Posse Comitatus is why the military has not been deployed to help with law enforcement. National Guard are under the states and therefore much better suited and legally able to do this.

That said, there have been military sent to help with rescue and other assistance. What do you call the Coast Guard and Navy? The Air Force is working on the airport in NO. The Army Corps of Engineers is helping with the levees.

And our military is at war in two foreign countries.

Cut the federal government a break, please. They are helping tremendously.

Also…

I notice that Halley Barbour got several thousand National Guard troops in the past day or so. What about Louisiana? They appear to have a greater need for assistance right now. Rescued people are dying from the heat, lack of water, and food. Babies are without food. Children have no water or food. Elderly people have no medical assistance. Why not? Where is the help?

I believe that National Guard are in New Orleans and being shot at by looters and others they are trying to help.

The help is there waiting to get in - the flooding of New Orleans initially made it nearly impossible for the aid to get into the city. Trucks don’t react well to several feet of water.

I believe that the city of New Orleans has known that this kind of disaster was a possibility for decades. That they didn’t have a better contingency plan for this kind of event is what needs to be looked at.

I’m sorry, but rules are made to be broken in times of overwhelming disaster. There isn’t enough help down there. There aren’t enough able bodied people with the necessary equipment to do what needs to be done. It’s pretty clear that there isn’t enough help when the governor and mayor have to choose between using the people they have to either try to bring back order or try to rescue survivors. Not enough help to do both effectively. There isn’t food or water. Rescued people are dying. People in the Superdome are dying. People who haven’t been rescued are dying. It’s hot down there. Dehydration and heat stroke are horrible ways to die. Is it beyond the scope of imagination to airdrop supplies? This is supposed to be the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world. How does this happen? It’s pretty clear that we had the means the day 9/11 happened. There’s a problem with this picture. Somebody isn’t responding quickly enough. I cut the government not a shred of slack.

I’m fairly certain the National Guard is getting shot at in Iraq, too. That’s part of the job description. One doesn’t expect it at home, but they are trained to deal with getting shot at. They DO war zones. If they have enough personnel.

Amphibious vehicles do water. As far as I know, Iraq is a desert. There still should be an ample supply here.

How does a city that’s submerged deal with emergency plans? They depend on the Federal government. Their communications systems are gone. Equipment is submerged. No power anywhere. The need is NOW. Retrospection is for when the immediate emergency is past. That’s not going to be for a while.

Kate, with all due respect, the LAW is the LAW. We’re not talking about bending a mere rule here. We are talking about the US Constitution and law. You don’t just decide to ignore that, at least I don’t.

The problem is that the people are there to help, but they can’t get to where the help is needed. So while it’s hard and people are surely desperate, patience is needed. They can’t get to where they’re needed as long as the city is flooded.

Consider also that many of the folks whom the governors and mayors are “using” are also victims. There are problems, but they are doing the best that they can in a terrible situation.

You mention airdrops. Where? Assuming they find a dry area to drop how do they get it to the people? They can’t get buses to the people. Instead they are having to transport people to the buses with the helicopters that are being shot at.

And it’s very different proposition to be in one of your own cities on a relief effort and finding yourself being shot at than to be in a war in a foreign land with a clear enemy. Yes, they’re trained for being shot at - BUT NOT IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY and definitely not when they’re there to HELP!

New York is a city that always had a solid infrastructure and plans for disasters. New Orleans has long been a city full of corruption and inept leadership, lovely as it was.

The need is now, yes. They are getting help now. The President declared the area a disaster on FRIDAY - three days before Katrina even hit the Gulf. Legally that was as much as he could do at that point. Once the hurricane was over and the flooding started he moved to help again.

The feds are paying 100% of the costs, where usually the states are required to pay 25%. He’s sent forces from all military except the Marines to lend assistance.

The waters are the problem - blame the flooding if you have the blame anything. The government is not to blame.

