Your post is the post of a thinking and rational individual.
Unfortunately, some of the people in this group are not thinking,
nor rational.

"Captain Compassion" <res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:japsh1l2f4iafbomk4rq66jqksmefogrob@4ax.com...

Was President Bush Forced to Use the Insurrection Act?
Chron Watch ^ | 06 September 2005 | Barbara J. Stock

Hurricanes do not sneak up on people. Unlike tornadoes, hurricanes
don't just reach down out of the dark storm clouds to wreak havoc on
humanity. Hurricanes are tracked, named, have warning flags dedicated
to them, and all coastal cities have long-standing plans for dealing
with them. Nearly everyone in the world knew Katrina was going to hit
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and yet so many have died in New
Orleans. Why?

Hurricane Katrina struck the tip of southern Florida as a category 1
hurricane and made a beeline for the warm waters of the Gulf of
Mexico. For three days Katrina churned her way across the Gulf,
growing in size and strength until it was a monster storm. With
sustained winds of over 175 mph, Katrina bore down on the city of New
Orleans. Literally, at the last possible moment, Katrina was pushed,
ever-so-slightly, by dry air from the Midwest, off to the East and
dropped from a category 5 to a high category 4 with sustained winds of
150 mph. Katrina was still a killer storm by anyone's description. For
three long days, the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New
Orleans watched Katrina bear down on their state and city respectively
but took very little action to protect their citizens other than to
state the obvious: "Leave town." No assistance was offered to the poor
or elderly.

Aerial views of New Orleans have shown pictures of hundreds of buses,
left parked and unused. Why didn't the mayor of New Orleans activate
those buses to move the people out of the city those who wanted to
leave but had no way out? Why was this golden opportunity to save
lives left parked, only to be lost to the floodwaters? This from the
Louisiana disaster plan, pg. 13, paragraph 5, dated 01/00: "The
primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles.
School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles
provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation
for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in
evacuating'..." Why was the city's own disaster plan for using those
buses to evacuate people not implemented? Governor Blanco and Mayor
Nagin had three days to evacuate the poor and elderly from New Orleans
but they did not. Why?

While the governors of both Mississippi and Alabama put in a formal
request for federal assistance before Katrina even made landfall, the
governor of Louisiana refused to relinquish any of her power for the
good of the people. Now she and her party point the finger of blame at
the White House.

Liberal blogs and websites are pointing to the Department of Homeland
Security's website which states that it can take control in any
disaster, natural or otherwise, but this is not true. The Department
of Homeland Security can only work with the state and local officials
in organizing relief efforts such as food, water, and shelter. There
is no military arm of the Department of Homeland Security or the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the military is what
was needed and everyone knew that.

Instead of asking why the Democratic leaders of Louisiana failed the
people, these sites post disgusting pictures of floating bodies with
the message: "George Bush did nothing." The truth is, the Democratic
governor wouldn't allow Bush to do anything. That floating body
belongs to Governor Blanco. She is the one who "did nothing."

Roving bands of violent criminals quickly took control of the streets.
While Mayor Nagin did declare martial law, it was a toothless
declaration. The New Orleans police department was instantly
overwhelmed. Many policemen just threw up their hands and walked off
the job. Some joined the looters and were videotaped by MSNBC
"shopping" in the local Walmart. The handful that was left on the job
did their best but the best they could do was try to stay alive in a
now lawless and dying city.

Because there was no one in charge, the initial rescue operations were
feeble at best and there was chaos. The scope and magnitude of the
disaster, which covers an area the size of Great Britain, still had
not been realized by Governor Blanco who steadfastly refused to
declare martial law and officially request that the federal government
"send in the troops."

It has come to light that all during the night on Friday, September 2,
the president of the United States was forced to "negotiate" with
Governor Blanco for the lives of the suffering and dying people of New
Orleans. She feared that allowing the federal government to take
control would make her administration appear as though it had failed.
How she would be judged was more important to her than the lives of
those people who were dying in the squalor. How many died as Blanco
maneuvered to protect her reputation?

The Posse Comitatus Act prevents, by federal law, the president of the
United States from sending federal troops into any state without the
direct request of the elected governor of that state. A frustrated
President Bush could only stand by and watch as the horror unfolded
until he received the request for help. Despite the finger-pointing at
President Bush, there was little that he could do until he was
formally asked for assistance. No matter how loudly the liberals
scream, they know full well that the president was helpless to do much
of anything.

As the death toll rose and the animalistic behavior of some of those
who chose to remain within the city became public knowledge, it was
obvious that authorities needed to regain control. As the scenes from
New Orleans, now a national disgrace, were being beamed around the
world, a shameless Governor Blanco only cared about her own political
image.

There is reason to believe that President Bush, running out of
patience with Blanco by Saturday morning, used the only option that
remained to him. It is being reported that Bush went around Blanco and
utilized the Insurrection Act to federalize the National Guard and
send in active military troops to take over the rescue and put down
the lawlessness that had taken over New Orleans. The forces that Bush
had poised to move into the city, swung into action. It was no
accident that the major, organized rescues began when the sun came up
on Saturday morning. At 6:30 AM, when the sky over New Orleans was
suddenly filled with military helicopters and military convoys poured
into the streets, they were there because of President Bush, not
Governor Blanco.

The largest military evacuation the world has ever seen moved with the
precision and efficiency that is only seen within the military. With
men like Lt. General Russel Honore, 1st Army Commander and Army
Brigadier General Mark Graham in charge, law and order was quickly
restored, and an endless line of helicopters and boats began removing
the stranded people and taking them out of the hell-hole called New
Orleans. Those forces were ready to act because the President of the
United States had positioned them to be ready.

Everyone demands answers and everyone wants to put the blame for this
catastrophe on someone. The most convenient person to blame is
President Bush. In truth, he is the least responsible on the local
level. While the liberals feel this is the perfect time to make
political hay because so many African-Americans are involved, the
first line of defense for those people, the mayor of New Orleans, and
governor of Louisiana, both Democrats, are the leaders that failed
them. The people of New Orleans were abandoned by an arrogant governor
and a hapless mayor as both struggled to save their own political
careers. But, because they are both Democrats, the leftists want these
ineffective leaders seen as helpless victims of a thoughtless and
racist Bush who ignored their repeated pleas for help.

Mayor Nagin has been reduced to babbling about how the CIA is out to
kill him because he "spoke his mind," and Governor Blanco has become
the invisible woman hoping that no one will notice that her gross
incompetence and arrogance cost lives. But the left marches on,
blaming President Bush because it knows it can. Most Americans are not
aware of the laws preventing the federal government from "taking over"
a city or a state.

The Democrats have closed ranks around their incompetent members and
blame the president who was forced to "deal" with an inept governor.
Governor Blanco's thanks is to point the finger of blame back at the
president when she knows the fault is her own.

The Democratic Party could not possibly sink much lower than it has
this past week. The mayor, the governor, and all those liberal
websites, blogs, and shrieking leftist politicians should jump into
the sewer water that now flows in the streets of New Orleans. That's
where they belong, with the rest of the floating waste. The Democratic
or "Progressive" Party should be buried with the dead. Cause of death:
Gross incompetence, asphyxiation from lies, and the failure to accept
responsibility for the deaths of thousands of American citizens
because power meant more to them than lives.


--
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce

"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." -- John Updike

"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it

takes

so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion

"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant

Joseph R. Darancette
res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net