--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > In a message dated 9/4/05 6:51:47 P.M. Central Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > You know, a moment's reflection should tell you > that, given they knew how many people there were > without transportation, and that they *did* have > plans to deal with the problem, it isn't very > likely that there were better solutions of the kind > you suggest that they hadn't already considered > and rejected for good reason, or that were clearly > not feasible in the first place. > > They know what their resources are and what's > possible and what isn't; you don't. > > > > > You know it works both ways. Nobody, outside of the most inner > loops, knows exactly what is going on but there sure are a lot of > questions for everybody to ask of everybody in Government from > local to state to federal. Nobody knows how factual any of the > reporting is or if anybody that makes a report has all of the > facts and a truly clear perception of the reality of everything > that is going on. <What I have found particularly disturbing in > this whole tragedy is the immediate politicization from day one. > And the intense personal attacks while people are trying to deal > with a difficult and emotional situation. Everyone has been trying > to play a game of gotcha. <As Michael Chertoff said and Bush said > from the first day, they are concentrating their efforts on > getting the job done and there will be plenty of time to analyze > what went well and what went wrong and where to affix blame later > on once the job is complete. <Now I know you well enough Judy to > take that as dodging tough questions but it's not. It's keeping > focus on doing the job. <No doubt there will be investigations > down the road to get any and all answers.
You're missing the point, again. The initial criticisms weren't primarily about blame for what happened but for Bush's unthinkably callous public response. That isn't something you go back and analyze later; it was mainly symbolic, but the insensitivity was intolerable. And again, it was conservatives criticizing him as well as liberals. Then when the situation in New Orleans became more and more evident, the criticism was primarily about prodding the administration to act more quickly *right then* because people were dying from the lack of response. That's not political either, obviously. Now that the worst of the emergency seems to be past, the criticism has primarily to do with getting rid of the incompetents like Chertoff and Brown to ensure the rest of the relief effort isn't bungled-- or, God forbid, in case of another disaster coming on the heels of this one. So *that* isn't political. The *political* criticism, on this forum, at least, has come primarily from the right-wingers who are trying to defend the administration and can think of no way to do so except by trying to shift the blame onto the Democratic governor and mayor. That's not to say there haven't been some who have been making the case for Bush being responsible for the levees not being fixed and so on--that kind of thing *can* wait. If we could feel confident that the administration would engage in some honest self-examination and allow its actions to be investigated thoroughly once the crisis period was over, folks might be more willing to wait. But we know from long experience that this administration has never been willing to take responsibility for its mistakes, nor even allow them to be investigated properly. > Even Clinton's former FEMA director indicated that you just don't > anticipate all that has happened and be completely prepared for it > as is in this case.< In short, nobody likes what we are seeing > played out before our eyes, but then nobody has all of the facts > yet either. And as Jesse Jackson says, be careful when you point a > finger because there are three more pointing back at you. Yes, I'm sure the right-wingers will eventually find a way to point fingers at Clinton and Witt, and probably Jackson as well for good measure. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
