<p>Mini, be careful, you might confuse people with facts…</p>
<p>Thank you for your information. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer Mini. I figured that most states would have strong laws protecting them from a federal gov’mt coming in and taking over whenever they felt like it - “states rights” and all that.</p>
<p>It’s just confusing because there is reporting that says the Gov. has certain controls, the city had others re: ordering evacuation prior to the storm hitting. (also the Gov. controls the Nat. Guard & must authorize its use etc.)</p>
<p>In my mind, the only way to have prevented most of the human suffering we’ve seen would have been to get more people “out of town” before Katrina came ashore.</p>
<p>If the situation in New Orleans were not so tragic it would be hilarious. What people dont understand is Louisiana politics. The tried, true, and consistently followed procedure for Louisiana politicians building political power is to put people in precarious situations then fight to save them from the situation. Our budget process usually follows a script of the Governor proposing a budget based on projected revenues that calls for budget cuts in health services, then proposing tax increases to fund the health services. Then the poor and needy show up in mass at the legislature to pressure for the tax increases proposed by the Governor. Dialysis patients are mentioned in every fiscal session. The threat is that people will be taken off dialysis machines. If the tax passes the helpless are saved and praise the Governor. If the taxes fail, the Governor juggles some budget items and finds some unexpected revenue (the revenue forecasting committee has a regularly scheduled meeting during each session) and the helpless praise the Governor for finding a way out. It works that way through all levels of Louisiana government, right down to personnel management in the various state and local agencies.</p>
<p>New Orleans had an evacuation plan in place (I believe it is still on their web site) that called for school and city buses to evacuate the poor who have no transportation. The mayor did not follow the plan, thereby putting the poor in a precarious position. He then very publicly fought like hell to get the feds to speed up saving the poor. At the same time he and the governor were preventing the Red Cross and Salvation Army (the primary first responders after city government) from bringing in supplies, even though there was always clear passage via the west bank and the New Orleans Connection (the twin bridges from the west bank to the central business district).</p>
<p>This is classic Louisiana politics. Put the poor in a bad place, then fight like hell to save them. In return the poor vote for you next election. The Mayor and Governor yelling at the feds for neglecting the poor is like a guy burning down his own house then complaining that it could have been saved if the fire department had gotten there faster.</p>
<p>I am sure the feds could have done a better job, but no one starved. The deplorable conditions in the convention center did not mean anyone starved, but the lawlessness was unforgivable and due to the New Orleans police running away. Troops under federal control cant engage in law enforcement (unless the President finds there is an insurrection against the federal government) and the Governor did not send the National Guard to the Convention Center (only the superdome). But, the Governor and the Mayor will sing the same tune that all was due to the feds because that is what will reelect them. Nationally the Democrats will sing the same tune hoping to be elected in the first place. The poor Republicans have no chance against simple down-home Louisiana politicians who have no morals, ethics or shame.</p>
<p>I don’t know about LA police in general, but take a look at this post from tpmcafe.com. Is the bridge one of those mentioned in the previous post?</p>
<p>Gretna’s Choice</p>
<p>By Pascal Riche | bio</p>
<p>From: Politics</p>
<p>My advice for the Congressional commission which will investigate into how the Hurricane Katrina disaster was handled in New Orleans: dont forget to pay a visit to the Chief of the Police of the city of Gretna, across the Mississippi river bridge.</p>
<p>When we left New Orleans, on Friday September 2, after having discovered -as reporters- the horrors of the Convention Center, we picked up a couple who wanted to flee the town. They told us that they had already tried to evacuate on foot, but some policemen forced them to turn back on the bridge. </p>
<p>Sep 10, 2005 – 09:48:23 AM EST</p>
<p>“It’s like a jail, here”, they said. I found this information unbelievable.</p>
<p>Since then, other eyewitness accounts confirmed that police officers sealed this bridge, close to the Center Convention, prohibiting people from escaping the New Orleans trap. </p>
<p>See Denise Moores story , for instance. Or you can read
this account from two San Francisco paramedics, Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky: sheriffs even fired their weapons over their heads to dissuade the crowd from going ahead. The police explained that they wanted no Superdomes in their city".</p>
<p>On Sunday (4 September), New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was interviewed on a special edition of ABC’s Nightline. He explained that when people tried to cross the bridge, they were met (at the county line) with attack dogs and police officers with machine guns saying You have to turn back….</p>
<p>Gretna, in Jefferson Parish, is a mainly white suburban town of 18,000 inhabitants. In the aftermath of Katrina, three quarters of the inhabitants still had electricity and running water. The Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson admitted that he gave the order to block the bridge, explaining that there was “no food, no water, no shelter” in his nice town.</p>
<p>If we had opened the bridge, he said, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged.</p>
<p>Property over life?</p>
<p>“looted burned pillaged”
yeah those moms taking Diapers and water</p>
<p>burned
um, gas lines, etc</p>
<p>So its great when people say, get them out, if no one would take them?</p>
<p>Reminds of a little story from the Bible (not that I am a bible thumper)</p>
<p>But wasn’t there a family noone had “room” for…</p>