CNN: Mayors fault FEMA response: Bush to make 3rd trip to region (today)

[DeepModem Mom]

Mayors fault FEMA response
Bush to make third trip to region
Sunday, September 11, 2005; Posted: 8:20 a.m. EDT


BILOXI, Mississippi (CNN) -- Almost two weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, some of the cities hardest hit by the storm are waiting for more help.

"Clearly the FEMA response has been slow," Matthew Avara, mayor of Pascagoula, Mississippi, told CNN Saturday night.

"We got a lot of good people on the ground here that are with FEMA and with the state agencies," he said. "They wear their badges, and they look good. But unfortunately, we just not have seen all the assets and all the resources that we need in our city."...

***

Slidell, Louisiana, Mayor Ben Morris also slammed FEMA Saturday, saying when the storm hit, "everything we did was on our own."...

***

President Bush will fly to New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday, his third trip to the Gulf Coast since the storm struck....


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/10/katrina.impact/index.html

[Botany]

1. * is now just calling attention to his failures

Even the press is saying how much of this just photo ops.

[Delphinus]

2. What good does his presence do?

All he's doing is wasting fuel to get his ass down there and around and tying up precious resources (the people) who are needed by the victims.

[Enraged_Ape]

15. Agreed. This is crazy. There's nothing Bush's scrawny a$$...

can or will do down there. Even Sean Penn, who's probably 4 inches shorter than Bush and 40 pounds lighter, has rescued more people than Bush will in his ENTIRE LIFE.

Get that stupid clown out of there. For once, can the Federal government actually get people into the region that know what they're doing and can help?

[Thor_MN]

3. Haven't they suffered enough?

A visit by Katrina and two already by *.... A third return by * has to be horrible

[recycledindi]

16. he just wants to

make sure the destruction is going according to his evil plan in person.

[bballny]

4. atop

wasting our money on your PR campaign you fuckup

[riverwalker]

5. When they blame NOLA Mayor Nagin

and Gov. Blanco, how do they explain the slow federal response to Mississippi? It was just as slow and non-existant.

[kahleefornia]

6. Bush to make 3rd trip to sound stage

Casting directors are looking for 2 cute black children, and an elderly black person in a wheelchair to be hugged by the president and tell him he's doing "hard work". Also seeking effects coordinators specializing in water features.

Pay is non-union.

[HeeBGBz]

7. Somebody tell that fucker to go clear brush in Crawford

And quit wasting precious gasoline. Leave the roads open for someone who will actually do some work in the area.

[onager]

8. True. I keep comparing this to...

...the 1994 earthquake here in Los Angeles. (I live about 2 miles from the epicenter.)

James Lee Witt and FEMA were out here right away. When Clinton came to visit, he actually got out of his limo and, as usual, chatted with ordinary people and comforted them. Within a week or so, as I remember, FEMA and SBA had an office open and were taking apps for loans at 4% interest.

As for emergency response, one of the first people I saw the morning of the quake was an LAPD policewoman. This was before dawn. (The quake hit at 4:30 AM.) She came down the street outside our building in her police cruiser. The poor woman had obviously dressed in a hurry. I remember her hair looked like a haystack. She stopped to see if anyone was hurt or needed any emergency help.

To put that in perspecive, the LAPD only has about 9,000 cops to patrol the largest metro area in the U.S., with 8 million citizens.

[Miss Chybil]

9. No amount of flying to the Gulf is going to help Bush now, since

he flew OVER it the first time, late.

[kskiska]

10. Now that the city's been evacuated

and the streets are cleared of potential protesters or hecklers, he's ready for his close-up.

[Whoa_Nelly]

11. Am curious re: Clinton v. Bush & cost/security measures when traveling

With Bush making another "foray" to the gulf states today, and knowing that during his second "visit" the airways were cleared for security reasons, thus temporarily putting a stop to rescues while the airspace was secured, I am wondering about the following:

Does anyone know if Clinton cost the taxpayers so much money for the securing of any area visited and for the entourage of SS and others, as Bush does each time he travels anywhere? Seems to me, especially clear after the travel visits to other states made by Bush over his most recent vacation, that a shitload of money was spent to house/feed/travel with the little punk. The stories/articles that tell of the air/destination security costs and inconveniencing of American citizens, cities and towns, (not to mention the people missing chemo treatments recently at that Naval hospital in San Diego), has been way over the top.

Would like to hear from DU'ers if there is a comparison between Clinton and Bush re: cost/security measures/Americans and their lives and needs ignored and/or inconvenienced.

Also, am wondering if Bush tops all previous US Presidents in the security measures, etc., taken when out and about whether here in the US or abroad.

[Inland]

13. All I know is how hard it was for me to shake Clinton's hand.

Clinton was speaking at the Daley Center plaza, surrounded by windows.

There was a crowd of about 40k. No tickets. No streets blocked.

I stood next to a promising rope line and he came by.

I shook his hand and assumed I would get lots of new clients that afternoon. But no calls! Fucking Clinton!

At any rate, I was not questioned or arrested by the secret service, not profiled, not required to get a tickent.

[sarcasmo]

12. FEMA= Federal Government= Bush's fault.

[barbaraann]

14. Maybe he's bringing the communications equipment Blanco requested

more than a week ago. Ya think?

[Dr Fate]

17. Swing voter: "You mean Mayor Joe is who protects me from terrorists?"

And not Bush? Jeeze- I grew up with that Mayor Joe guy's brother- I dunno..."

[karlrschneider]

18. How does a flyover in AF1 count as a "visit"?

:eyes: