Hello? All you folks dumping on Obama tonight because he isn't down in Kentucky

[hedgehog]

solemnly looking at downed power lines,

where was your concern 6 weeks ago when New England was in trouble?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/13/ice_storm_paralyzes_parts_of_new_england/

The damage from ice storms takes time to fix. It is an incredibly labor intensive project. Crews have to go literally house to house removing downed trees, removing broken branches, evaluating power lines, replacing snapped poles, etc. Most of this work is done by private utilities since it's mostly their property that is damaged.


As near as I can make out, Obama has done what is needed and has opted out of the photo op.

Edit: I hope this doesn't count as calling people out, but when I see three threads pop up with the same message, I start to wonder if people are responding to a slanted news story.

[Still Sensible]

1. Yeah, shit Bush would've flown over by now

and we'd have seen another picture of him looking out the window again. And shit, I just needed one more to get the whole set.

[4lbs]

2. He would have landed, displayed a birthday cake, and smiled while saying

"Now, watch this drive!", swinging a golf club.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I didn't see any federal support back in December when about 110,000 of us lost power

cause of the ice storm we had. And I wasn't expecting any. I did expect that the power company would mobilize their employees to this area to restore power. I was probably lucky being without power for 34 hours while others were without power for about a week.

[polmaven]

14. For some in Massachusetts

that lasted 13 days. The storm was on December 13, and hundreds were still out until the 24th.

[SKKY]

4. I'm in Kentucky right now, and I don't hear people around her complaining about Obama...

...the utilities companies are doing a a very good job under very difficult circumstances. They've got more than 1500 "additional" workers from all over helping out. Honestly, when I heard Kentucky was declared a state of emergency, it seems a bit over-kill. Power is coming back on pretty quickly, considering the circumstances.

[Abq_Sarah]

5. They're predicting

The power won't be back for thousands in parts of Arkansas and Kentucky until mid February.

[hedgehog]

6. HAte to say it, but that sounds about right. Restoring power in these cases

is like rebuilding practically half or more of the local grid. It would be nice if we info on how many lines that hurricanes tend to bring down. We may actually find that an ice storm is worse in terms of damage to a grid. Maybe, maybe not. The problem gets worse the more distant houses are from each other such as in rural areas.

[rvablue]

9. But maybe that is b/c Prez Obama didn't wait to declare it

and the funds for extra workers, etc. was ready at hand for the Governor to act.

[SKKY]

10. I'm thinking that was the case...

...But I don't know why some people need to see a photo op declaring declaring as much. :shrug:

[Hokie]

7. I live in Kentucky and I am glad the President is not using us as a political backdrop

One of the many things I hated about Bush was his grandstanding. He started it with the desecration of the 911 site and continued it the rest of his terms. It was disgusting. The things we need in Kentucky now are line trucks with crews. That is happening. The warm up today will help get ice off the trees before the next storm hits.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

8. As usual, Obama is handling the situation perfectly.

[JayMusgrove]

11. Obama caused the ice storm, and ... and.... he is responsible

for KY and Corporate power suppliers not having decentralized their responses.

Obama is now responsible for any tragedies that happen, especially if it is caused by weather.

>sarcasm<

[salguine]

12. Smaller, decentralized local power grids would resolve a lot of this problem. New

infrastructure paradigm with your stimulus, anyone?

[Life Long Dem]

13. Haven't seen anything yet but I'll let you know and can everyone pass on this concern as well?

Edit: so... lets keep an eye out!

[NutmegYankee]

15. It's great he isn't in Kentucky.

He'd need lots of police protection when they can be better used checking in on people.