most timely response of living memory for Americans. Regardless of disaster or who was in charge, I can't recall one with the dynamics in the background that this has. In a time of desperate need, as it's obvious our fellow Americans are suffering in many places tonight, it's one time I really don't even care the motives that make it happen.

People are sitting in the dark tonight...some hungry and most, likely cold with no idea in many cases, what is even happening or HAS happened. I recall our Ice Storm and with no power and a dead phone...News is what happens within line of sight or hearing. Literally.

Thats gotta be scary as hell for people tonight. I, for one, couldn't be more grateful for whatever the background issues have come to be that insure those folks won't be that way any longer than absolutely necessary.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by Advantage

 

I'd say the fact it's election time simply means these people will see the best and most timely response of living memory for Americans. Regardless of disaster or who was in charge, I can't recall one with the dynamics in the background that this has. In a time of desperate need, as it's obvious our fellow Americans are suffering in many places tonight, it's one time I really don't even care the motives that make it happen.

People are sitting in the dark tonight...some hungry and most, likely cold with no idea in many cases, what is even happening or HAS happened. I recall our Ice Storm and with no power and a dead phone...News is what happens within line of sight or hearing. Literally.

Thats gotta be scary as hell for people tonight. I, for one, couldn't be more grateful for whatever the background issues have come to be that insure those folks won't be that way any longer than absolutely necessary.

Read it again, the point is the prez will gum it up.. regardless of who it is or their best intentions. Leave it to the people who can handle it and WHY would anyone expect the prez to do anything on the ground? His presence, secret service et al really screws up any rescue and relief efforts. WHen Bush toured on the ground his entourage caused a major cluster mess up
I recall the ice storm.. Im just east of you now in Illinois. A week without power and we were lucky.. 3 weeks for some. Im old and survived many personal armageddons, hurricanes ( born and raised in New Orleans) and many differnt things that has formed my opinion. The president has NO use on the ground in a disaster.. sit in your chair and be a figurehead.. let those who know the trenches work them... just stay the heck away.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by beezzer

 

The president has done everything that he can do. People on ATS just don't understand that disaster emergency is done on a local level, not the federal.

The feds are not even allowed to set foot in a state until the state says it is ok by declaring a state of emergency.

DOD, National Guard deploy in force to aid Hurricane Sandy relief effort

By Carlo Munoz - 10/30/12 04:06 PM ET

Nearly 8,000 National Guard troops have been sent to several states along the eastern seaboard to assist local authorities’ relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, with thousands of active duty and reserve forces set to move in if needed.

thehill.com...

reply to post by Advantage
Well.. the way I see this, we have a choice. Each of us, right now and as we each sit at our keyboards. While Americans are dead, dying and suffering in a storm that is still not over, it's a choice we're all making whether we even consciously mean to.

To highlight my point, I bring this as simply one little tidbit of many many to see right now.

Storm Finds Many Ways to Claim Lives
They stepped in the wrong puddle. They walked the dog at the wrong moment. Or they did exactly what all the emergency experts instructed them to do — they huddled inside and waited for its anger to go away.

The storm found them all. Read the Stories of some of the dozens of people killed by Hurricane Sandy.

Another update from the same overall Source say those without power in the NYC area can expect to remain without it into the weekend. I hear that and my stomach falls. I hope those people find a way to discover common ground we can't seem to find online. Otherwise? ....This could be hell on Earth for countless good people caught in a nightmare after dark this week.


So... That choice? We can look for ways to see the bad, the negative and who is to blame and bitch aboutt.........or we can seek to analyse what's happened, allow for the bad and focus on the good while the good feelings are back in high demand for a few days. There will be weeks or perhaps months to hash out blame, if blame is even appropriate for anything here.

Right now? No one, in my opinion, even knows enough to raise the issue...let alone assign any. Obama, Romney or anyone... It's not blame right now, it's saving lives and keeping that area from falling into chaos and crime while the system is repaired. IMHO.

reply to post by beezzer


What exactly do you expect him to do? Or does it matter...

I'm sure you'd be criticizing him if he was waist deep in water in the streets of Brooklyn personally saving babies.

He's the president of the United States. I'm in Canada, and even I've been hearing the live radio broadcasts every day. He's leading, reassuring, and telling the people to say safe, listen to state authorities... also telling the press that the election is not what's important right now. All things he should be doing...

Add this to the ever growing and near infinitely large pile of garbage threads littering this place.

reply to post by beezzer


You honestly don't see the difference between a relatively small attack (face it, it was a small attack) and one of the worst hurricanes to hit the east coast?

You are blinded by partisanship.

Nothing Obama does would be approved of by you. Just come out and say it, you would criticize Obama for whatever action he took. Obama could personally save a baby and you would claim it was wrong of him to do so.

Originally posted by alternateuniverse
Obama would save the black baby first. Face it.

Originally posted by Taiyed
reply to post by beezzer

 

You honestly don't see the difference between a relatively small attack (face it, it was a small attack) and one of the worst hurricanes to hit the east coast?

