Quote:
Originally posted by Spanky
1) New Orleans is one of the coolest cities in America. It needs to be drained, brought back to life, and properly protected. If the Dutch can do it, why can't we?
2) We live in a Meritocracy. If you are in charge you are responsible. That is the way the system works. Some slack can be given if you are new on the job, but after you have time to settle in, if you are on top, what happens below is your responsibility. Bush has been in charge for five years, so what the Federal government does (or doesn't do) is his responsiblity. Of course this liberal whinning about the wetlands policy and global warming is just another way for the liberals to try and score some cheap political points for their pet projects. On the other hand, if it was the federal governments job to keep the levees up and keep New Orleans not flooded then everyone in the chain of command is culpable. Including the man at the top: GWB.
3) If someone already said this I am sorry, but it is my understanding that at the end of the mississippi, the river's outlet moves around from year to year depositing silt over the whole delta. The soft sand is constantly sinking so the dirt from the river is needed to keep the whole area above sea level. Once the outlet of the Mississippi was fixed, the river stopped moving around and depositing the much needed silt. Consequently the whole delta area has been sinking for years. Their are entire parishes that are now under water. Hurricanes are common in this area. In other words, there is no excuse for not seeing this coming. It was just a matter of time before a big storm hit. There is no excuse that NO is under water. This should and could have been prevented and heads should roll.
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On the foreseeablility front, I found this article interesting -
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/...ill/index.html - despite my general disdain for the way cnn.com has handled the story.
I think everyone agrees that a storm of this magnitude hitting the Gulf Coast was foreseeable. It isn't saying a lot for FEMA that they drilled this possibility last year and their response has been this slow and disorganized. I'm not handing out blame here, but I'm firmly in the "horrified at the amount of time it has taken to respond" camp. There should not be a natural disaster that could happen in this country that results in people dying of dehydration in the streets several days later. It is appalling.
