Thread: Katrina Aftermath: Woeful Incompetence (rant).

Rouss, no offense to you, but I think that a great deal of that quoted text is either nonsense of irrelevant.

First, this is not a racial thing. I'm sorry if all the reporters are seeing are black faces but if they would take their cameras to places like Slidell, Mandeville, Metairie and CHALMETTE! they would see a several thousand white faces being affected by this. Most of the tip of the boot that is Louisiana south and east of Baton Rouge is under water. Those people are stuck too waiting for help, dying, but all the news people can focus on is the Superdome.

I agree that issues have more to do with socio-economic status than they do with race. At any rate, there is a question of whether those people in Slidell or Metaire are actually trapped in the city and living in troubling conditions or if their property was simply destroyed.

Another misconception. The violence going on there is not the reaction of desparate people. Its typical New Orleans on any given Tuesday!!!

I assume he's referring to the gun-toting gangs. I don't know about him, but I've never met any gun-toting criminal gangs in New Orleans, so I don't think that's really a "typical" New Orleans Tuesday. Also, given that he's not actually a resident of New Orleans--but someone who lives between Baton Rouge and New Orleans--I'm guessing he doesn't have that much experience actually inside the city.

I do, however, agree that these aren't the desperate people who are carrying those guns. I don't know anyone who made that claim, so he's attacking a straw man with that.

Also, this is kind of annoying statement because he, like much of the media, is ignoring all of the heart-warming stories and focusing on only a small precentage of the population.

Its a dangerous, dirty, drug infested place where the city police and city government is corrupt and useless. Volunteers are getting shot at and their cars vandelized.

I've never been afraid to go into the city, to the Convention Center, or downtown. I would be now, however, if I were in New Orleans. Crimes are taking place in areas that are generally safe. I think it's clear that this is an exagerration although some of what he says is probably true of any city. (I did find that Phoenix, Arizona was remarkably clean, but every other city I've been to has been dirty.)

Another misconception. These poor people couldn't get out because they don't have cars. If the cameras show the city once the waters recede, you'll notice all the flooded out cars littering the streets.

This proves nothing. I'm much more convinced by estimates that 100,000 people in the city didn't have cars than what could only amount to anecdotal evidence. The fact is that those cars could be there for a variety of reasons--for instance, rescue workers or people who had to stay in the city as part of their jobs.

Sure, there were some fools who stayed because they thought they could ride it out. There are always some people who act in a manner that I wouldn't consider rational. That doesn't mean that we can stereotype everyone who was forced, for whatever reason, to stay.

Yes, there are always people who do not have transportation. Part of making the call for a MANDATORY evacuation is that the city has to provide for transportation and/or shelter in the city.

They did make a shelter in the city, and the conditions there were in large part what people were complaining about. I also doubt that there was sufficient time for everyone to evacuate to the superdome, given the logistics of the situation. I've heard reports of the busses running quite late. This also assumes that everyone even heard the evacuation order--which wasn't the case, given the relatively late notice the city had.

People stayed for the same reasons they always stay. They think the storm will turn and go in another direction. They think they can "ride it out." Or, they're just too (*&( lazy to pack up and leave.

I find it hard to hold human nature against people. If you've seen storms turn for the last fourty years, it's not really surprising that you'd expect the same for the next one.

Also, I don't think that the claim about people being too lazy to pack up and leave is fair: you can evacuate without doing a lick of packing if you so desire, or just throwing a few pairs of clothing into the car. It's probably more difficult to actually properly prepare for a hurricane (which many people probably did, or so some news reports have suggested).

Another misconception. The federal government was slow to respond. The president issued a state of emergency BEFORE the storm ever hit, unprecedented. This means that the full access of the federal government, be it military or civil, were at our govenor's disposal. The levee broke early Monday afternoon. She did not call evacuation until Tuesday morning. You cannot call up National Guard units in 20 minutes. It takes time. The governor and mayor are in high CYA mode at the moment.

This is pretty much irrelevant. In particular, the national guard coming to New Orleans was not tied to the evacuation order. Moreover, it's not clear what evidence is intended to show fault with the major, given that the claim is that Blanco was in control of the resources and also declared the evacuation. Perhaps the idea is that Nagin should have told her to evacuate more quickly? It's not really clear, and I don't know if we have enough evidence to find fault with him on this matter. At any rate, I think the claim is poorly argued.

On an aside, part of it is not strictly true; the President has issued preemptive State of Emergency declarations in the past (albeit rarely).

Finally, I find it a bit annoying that he's effectively using his position as an on-the-scene observer to make an argument that has nothing to do with his being on the scene. (Granted, he has little choice unless he wants to write two emails, but he wrote this paragraph in the same style, with the same lead-in about "misconceptions" and he complained about the "national" media earlier, clearly playing up his position on the ground.)

The situation is bad here. Crime is becoming a problem in Gonzales and Baton Rouge where the evacuees are being housed.

I can't really comment on this, but from what I understand, the claims of crime in Baton Rouge is more of an urban legend than anything else--in large part sparked by a misguided email by the Chancellor of LSU. He later apologized for overstating the situation.

Originally Posted by webmaster

Rouss, no offense to you, but I think that a great deal of that quoted text is either nonsense of irrelevant.

No offense taken. You made a lot of good points. I posted it just after reading it. I thought it was interesting and that maybe someone else would think so also. Like I said, I found it on fark, so it may very well be nonsense.

Originally Posted by webmaster

I can't really comment on this, but from what I understand, the claims of crime in Baton Rouge is more of an urban legend than anything else--in large part sparked by a misguided email by the Chancellor of LSU. He later apologized for overstating the situation.

I'm not sure what is true or rumors concerning the crime in Baton Rouge. I never saw the apology from the chancellor, but I did receive an email that stated that there were confirmed reports of civil unrest (which I think was just a fight of some sort) confined to specific areas of downtown BR. Then it went on to ask people to take proper safety precautions and such. It might have come on a little strong on the safety part, but I didn't think it was too bad. Also, it seems that a lot of the rumors that get started are caused by jerks calling in false reports to the police. Hopefully as time goes by, the rumors will subside. But I guess only time will tell.