Bush takes responsibility for shortcomings...

[clocker]

It occurs to me a whimsically inclined Mother Nature could cause any number of persons in various positions of responsiblility to fall on their swords at the drop of a....natural disaster.

Any unanticipated event could suffice.

Your whimsical irony would be sooo much more effective if Katrina/New Orleans was in fact an "unanticipated event".
Since it was not, I fail to see your point.

[Busyman]

I'm quite sure he did.

YOU'RE KIDDING!!!

You're just saying that because you're a....a....um...

Exactly.

[j2k4]

It occurs to me a whimsically inclined Mother Nature could cause any number of persons in various positions of responsiblility to fall on their swords at the drop of a....natural disaster.

Any unanticipated event could suffice.

Your whimsical irony would be sooo much more effective if Katrina/New Orleans was in fact an "unanticipated event".
Since it was not, I fail to see your point.

Well then.

How's about an earthquake... let's say, epicentered in St. Louis, 9.0 Richter, shakes the shit out of Chicago, Lake Michigan boils, and the Mississippi's flow changes direction (again).

Not anticipated, insofar as it could not be forecast with any degree of timeliness at all.

Just think:

Two (maybe more) big-city mayors, two Governors (maybe more), millions of deaths (maybe more!), and a President into the bargain.

How would that be?

[Busyman]

Your whimsical irony would be sooo much more effective if Katrina/New Orleans was in fact an "unanticipated event".
Since it was not, I fail to see your point.

Well then.

How's about an earthquake... let's say, epicentered in St. Louis, 9.0 Richter, shakes the shit out of Chicago, Lake Michigan boils, and the Mississippi's flow changes direction (again).

Not anticipated, insofar as it could not be forecast with any degree of timeliness at all.

Just think:

Two (maybe more) big-city mayors, two Governors (maybe more), millions of deaths (maybe more!), and a President into the bargain.

How would that be?

It would be

in fact an "unanticipated event".

but we would still

fail to see your point.

[j2k4]

It would be

in fact an "unanticipated event".

but we would still

fail to see your point.

I'd ask Clocker, were I you; just to be sure.

I believe he said that Katrina was not an unanticipated event.

True enough.

I was merely going a bit further to provide him with one.

I'm down for a nap, now.

Have to work in the morning, you know?

[GepperRankins]

making up a scenario from nothing so you can use it instead of the real scenario in your argument, smells

[Busyman]

It would be

but we would still

fail to see your point.

I'd ask Clocker, were I you; just to be sure.

I believe he said that Katrina was not an unanticipated event.

True enough.

I was merely going a bit further to provide him with one.

I'm down for a nap, now.

Have to work in the morning, you know?

Uh...er...uh...Katrina was not unanticipated....just like he said....so what what was your point again.....irregardless to both posts?

Before you go to sleep, don't forget to put a towel down and put on your maxi-pad. Mmk?

Sleep it off j2, sleep it off.

[vidcc]

The buck always stops at the top. This doesn't just apply to Bush but any leader. This doesn't mean that he was directly at fault. I applaud Bush for this and hope he really means it. I don't expect anyone to be mistake free but I do expect Bush as our leader to do something about those mistakes.
Bush did not cause the hurricane even though his environmental policy leaves a lot to be desired. This said it is not the event that is the problem here, rather the reaction to the event. Bush is to blame for appointing the wrong people. He made a political choice when he needed a choice on ability.
There was incompetence at all levels. From the bottom up there were errors in judgement and bad planning. It is no excuse to say things were unexpected. FEMA stands for "Federal Emergency Management Agency" they are supposed to deal with the unexpected. Although by all accounts this event was on the list of possibilities.
9/11 was supposed to have woken us up. Apparently it didn't.

I could go on about this but it would just be a rant.

Individual citizens failed themselves. Some could have taken preventative action and chose not to...others were literally unable to, (these are the true victims)
The mayor of N.O. failed in many areas leading up to the event and now seems to be trying to make out that he was the only competent one about.
Gov. Blanco was indecisive and seemed to be more concerned about how her actions would affect her political career.
FEMA management failed to live up to reasonable expectations.

On the flip side we can be proud of those that did their jobs. The men and women on the ground. We saw true heroes in action even though they had inept management.

So Kev. I am not jumping on the "anti Bush" bandwagon here. For once what stands out is someone actually accepting accountability. For his part in choosing friends over talent Bush is to blame..... His acceptance of that blame is commendable, possibly the most commendable thing I have seen him do and I would expect it of any president.

[j2k4]

It would be

but we would still

I'd ask Clocker, were I you; just to be sure.

I believe he said that Katrina was not an unanticipated event.

True enough.

I was merely going a bit further to provide him with one.

I'm down for a nap, now.

Have to work in the morning, you know?

Uh...er...uh...Katrina was not unanticipated....just like he said....so what what was your point again.....irregardless to both posts?

Before you go to sleep, don't forget to put a towel down and put on your maxi-pad. Mmk?

Sleep it off j2, sleep it off.

Follow me now, B.-

If there were an earthquake as I've described, I'm sure you could imagine events being even worse than I've painted them, and likewise the difficulty of addressing the damage easily as overwhelming as Katrina, but the prevailing school of thought here would demand that the self-righteous who go about demanding the heads of all those who have fallen short of their pie-in-the-sky expectations be placated almost before any aid is dispensed.

If a certain death-count stipulates a resignation, what would that number be, pray tell?

If massive suffering is the measuring-stick, how is that to be calibrated?

Do you know of any way to gauge what level of public outrage should be required to effect the removal of a critically-placed public official?

If the demanded resignations take place, who is then charged with timely replacement of these officials, given that, in this case, "timely" means "yesterday"?

Is it your view that a disruption of command authority is a small consideration?

There is here unanimous agreement that the handling of Katrina was, at least in the first few days, an unrelenting fiasco; and some heads currently intact will ultimately have to roll.

Who is qualified to fix a schedule for this?

Should we name a commission, a la 9/11 to study this?

Who shall appoint it?

Is there anyone without a rooting interest in the outcome of any such investigation?

[Rat Faced]

Will the Duct Tape man be qualified to handle anything?

Wasn't he the one that thought Plastic Sheeting and Duct Tape would stop the consequences of a biological/chemical attack... and every American home should stock up on them?