You are blinded by partisanship.

Nothing Obama does would be approved of by you. Just come out and say it, you would criticize Obama for whatever action he took. Obama could personally save a baby and you would claim it was wrong of him to do so.

edit on 30-10-2012 by Taiyed because: (no reason given)

dude, really? you had to go there? that is disgusting and racist. up until your post this was a polite discourse on the subject at hand. you aught to be ashamed of yourself.

So let me get this straight...

1. Obama is a bad guy because he doesn't go directly to the states that need help? That's like saying a King is at fault because one of his city-states were under siege and instead of going there directly he instead sent in troops and aid. That...makes no sense. That's what he should be doing

But of course, if I simply wrote "that's what he should be doing" for a post, then this must mean I also agree that he should go to Vegas after the Consulate attacks no?

I like how you worded your post. Making it easy to lash out and have a buffet of an argument with someone even if they say the right thing.

2. You compare a natural disaster with a terrorist attack. There will be Democrats that agree with what he did during Sandy's 'reign of terror' in the Northeast, and there will be Dems who disagree with his actions for what he did during the Benghazi attacks.

But you wrote your OP in a way that makes it look like everyone who agrees with the former also agrees with the latter. What game are you trying to play here? He made a good decision during the epidemic up north and a bad one with regards to the Consulate attack. However, according to the OP post, if he did a bad job for the attack then he did a bad job with Sandy and vice versa.

I wish I knew what this was called, I'm sure there's a dictionary or legal term for it. And it's not a good way to write an OP. You were just waiting for replies so you can get your fill

The President's role during a crisis is to make sure Wall Street is opened up as quickly as possible.
Oh yeah, and to tell the American people that they are "tough".
That will be a huge help I'm sure.

It's been so long since I've seen a President do anything productive during a crisis I'm not sure I can remember.
Katrina - play golf, fly over Nola then say "good job Brownie"
9/11 - Disappear the entire day and leave the American people leaderless.
etc, etc.

reply to post by beezzer


Things are under control and hes been in touch with several local leaders.
What do you expect? To see him going from town to town with a shovel?
Be serious. Pick a better argument against the man next time.


Edit: he is actually doing us all a favor by not going from town to town. Traffic would be a nightmare.

They're trying to hang you out to dry Beez!

Sorry I was late to the party Beez, I think its the prez's job to look pretty!

He's attempting to look good a week before an election that appears to be slipping away from him.

He's attempting to act tough (haha) by saying he wants his people "to cut through red tape and bureaucracy". From a guy whose sole policy is to create mountains of red tape and bureaucracy in every arena possible.

I do love the phony baloney "Romney wants to kill people by cutting FEMA" narrative. As a Louisianan who has dealt with that agency for Katrina/Rita, Gustav/Ike, River Flooding, and Isaac, I am intimately familiar with FEMA response and recovery. They need to be slashed drastically and stay out of the way of state/local/and some federal response. With minimal federal involvement, the states have managed a lot better with their EMAC collaboration. There should be an administrative role and for larger disasters, some fiscal role, for the feds, but otherwise, butt out. Romney is 1000% correct on that issue.

Obama is a joke. His handling of the Oil Spill was almost as criminal as BP's. Those who weren't on or near the scene have no clue how terrible he was. If it weren't for Jindal basically calling him out and using the Louisiana National Guard to protect the marshes, half the state would have been soiled. Obama wanted to force them to go through ridiculous bureaucracy while the marshland was being destroyed. Then of course he mindlessly shut down all drilling (despite solid safety records by most other operators) and killing thousands of jobs during an already crappy economic time. This clueless amateur needs to go. I don't care how much hollywood, the corporate media, and easily manipulated liberals love him. Make him go away. Please.

And you are right about Benghazi. What idiot ever believed the youtube narrative? No one who has any familiarity with how embassies.consulates in those nations operate.

Originally posted by pierregustavetoutant


And you are right about Benghazi. What idiot ever believed the youtube narrative?

Apparently the entirety of the GOP??? Since they are now trying to blame the White House that the incoorect story that Fox News and others constructed from incomplete evidence is somehow the White Houses fault?

Originally posted by pierregustavetoutant

He's attempting to act tough (haha) by saying he wants his people "to cut through red tape and bureaucracy". From a guy whose sole policy is to create mountains of red tape and bureaucracy in every arena possible....

...With minimal federal involvement, the states have managed a lot better with their EMAC collaboration. There should be an administrative role and for larger disasters, some fiscal role, for the feds, but otherwise, butt out. ...

Obama is a joke. His handling of the Oil Spill was almost as criminal as BP's. Those who weren't on or near the scene have no clue how terrible he was. If it weren't for Jindal basically calling him out and using the Louisiana National Guard to protect the marshes, half the state would have been soiled. Obama wanted to force them to go through ridiculous bureaucracy while the marshland was being destroyed. Then of course he mindlessly shut down all drilling (despite solid safety records by most other operators) and killing thousands of jobs during an already crappy economic time. ..
...And you are right about Benghazi. What idiot ever believed the youtube narrative? No one who has any familiarity with how embassies.consulates in those nations operate.

