Mayor snaps. Calls out president

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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According NO. Mayor Ray Nagin:

"I don't want to see anyone do any more ******n press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city."

"Now get off your asses and lets do something, and lets fix the biggest ******n crisis in the history of this country."

I will not comment, because I feel I could honestly argue and agree with both sides.
 
I just now heard his comments. I was very appalled to hear him talk like that. Further, he said, "They don't have clue about what's going on down here." By "they" he meant the Feds. Now I wonder, Mr Mayor, why don't the Feds have a clue? Isn't it up to the local level to inform the national level of their specific needs?


It seems like everyone's head is gonna' roll on this one. But blaming others for your own incompetnence doesn't accomplish anything but to make you look foolish and woefully unprepared.
 
Seems to me the mayor fell down on the job, not the federal government. Stop bitching, get a shovel, and start digging yourself out. Don't wait for someone to do it for you.
They knew several days in advance and the best they could come up with was put them all in the superdome, where no one could say for sure it would survive. On Friday, they should have sent in the busses and hauled the people out. The mayor blew it and now he wants a scapegoat. He should look in a mirror (if he can find one).
 
silver-eagle said:
Seems to me the mayor fell down on the job, not the federal government. Stop bitching, get a shovel, and start digging yourself out. Don't wait for someone to do it for you.
They knew several days in advance and the best they could come up with was put them all in the superdome, where no one could say for sure it would survive. On Friday, they should have sent in the busses and hauled the people out. The mayor blew it and now he wants a scapegoat. He should look in a mirror (if he can find one).
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I think this strom was worse than any politition thought, it caught them with the knickers around thier knees.

I don't think the busses were anywhere they could have been used that quickly.
 
NC19143 said:
I think this strom was worse than any politition thought, it caught them with the knickers around thier knees.

I don't think the busses were anywhere they could have been used that quickly.
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The storm was LESS than originally predicted and still did all of this damage.

I've seen photos of huge school bus yards FULL...and flooded. The resources were there. Too many people were giving press conferences BEFORE the hurricane hit to do anything constructive.
 
NC19143 said:
WoW didn't see that,,,, I wonder how many started right up.?
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The point is that they were there BEFORE the hurricane came through...and could have been used to leave.

This isn't the Feds issue. Without formal notice of requested help, FEMA and other Federal help agencies aren't allowed to go into a state. It's part of the law that created them. The idiot Mayor and Governor didn't make the request in a timely manner.
 
NickDBrennan said:
I will not comment, because I feel I could honestly argue and agree with both sides.
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Not a bad position to take.

It is very easy, five days later, with perfect 20-20 hindsight, to dissect and criticize the decisions that were made.

It is an entirely different situation to be in the hot seat on last Sunday, surounded with conflicting, probably inaccurate and sketchy information and try to predict the future. Depending on the decision you make at that time there are literally hundreds of outcomes that will result. Were bad decisions made - most likely. Could any of us done better - probably not. So, we do the best we can with what is available.

Gary
 
The worst thing we can do at this point is to perpetuate class war or culture war. The pundits are already starting. Talking heads are asking if it's a racial issue - the interviewees are saying no, it's a class issue. New Orleans is deep south, and far less affluent than other cities. That is fact.

Whether it is or not, now is not the time to discuss class/culture. Morally, we need to deal with the issues and move forward.

The politicians are using this as a tool. From that aspect, the mayor is right: now is not the time for politics.
 
The levy commision run by the local politicians bought casinos and a jet instead of shoring up the levies. Local political corruption at its finest
 
James_Dean said:
At least one guy stole one and drove 80 people to Houston.
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Why the heck is that considered looting? It sounds like a perfectly rational thing to do. No one else helping you and up to your eyeballs in water, hooligans, no food or water and a bunch of your neighbors standing on rooftops, I'd probably have done the same thing.

As long as he returns the bus in one piece when this is all over, instead of arresting him, I say give him a job as a bus driver. He's already shown the innitative and good judgement. At least you'd know your kids on his school bus would be safe if the place started flooding again.

Go after the real hooligans and leave the hero's alone. Anyone that tries to have him arrested should be dropped off on a rooftop in N.O. and left.
 
Frank nailed this one. This guy should be celebrated, not harrassed. He's a hero, pure and simple. He did what government officials should have encouraged more to do. And he took many people out of harms way when he left.
 
fgcason said:
Why the heck is that considered looting? It sounds like a perfectly rational thing to do. No one else helping you and up to your eyeballs in water, hooligans, no food or water and a bunch of your neighbors standing on rooftops, I'd probably have done the same thing.

As long as he returns the bus in one piece when this is all over, instead of arresting him, I say give him a job as a bus driver. He's already shown the innitative and good judgement. At least you'd know your kids on his school bus would be safe if the place started flooding again.

