I identify two major errors:

[1] Many of New Orleans’ working-poor could not afford to leave the city; Not enough public and/or free transportation was provided, despite orders to evacuate the city.
[2] The National Guard was not deployed soon enough, nor in sufficient quantities.

There are other errors, but these are the two worth mentioning the most.  Regardless, America is clearly ill-preprared both logistically, culturally, and infrastructure wise for another 9/11—pathetically so.

We ain’t see nothin ... yet.

As I mentioned in my note, there is a NG presence in the city, but it’s clearly not enough. Or at least the New Orleans Mayor doesn’t think so.

What stuns me is the number of people in the city that are shooting at rescue copters and raping people in the middle of this crisis. I can understand looting stores for food and water, but the other crap is just nuts. The mayor is pointing out that some of the scumbags are drug junkies that are going through withdrawal and going nuts trying to take the edge off.

Listening to the mayor’s interview with a radio station yesterday is just amazing. It’s got to be the most candid conversation with a politician I’ve ever heard:

WWL: What can we do here?

NAGIN: Keep talking about it.

WWL: We’ll do that. What else can we do?

NAGIN: Organize people to write letters and make calls to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous.

I don’t want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don’t do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can’t even count.

Don’t tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They’re not here. It’s too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let’s fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.

WWL: I’ll say it right now, you’re the only politician that’s called and called for arms like this. And if—whatever it takes, the governor, president—whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes, I bet that the people listening to you are on your side.

NAGIN: Well, I hope so, Garland. I am just—I’m at the point now where it don’t matter. People are dying. They don’t have homes. They don’t have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time.

Yeah, it sounds pretty Hellish down there.

Double dipping because I can…

There was also a rather telling interview with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on NPR where he got quite flustered with Robert Siegel over questions about the 2000 or so people at the Conference center that had yet to see so much as a single bottle of water. I almost expected Chertoff to tell off Siegel as he got more and more agitated with the questions.

What stuns me is the number of people in the city that are shooting at rescue copters and raping people in the middle of this crisis. I can understand looting stores for food and water, but the other crap is just nuts. The mayor is pointing out that some of the scumbags are drug junkies that are going through withdrawal and going nuts trying to take the edge off.

I just heard an interview with the author Julia Reed—a resident of New Orleans who was calling from her parents home in Greenville, MS. Her take was that the Mayor missed his Juliani moment by not immediately calling for outside help in securing the city.

She further claimed that, even in the best of times , that New Orleans is a dangerous place, and that the lawlessness is due to armed street gangs, not junkies looking for a fix. Now they have broken into and are occupying homes in expensive neighborhoods just because they can.

What the!?
You’re telling me after we spent billions of dollars on homeland security and preparing for some type of major terrorist attack that they we unprepared to deal with a major hurricane!
Say it aint so.
Good thing our local fire department received that $100,000 grant from the Homeland security Dept. to install sprinkler systems in their stations.
Good thing Bush has finally arrived.... but there is something missing from those pictures of him they are releasing to the press..
Maybe its a plastic turkey

Bush is a compassionate president, that’s for sure. The problem is that his compassion is for those who least deserve it.

In his speech today, which you can read at The White House website, he actually said the following:

The good news is—and it’s hard for some to see it now—that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house—he’s lost his entire house—there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)

I have to wonder how much more land Lott will be able to grab for his fantastic new residence when the rebuilding begins.

The faith-based groups and the community-based groups throughout this part of the world, and the country for that matter, are responding.

And there we have yet another shameless plug for the faith-based groups Bush is so determined to protect. I hate when specific politically motivated groups are given credit or a challenge, as though aid needs a sponsor to validate it.

OH ... MY ... GOD!

OK, am I missing something somewhere? Am I (or at least the folks reading this here) the only one seeing the big picture?

Are these people that are now in such hardship the same people that helped bring that ... that ... man the White House for another 4 years. (And don’t forget boys and girls, that we are on only the 9th month of that 48 month term!)

Don’t you think he would try to reward the folks that helped him keep his job for 4 more years somehow?

What the HELL was that man thinking when talking about Trent Lott’s house? What the HELL does that man think is going on down there. After all, he does seem to live in a world seperate from the real one.

Also, what’s up with Cheney? Why haven’t we heard or seen from him since all this has been happening? Why wasn’t he “rallying the troops” like Gore did back in the days of Andrew? I haven’t heard word one about him for over a month now. My wife thinks he’s sick and or in the hospital with more heart problems. If so, they are keeping it under very tight wraps.

Man, it really looks like I should have kept my site up and running for a month or two longer. Although, I’m seeing a lot more comments here than I ever would have at my old site. Thanks a bunch Les for letting me post here!

I knew it!  It’s because of the gays.

Seriously, the destruction of New Orleans (and a hell of a lot of the coastline on either side) is a punishment for something; neglect of wetlands and defunding of levee upgrades.  Is that in the Bible somewhere?  Paul’s second letter to the Opinions, I think: “And thou shouldst pay attention to really obvious dangers, that thou be wise as a serpent, and not dumb as a bush.”

Oops, God missed! He smote the poor instead.

I knew it!  It’s because of the gays.

You know, I have to say I saw lots of exposed breasts in the French Quarter, and some women of dubious morality did entice me into showing off my then well defined abs (which excited one so much I thought she was the reborn whore of Babylon sent by the devil himself to tempt me), but I can’t say I saw any God-cursed sodomites engaging in their wretched sodomy.

I like the ad in the sidebar that says, “Are you good enough to go to heaven?  Find out here!!”

Here’s another article on the same topic.

I was going to suggest that New Orleans change it’s nickname to The Big Hard but decided that would only encourage more events like “Southern Decadence”.

Over on Vitamin Sea is a stinging rebuke to those asshats who say it was bog’s punishment, etc.

This is a FANTASTIC opportunity for Venezuela’s Chavez to come clear on his promise:

Provide cheap heating oil and gasoline to the America’s poor.

Waiting…
Waiting…

(Don’t hold your breath, Chavez is all bluster and hyperbole with few actions, never mind results.)

I like the ad in the sidebar that says, “Are you good enough to go to heaven?  Find out here!!�?

Swim, shana. Its swim, now.

[And on a totally off-topic note, this reminds me of that old joke here in Germany - Spoken in a kids whiny voice: “Mom, mom! I don’t wanna go to New York!” Answer mom, sternly: “Shut up and swim!"]

Swim, shana. Its swim, now.

DOH!

Maybe it should be “Are you WASP enough to go to heaven?”

Maybe it should be “Are you WASP enough to go to heaven?�?

The old man in heaven must have taken some lessons from Michael Jackson and bleached his skin since the time he was the god of a sun-burned ‘arabian’ people.

Wonder if he had a nose job or three as well…

Also, does he grab himself and whoop?  Nevermind, I don’t want to know!

Just to correct the record.

The New York Times ran Fear Exceeded Crime’s Reality in New Orleans on 25 September. The media was reporting unverified rumors. I fell for it.