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The Moxie Nerve Food Tonic
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: right behind you
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Sep 14th, 2005, 09:27 AM
I think this is a huge clusterfuck with no leader exclussively to blame.
The scope of this disaster (and I don't except anybodies excuse that 'they had no idea how big this was since it's been predicted for years and the real event, horrible as it was, wasn't as bad as some of the models. We've known for a very long time this scenario was when, not if) called for decisive leadership. No one took it. Everyone worried about turf and how they'd look later. In addition, communication problems, both technologic and polticial failed in many of the same ways they failed on 9/11 indicating a frightening lack of progress towards homeland security.
W is not solely to blame for how things went, but he's the boss, the CEO. He's the leader of the country, a 2 term president in his sceond term. He had the authority to federalize the situation, and he did not. In addition, W has not balked at doing several things during his presidency for which he lacked clear legal authority and has been prepared to defend them after the fact. His leadeship was tested and it failed. His administration gave away key FEMA appointemnts to friends with no experience (and by the way, now is the time to see where all the other unqualified people are leading departments, BEFORE they are tested.) Nagin also certainly failed, I don't know enough about the governor but that will also come out, and need I say that while the focus is on New Olreans, other states with Republican governors also had people waiting up to a week for rescue. Chertoff's leadership of Homeland is by definition without credability, since the homeland turns out to be nowhere close to secured. None of these failures diminishes W's failure. That's the price of leadership. His verbal acceptance of responsability acknowledges this, but it's only a first step, and in my opinion, while more thn I expected, the least he could do.
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