What Nagin did or did not do prior to the hurricane

[JuniperLea]

does not absolve the US gov agencies from their pitiful, negligent, criminal and immoral lack of response!!!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Plenty of blame to go around. nt/

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Sorry, the blame all goes to the top

They went on vacation when everyone else ran to put out the fire.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. I don't think

that acknowledging blame at all levels lets the highesst level off the hook at all. After all, THAT is where the buck stops. The citizens of N.O. were failed by everyone except the Coast Guard.

[JuniperLea]

4. Hypothetically... even if Nagin fucked up miserably

and no one was evacuated from NO at all... the lack of response from US agencies is still immoral, criminal and unacceptable. If they believe he did exacerbate the problem, all the more reason to step up and make things right.

[jackster]

3. this is not rocket science to me ...

the local and state governments do not have the resources to address a catastrophic event such as this....

I do believe that there is enough blame to go around, however, the philosphy that government is the problem not the solution (from our dear old nemisis Raygun) is the basis of the problem.

I want a government who will protect me butt not but into my personal life.

NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

[tulsakatz]

5. I know Republicans are trying to sell.........

.......the idea that local govt is at fault. But if you look at the recent polls, I don't believe it's working for them. Most of the recent polls say that people still blame the fed'l govt!!!

Yesterday I saw a poll on MSNBC that asked who is to blame.......it listed Bush, Brown, Nagin, Blanco and Chertoff.

Bush got 27%, Brown was 22%, Blanco had about 18 %, I don't remember what Nagin got and Chertoff got about 8%

So if you add Bush, Brown and Chertoff (who represent the fed'l level), the fed'l govt is still being blamed for it despite the widespread efforts to blame locals.

[JuniperLea]

6. Meet the Press

Did you see the polls Russert pulled from Newsweek? Must have been heavily Freeped because they are in no way in keeping with the norm we have seen.

[Spazito]

13. What Russert didn't do was quote bush's pathetic numbers

on the same question of responsibility but, with regard to Nagin, they really didn't apply in the NARROW confines of the questions to him. The question I have is whether when he has a guest answering from the bush admin he quoted those poll numbers saying the bush admin failed. I suspect not but could be proven wrong.

I stopped watching him to switch to CNN and Nancy Pelosi.

[NMDemDist2]

8. Nagin actually did great. all the projections only thought 60% would

get out prior to a hurricane. He got 80% out and got the rest to shelter with all the resources of food,water and security he had available.

That's the answer to the RW crap IMO.

[JuniperLea]

10. Very good call indeed!

That shows you how people who trust their local officials will act in a time of crisis.

The problem really started when the people were evacuated to places they were told would have emergency supplies... then the cavalry didn't arrive when they said they would.

[NMDemDist2]

14. exactly. and he advised residents to bring 2-3 days of supplies with them

to the SDome

[Catchawave]

9. The Buck Stops with Bush....

Nagin did the best he could with the resources he had(where have I heard that before ?), and should be credited with saving MANY lives.

FEMA should have responded much quicker, and at the very least, lower food and water at the superdome and convention centers within 24 hours of the hurricane strike. They should be blamed for losing lives.

You also have to realize, the first responders had to evacuate their own families too. I know Mayor Nagin has gotten alot of support from other coastal communities and how very difficult staring down a Cat 4-5 must have been.

The Bush Administration doesn't want to play the 'blame game', but they're already swiftboating local and state officials. Which is very evident in the RW talking points now.

[JuniperLea]

12. Exactly, hence the thread:)

How can they shift blame for the number of deaths (which is now being lied about, surprise surprise) due to the number of people left behind when regardless of that number, there were no relief efforts for days and days? I don't care if there were only a dozen people left! There should have been relief efforts IMMEDIATELY!

[KoKo]

11. Russert was in full Whore Mode for GE this morning. "Rebuild NO's for

the 21st. Century. He must have said that five times. "GE...we bring good things to death"

He got all his Talking Points and info from the WH folks who must have been tracking down every bit of info on Nagin..burning the midnight oil so Russert could be "well briefed" and on the message this a.m.

Russert is disgusting.