Agree with all of the above. Also a native of the area.
The Coast Guard performed admirably during the Hurricanes but acted as Obama/BP's thugs during the Oil Spill. I wish I could have been in on the phone call when Jindal basically told Obama that he (jindal) was using Guardsmen to build the landbridges and vacuum the oil and the Coast guard can try and stop him if they want to. Obama backed off with his "safety inspections" which would have held those boats and operations up for weeks as the oil moved in. But I bet no one outside South Louisiana is aware of those goings on as the news media needed to push the phony narratives required by this idiot.

And Obama going against his OWN council of experts to shut down all oil production might've looked heroic to his pie in the sky , braindead worshippers, but it unnecessarily destroyed a lot of lives. BP was the main villain in the drama but Obama's need to throw out a narrative and look good (despite actually being incredibly destructive) was far more important to him than helping ordinary Americans.

As far as Benghazi goes, I don't see how any person capable of critical thought can think that the White House was not blatantly lying directly in the face of the American people. I mean, watch the weeks' worth of video.

reply to post by SELAboy


Well said! An impressive first post.

*applause*

reply to post by Indigo5


I am not sure what your point is.

reply to post by SELAboy


*laughs*

Jindal who is considered the fourth worst Governor in the US?

Who passed the Gulf Energy Act just so states get royalties for opening previously forbidden territories? The one who claimed when trying to get the bigger Deep Ocean Energy Act passed by saying that an oil drill 50 miles out in the gult can't affect state resources?

Then what a coincidence that this member of the House becomes the Governor of the state that was first to provide this lease to BP that would become the Horizon Oil Spill.

Then after receiving 100, 000 bucks from oil companies, went on to say that oil drilling should be deeply anti-regulatory.

Who never developed a oil spill plan. Who tried to elminate the LA oil spill inspector position?

The same Jindal where state legislature launched an inquiry to his own paltry response to the spill?

Your Governor CAUSED the BP Oil spill.

I don't care if Obama said everyone had to commence cleanup with a plastic spoon. No one, can ever touch the stink on Jindal. And it faintlly reeks of oil.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by SELAboy

 

*laughs*

Jindal who is considered the fourth worst Governor in the US?

Who passed the Gulf Energy Act just so states get royalties for opening previously forbidden territories? The one who claimed when trying to get the bigger Deep Ocean Energy Act passed by saying that an oil drill 50 miles out in the gult can't affect state resources?

Then what a coincidence that this member of the House becomes the Governor of the state that was first to provide this lease to BP that would become the Horizon Oil Spill.

Then after receiving 100, 000 bucks from oil companies, went on to say that oil drilling should be deeply anti-regulatory.

Who never developed a oil spill plan. Who tried to elminate the LA oil spill inspector position?

The same Jindal where state legislature launched an inquiry to his own paltry response to the spill?

Your Governor CAUSED the BP Oil spill.

I don't care if Obama said everyone had to commence cleanup with a plastic spoon. No one, can ever touch the stink on Jindal. And it faintlly reeks of oil.

-cracks up at the brainwashed ignorance-

Please find me any politician (of either party) in an oil state that doesnt take money from oil companies. Probably have as much luck as finding one in the midwest who doesnt take huge amounts of money to subsidize corn to water down gasoline with ethanol and kill Americans with HFCS.

Considered 4th worst by who? I'm sure some truly unbiased and objective source material lies behind that little gem of absurdity.

The safety regs that existed were fine. It was the FEDERAL MMS under President Obama that did not enforce or even attempt to perform their job. It was the oil company that shoveled millions into Obama's campaign that caused the thing and was then protected by Obama the whore. He took a previously respectable agency (The Coast Guard) and used it to keep all eyes out and tried to use it to make sure Louisiana was soiled to fit his agenda.
Jindal actually stood up to the craven coward.
Jindal used state resources to block the oil and to suck it up. Obama's crony agency heads and federal resources tried to stop him at every turn.

Jindal's far from perfect and even has some significant problems but when it comes to the OIl Spill, Obama makes him look like JFK. His spill response was the only reason the oil didnt go deep into the marshes and lakes. In spite of federal efforts to block the state's efforts to repair the barrier islands, build land bridges, berms, and place other resources such as tiger dam, HESCO, and sandbags. Also trying to stop the vacuum barges and boats from operating. You seem to be very ignorant of reality here. I worked directly as part of the spill response. This wasn't just something I read about on HuffPost.

Try looking at some primary source documentation there instead of whatever agenda driven drivel you're pulling that tripe from. examiner.com? Energy News?

By the way, as far as royalties go, the feds shouldn't get a penny. 100% should go to the states that do the work and take the risks. The federal rape of the Gulf states won't go on forever.