Here, jen, read this and then tell me the Bush Administration isn’t to blame.  It’s a timeline of the emasculation of FEMA.

The children’s hospital here in Kansas City is now full to capacity, many of the patients being children evacuated from the hurricane area. I’m not sure how they got here, but they arrived in the middle of the night. Now the hospital is trying to arrange a deal with a local Hyatt hotel to allow the kids’ families to come up too.

Sure, OK, let’s talk about the fact that authorities in Louisiana and New Orleans in particular knew for decades that their levees would not hold in a major hurricane and still they opted not to strengthen the levees and instead built a sports stadium (Superdome) - cleverly within the potential flood zone. Lets talk about the fact that they built a city below sea level in an area that is prone to hurricanes and flooding in ordinary rain storms.

I especially love the dig at the President in the Aug 2005 note in that article. At the time of the hurricane and in the immediate aftermath everyone was saying that NO came out it better than expected. And then the levees broke - that’s when it turned. And that is when President Bush kicked into action - he got the key people in the administration on it - the US Navy deployed ships to the region; Coast Guard units started rescue efforts; I’ve already listed this stuff. As I said before, he initiated the national disaster order 3 DAYS BEFORE Katrina hit the Gulf so that funds and resources would be available immediately when the storm was over. The resources were there immediately after but when the levees broke they couldn’t get in to the city. That is not a result of the downsizing of FEMA - that is a situation beyond anyone’s control.

Would you blame a democrat adminstration like this? Honestly, would you? You have a visceral dislike for this particular President. Fine, I can live with that. However, I believe it’s reached the point where you cannot look at anything he does with any rationality.

Catpcha: over. Fitting - I’m done trying to defend. Nothing I say will change your mind. It’s a shame.

I don’t get the argument about blaming the people of New Orleans for having built their city below sea level. It’s been here for at least 175 years. It’s always been low ground. They were supposed to abandon it for higher ground? Sheesh. It’s one of the gems of the south. It’s a city rich in our history and the south’s history. Some things are just worth preserving.

The US Army Corps of Engineers are responsible for building the levees and managing the Mississippi’s flow. Their budget has been gutted. You can’t build state of the art levees with nothing. You can’t redirect the Mississippi to build up the marshes with the Mississippi’s silt unless there’s something to spend on it.

The levees are currently built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. It didn’t take a genius to see the immediate threat. See my post on Sunday.
It’s not *just* the wind, it’s the storm surges and the tremendous force of the water that endangers the levees. If *I* knew that, I can guarantee that a lot of other people did, too. Were they prepared? Apparently not.

Beyond that, what the hell are we going to do with an entire oil industry that depends on the ports of New Orleans and Port Fourchon and Biloxi and Mobile, including the local infrastructure? I think the Gulf Coast is going to be rebuilt and if this disaster is the lightbulb required to loosen up the $10 billion or so in funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to do what they’ve wanted to do for the past several years, then I guess it’s a sad and costly lesson learned. The upgraded levees would have cost a lot less than the destruction of an entire city.

Guess I also have to figure that if Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson are blasting the administration for dropping the ball, my anger has less to do with my pre-existing dislike for this president than the fact that this administration dropped the ball. Would I blame a Democrat President if the same thing happened on his/her watch? You bet. This kind of botched response on anyone’s part deserves heaps of condemnation. As you well know, Jen, I don’t vote party line. I vote according to who I believe is best suited for political office.

Defend the prez if you want, but the fallout on this is going to be pretty severe.

It’s more than just the oil industry that uses that port, too; most of the grain the Midwest produces goes down the river on barges.  How’s that going to get out to be exported?

Oh gee, I don’t know. Magic wands? The port also does a huge export trade in chemicals, soybeans, corn, and cotton. It’s the largest port in the United States, third largest in the world. Shipping on the Mississippi depends on it, obviously.

Meanwhile, the Prez says, on camera, that he’s satisfied with the emergency response.