Go after the real hooligans and leave the hero's alone. Anyone that tries to have him arrested should be dropped off on a rooftop in N.O. and left.
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Whoa, wait a minute! I think the guy should get a medal. I was simply responding to Tom's question of whether they would have started. Please see my posting of the picture of the school buses that could have been used to move thousands of people out of NO before the storm came.


James Dean
 
James_Dean said:
Whoa, wait a minute! I think the guy should get a medal. I was simply responding to Tom's question of whether they would have started. Please see my posting of the picture of the school buses that could have been used to move thousands of people out of NO before the storm came.
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I was refering to the link itself, not your comment:

"In an extreme act of looting, one group actually stole a bus to escape ravaged areas in Louisiana."
"But the 18-year-old who ensured their safety could find himself in a world of trouble for stealing the school bus."

Extreme lack of looting? Stealing a bus? Palease!!

The news media stamped "THIEF" on this guys forehead just because he broke a stack of laws that simply do not apply in an emergency situation.

Agreed about the medal. That's 100 less victims to worry about and the school district gets at least one useable bus out of all this.
 
Instead of arresting this kid, they should have refueled the bus and asked him to make some more trips. He deserves a big congratulations and kudos. I'm surprised the media hasn't jumped all over this.
 
The media. Blecch.

Larry King had several guests on including Jessie Jackson....

Larry was asking each guest if they thought the delayed response was due to racism because so many of the affected folks were black. The general response was that the issue is "classism".

And we wonder why this country is so divided.
 
The City of NO ought to =THANK= this kid. That is probably the only operational school bus they have left!

fgcason said:
Why the heck is that considered looting? It sounds like a perfectly rational thing to do. No one else helping you and up to your eyeballs in water, hooligans, no food or water and a bunch of your neighbors standing on rooftops, I'd probably have done the same thing.

As long as he returns the bus in one piece when this is all over, instead of arresting him, I say give him a job as a bus driver. He's already shown the innitative and good judgement. At least you'd know your kids on his school bus would be safe if the place started flooding again.

Go after the real hooligans and leave the hero's alone. Anyone that tries to have him arrested should be dropped off on a rooftop in N.O. and left.
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Someone will think that he should be arrested, charged with grand theft, hostage taking, kidnapping, and terroism. Oh, and making the mayor look like an inept baffoon!
Oh yeah, he did that one himself.
 
wsuffa said:
The pundits are already starting. Talking heads are asking if it's a racial issue - the interviewees are saying no, it's a class issue.
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Especially that knob on CNN that follows Larry King, he looked to be trying to incite people and enjoying every minute of their misery. I was sickened enough to turn it off. What an arsehole.
 
silver-eagle said:
Someone will think that he should be arrested, charged with grand theft, hostage taking, kidnapping, and terroism. Oh, and making the mayor look like an inept baffoon!
Oh yeah, he did that one himself.
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You forgot crossing state lines while doing all the above. IIRC that makes it a federal felony.

What should happen is the the president himself should pin a medal on the kid and let him stay in the White House. Heck, other citizens are inviting refugees into their homes out of kindness so saving 100 should get you a couple weeks as guest of honor in the White House.

I keep having this image of that kid standing waist deep in a flooding street: "(*&#$ %$)(@# (*$% _)#$@ authorities. They won't come rescue us, fine, we'll rescue ourselves and show up at their silly refugee center with a bus load of survivors."....then later at the astrodome gate... "Hi, we rescued ourselves, we need a place to stay so where do we park?"

I don't care if the kid has a drivers license or not. They should top him off and send him back for another load.
 
fgcason said:
You forgot crossing state lines while doing all the above. IIRC that makes it a federal felony.

What should happen is the the president himself should pin a medal on the kid and let him stay in the White House. Heck, other citizens are inviting refugees into their homes out of kindness so saving 100 should get you a couple weeks as guest of honor in the White House.

I keep having this image of that kid standing waist deep in a flooding street: "(*&#$ %$)(@# (*$% _)#$@ authorities. They won't come rescue us, fine, we'll rescue ourselves and show up at their silly refugee center with a bus load of survivors."....then later at the astrodome gate... "Hi, we rescued ourselves, we need a place to stay so where do we park?"

I don't care if the kid has a drivers license or not. They should top him off and send him back for another load.
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So the ends justify the means?
 
Richard said:
So the ends justify the means?
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Yes. Rule of law was gone in N.O. He decided to save himself and took 80 people with him while he was at it. What would you have done?
 
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James_Dean said:
Yes. Rule of law was gone in N.O. He decided to save himself and took 80 people with him while he was at it. What would you have done?
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Found another bus and followed him out. :D
 
Richard said:
So the ends justify the means?
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In my book, this falls under FAR 91.3 and the wilderness/severe weather emergency survival guide cover to cover - Summary of both: Do what you have to do to make the problem go away.

This is not about being polite, this is about survival. So Yes. IMO in this case the end result does justify the means.

The kid isn't a mindless sheep in the herd. He can actually think for himself when the world around him gets blown to smithereens. Where I come from, that's a good trait. I'll pin the medal on him if no one else will.
 
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