Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

[quote=evangelion]Correctly a problem and assigning blame are on totally different planes..........to me at least.[/quote]

Assigning blame (ie, putting the feet of those responsible in the fire) can add public pressure for those people to take the measures to fix the problems which lead to the failure.

For example, if Bush takes a lot of heat for appointing an unqualified and incompetent nincompoop like Brown to a highly important position, one would hope that he (and future presidents) will be more thoughtful with their appointments for sensitive posts. Or at least their political advisers would instruct them to be. :wink: Not that they really give 2 shits if the person can do the job, but politicians always want to avoid a media shitstorm if they can.

And so on down the line in regards to who is to blame on the state and local levels as well.

Things don't get changed in government unless there is some sort of pressure to change them. Public embarassment sometimes works like a charm.

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

Got it. But "applying pressure" as you say, is way more complicated than saying "It's Bush's fault." But I understand your point. :Bingo:

^^ of course, but I kinda took pickle's comment to be a shorthand reference to the fact that Bush accepted blame for the shortcomings on the federal side of things, as set forth in the link there.

I would hope that no one seriously thinks that this is all Bush's fault. State and local officials certainly have some 'splainin' to do as well, as well as other folks in the federal scheme.

Bush could have avoided a lot of the criticism he's receiving by simply demonstrating some fucking leadership right after the disaster. After 9/11, Bush came in and made us feel like someone was in charge, and made it clear that he gave a shit. In the wake of Katrina, he continued his vacation for another day and didn't make it to the region at all for a few days. The perception, I think, is that he either didn't fully grasp the magnitude of what was going on, or didn't care -- whether that's true or not. Personally, I'm more inclined to think it was the former, possibly because the guy reporting to him, Brown, had his head firmly up his ass. My opinion.

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

i think the 3 biggies to be asked about the prep of the whole thing are

1. why didn't the mayor order the police to evacuate on saturday when the NWS told him to.

2. why did he turn down the school buses, hoping to get greyhounds, then bitching that grey hound didnt have enough buses, rather than taking every possible bus he could find to evacuate.

3. why the hell didnt the govener send in the national guard before hand to prepare. they just let it hit and started pointed fingers afterward.

^^^ Those are pretty much the 3 major points to me too. And none of them [b]directly[/b] involves Bush.

[quote=toasty]I would hope that no one seriously thinks that this is all Bush's fault.[/quote]

Uh...take a look at some of the other threads about the hurricane, especially the aftermath. He might as well have used black magic to conjur up the storm in the first place, in some people's eyes. :roll:

[quote=evangelion]^^^ Those are pretty much the 3 major points to me too. And none of them [b]directly[/b] involves Bush.[/quote]

none of them remotely involves Bush. other than he could have recommended to call the guard. (he cant, governer has the power within the state) but then, i'll recommend that you all wake up for work tomorrow. did we want bush to declare martial law on sunday evening and try to get the ARMY in there in 2 hours to evacuate.

not trying to deflect anything from bush, he fucked up big time, but there is a lot of blame to be laid upon the mayor and govener for not lifting a finger before the hurricane hit.

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

All blame is going to do is cost someone who has probably learnt a lesson in how to deal with the situation their job . Surely the topic of discussion accross america should be what should we do to prevent it happeing again . I have mentioned my abhoration of the blame coulture before . America dosn't need scapegoats it needs solutions. What has happened in N.O. will cost the goverment 10's of billions so surely they must willing to make the same amount available to minimze the damage if something simmilar happens next summer .

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

[quote=bart_smastard] America dosn't need scapegoats it needs solutions. .[/quote]

I wish everyone would adapt the japanese philosophy like above: instead of trying to figure out who broke what, fix what's broken and improve it.

America really sucks in this department. Looking to lay blame first. "Who can we punish so we'll feel better about this whole thing?" For the sake of fuck, we get absolutely nowhere with this logic. :BangHead:

Re: "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

Exactly what I've been saying Jenks :RockOn:

Quit pointing fingers and start finding answers