I pretty much agree with his underlying message, yet he used a poor choice of words to illustrate it. If wants to come across as crass and inarticulate that is his choice. In other words, "candid and frank" can still be done with a bit of taste. Hopefully you can see the difference. (as far as my voting habits, there are different reasons why I sometimes vote and sometimes dont. And it has nothing to do with this thread.)
Wow, he didn't come off as uneducated and inarticulate at all. Angry, ok. How would you have said it?
What resources did Nagin have to deal with the floods, and what resources did Bush have? Look, Nagin is no hero here. But my god, New Orleans was a catastrophic failure on the part of the federal government. To say otherwise really just begs belief.
Oh, how about issuing mandatory evacuations long before he did? How about making use of the many school buses to help in evacuations instead of letting them sit and flood. How about calling Blanco to request National Guard, State Police and other resources? Since when is New Orleans under Federal control? New Orleans was a catastophic failure on the part of New Orleans and Louisiana, the mis-handling of the aftermath is a greater failure of the local and state government than the feds. There's plenty enough blame to go around, but you're trying to absolve the local and state goverments while putting the blam on the feds.
I think you're completely misreading that part of the post. I understand this... [Metrogo]...And their refusal to send in trained workers with the proper equipment to clean up residential buildings in the area, and their encouragement to people to move back in while a bunch of untrained illegal mexicans were sent in to do toxic clean up should go down as one of the most profoundly neglectful moments...[/quote] ...to mean... "they didn't want to do the dirty (toxic) work or maybe even spend the money to have someone else do it right, so they sent in some guys whose health they felt was expendable, guys whose stories might not make the front page if anything went wrong then, or later". Nothing racist about it- at least not from Metrogo's end.
If the federally controlled/constructed/funded levee system had not failed, Katrina would have done minimal damage to New Orleans.
On Discovery Channel: Extreme Engineering there is hour show about Levees. This season also had a show about Arizona Cardinals new stadium and its retractable field. The stadium opens up at an end and the field is tracked out into a parking area. The stadium of course reacts much like basketball bleachers. Now this is puzzeling. The levee could lose its name but an mechanical retaining wall could have helped. One that could motorize upward by five feet. This could have prevented some of that. Or just an Bracket like on keyboard for repair. An helecopter could have lowered a steel rail crossing type things to plug hole or maybe a smaller crain. There was a way to fix the breaches though I suggest that. These measures should take every season and just hope it does not happen. Or the levees could have been treated and water proofed. I know alot of piers still use wood and it lasts a very long time. Maybe double up the levee. The won that broke and then add a sealent of wood and other like substances. A redwood tree would do great there...
Levees could still fail in big storm, Corps warns Despite repairs, barriers around New Orleans vulnerable to storm surge Also what about the five feet bumper type chusion. You know. Kind of like the water barrels at exit ramps or the spring guards on bumber cars. If that wall was to stiff. It could also move freely front and back like some bridges. Although the bridges sway up and down mostly.
No, you're trying to ablsove the federal government. There IS plenty of blame to go around, but only the feds had the resources to deal with a disaster of that magnitude effectively, and they failed.
I guess your ears are just more sensitive than mine. Would you have preferred "hallowed, holy, ground hero void in sanctified ground"?
Are we really taking the time to discuss and bicker over this? I mean seriously? Do you purposely come onto the politics board to bicker over such trivial things? Too much time on your hands perhaps? I initially posted that I agreed with you on his overall message, but I just didnt like the way he phrased it. In case you didnt see it,turns out alot of other people didnt like it either, since it made headlines across the nation.
1. I might ask you the same. 2. No, you've got it backwards. Because it made headlines across the nation, other people came not to like it either. I see you're one of those people whose opinions are easily shaped by the tabloids.
mainstream media now equaling tabloids. My opinion not being thought out on my own, but simply being regurgitated from what I read. Keep it up, you're on a roll. <kicks back with softdrink and popcorn in hand..>
1. Mainstream media is tabloid journalism. And yes you do regurgitate. 2. I am on a roll, you just make it too easy for me. That's why I come back for more. 3. I knew it. Sad life, despite your occassional "nights out" on the upper east side. [gets back to work after a hearty laugh]
I guess you're the partisan one, Dante, leaving out bush from your list. This is from post #20 on this thread. It's a shame when people play politics with human disasters. Actually, as someone who was standing 6 blocks away when the first plane hit the tower, it's disgusting.
Yet five years later, there is a big hole in the ground. Still. I'm not quite sure what else to call it. I think people who criticize Nagin for the cleanup/rebuild efforts don't have a good idea of what is going on down there. Admittedly, I haven't been since January, but the scale of the disaster dwarfs 9/11. And it's a lot more than just New Orleans. And even then, 80% of the people I saw were involved in cleanup and rebuilding efforts, and they barely made a dent. This is not to say that local (and even state) officials couldn't have done better, but the scale and scope of this really outstrips the ability of local (poor) governments to deal with. The federal government has been remarkably remiss, especially given the promises made.
I haven't the slightest clue what this is supposed to mean. Someone living in Brooklyn (I really have nothing against Brooklyn, but you really shouldnt go down the road of criticizing others peoples choices of residence) bringing attention to someone who chose to live and hang out in the Upper East side as one of their many places of choice? Umm yeah.... This conversation is going nowhere. I am done with this.
I initially expressed an opinion, and Metrogo responded with a snarky attitude (which he has done in the past,) and then attempted to tie in previous, totally unrelated conversations we had, which had nothing to do with this thread.