David Brin on Hurricane Response

[HawkerHurricane]

David Brin <http://www.blogger.com/profile/4833416> said...
Sorry, I just had to add this in a place where others could crib it:

The following was offered by a correspondent. No matter how tendentious and biased the source might be, can there be any doubts what has changed? This is no longer about political party, per se. It is about people refusing to recognize facts. That we are not ruled by “conservatives” but morons.

History of Recent Hurricanes Looking back a few years:
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President: Nixon Category 5 Hurricane *Camille* (August 1969) Area: About the same area as that affected by Katrina

Response: Nixon prepared the National Guard in advance, ordering rescue ships from Tampa, FL and Houston, TX to stand waiting along with over a thousand regular military, 24+ helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard about as soon as the hurricane passed.

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President: Bush (the Elder) Category 5 Hurricane *Andrew* (August 1992) Area: Florida

Response: In the middle of a re-election campaign, Bush ceased campaigning the day before the hurricane, went to Washington, and assembled one of the largest military forces ever mustered on U.S. soil. 7,000 National Guard And 22,000 regular military were sent in with the necessary equipment shortly after the hurricane passed through.

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President: Clinton Category 3 Hurricane *Floyd* (September 1999) Area: Virginia and Carolinas

Response: Meeting with China's president Jiang in New Zealand, Clinton immediately declared the hurricane-affected areas as federal disasters, allowing the military and National Guard to move in and help. Clinton flew home immediately, one day before the hurricane hit, to help coordinate the rescue.

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President: Bush (the Lesser) Category 5 Hurricane *Katrina* (August 2005) Area: Gulf Coast

Response: National Guard troops are down about 8,000 members because they are in Iraq with much of the needed rescue equipment. Bush was on vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before the hurricane landed. On that day, Bush attended a birthday party for John McCain and played golf. The levees began to crack. While emergency 1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to strengthen the levee and exclude water, there were insufficient helicopters and pilots to set them before the levees broke. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded for federal-level assistance and got none. Bush Went to San Diego to play guitar with a country singer and end his vacation early-- but not until the next day, because he had tickets to a San Diego Padres game.

Ah, but the Gulf Coast can feel better now that the Cronies - fueled by 100$B in no-bid reconscruction contracts - have started to arrive.

The one beneficiary of all this? The State of Arizona. Every time someone calls George W Bush a “conservative”, AZ gets more electricity by tapping the spin in Barry Goldwater’s grave.

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. Good writer

I've been a fan for many years of both his fiction and non-fiction.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. This is THAT David Brin? I admire and enjoy his work too. n/t

[TahitiNut]

5. Sure. He's been online for many years. He used to have an AOL email addy.

He's no liberal, however. :shrug: I've exchanged email correspondence with him in the distant past. He can be quite engaging.

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. Now that's cool. He doesn't have to be a liberal, he's a fine writer and

apparently the charm in his writing does carry over to his real world personality.

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Note that the military was involved in assisting/helping/aiding

with recovery efforts under many presidents without special "laws" that bushie now wants.

The military has a long history of assisting in the event of natural disasters.

My earliest memories as a military brat about the "job" my father did was to go rescue people from roofs when the flood waters rose too fast. This was during the Eisenhower Presidency. No big deal -- they just did it.

For some reason the dumb assed drunk in the white house thinks that natural disasters need to be federalized and that he needs to bring in the marines -- what to shoot citizens? He seems afraid of the people of the US -- and just wants to bring in the military. He is ignorant of the long history of local military helping out when needed. After all military personnel and their families are PART OF THE COMMUNITY. It is sort of like a large employer with lots of skilled personnel and equipment and as a public service the company's employees HELP their community.

This helping in the community during natural disasters was the way I grew up seeing how the military helped during a crisis. But bushie is so far removed from reality that he can grasp the concept of sending an order to all hands in the military to assist where needed.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Another striking comparison: responses to Chernobyl vs Katrina:

This was in the Wash Post and was presented and discussed here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4942295

Here's the graphic with the side-by-side: