Wrong Words at the Wrong Time

» MattB_5 - <i>Immediately after the storm winds subsided and before portion

That's not exactly right. The main reason the Red Cross was not permitted in New Orleans was that the security situation was so bad that the safety of Red Cross personnel could not be guaranteed. Red Cross CEO Marty Evans said as much on the September 2 edition of Larry King Live. In addition, the Red Cross could have entered the city if absolutely necessary, since it was under FEMA's jurisdiction.

I am by no means saying that state and local officials did an unimpeachable job. But to accuse the Left of exploiting Katrina for political gain is nothing short of hypocritical. After all, conservatives have repeatedly tried to blame Bill Clinton for 9/11,usually in a dishonest matter. Yet, I've never once heard you talk about the Right's anger problem.

-- posted by MattB_5

» Frank_Monaldo - Re: Immediately after the storm winds subsided and before por

Dear Matt,

I believe that you have missed the key point of this essay. Perhaps I was not sufficiently clear and my point was lost in the rebuttals of some of the sillier criticism of Bush. One expects criticism from the Left. The fact that much of it was ill-considered is reflected by the fact it does not bear up to any scrutiny. The merits of these criticisms are mainly beside the point. There is always a lot of political give and take. My main point was that cavalier exploitation of race by responsible people who should have known better is despicable.

As to my more specific rebuttal of common criticisms we know several things now.

First, there are enough National Guard troops to help out. Those who said there were not were either were ignorant of the facts or did not care whether they were accurate or not.

It is also clear that no responsible climate expert or meteorologist would be foolish enough to associate any particular storm with long term climate change. Moreover, it is also clear that opposition to nuclear power by environmentalists has increased the amount of potentially climate changing carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

It is also clear that New Orleans did not adhere to its own evacuation plan and could not or would not use buses at its disposal to provide evacuation transportation for those who had no other means to leave threatened areas.

It is also clear that local and state authorities kept the Red Cross out when they could have brought much needed food and water to the Super Dome and Conventional Center. The dispute is the about the reason. Was the Red Cross prevented from entering because the Super Dome and Convention Center were “shelters of last resort?” Were they denied access because of a lack of security as your link suggested? In either case, it was local responsibility. The federal government, except in the case of public insurrection, is prohibited from law enforcement activities. Nonetheless, blaming Bush was convenient.

I do not think you are correct about 9/11 criticisms of Clinton. There have been some who have been critical of Clinton’s foreign policy and that is fair game. However, I do not remember any responsible person who lays personal blame on Clinton for 9/11. This is different from Howard Dean who lent credence to the insane notion that Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened.

Just to set the record straight, I criticized some Republicans for suggesting that Clinton launched cruise missile attacks against Usama bin Laden’s training camps were an effort to divert attention from the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

-- posted by Frank_Monaldo