Katrina. Who is to blame?

Of course Katrina was Bush?s fault. According to the Media, every pending disaster, disaster and post-disaster is also Bushes fault. It?s as if all disaster information is first funneled into the White House, or Homeland Security, or FEMA to be released, at an undisclosed location, at a later date.

Folks, the run-up to Katrina was not classified information. It was available 24 hrs a day on Cable News, hourly on local television and every 15 minutes on hundreds of radio stations throughout the U.S.. The only thing more broadcast was Geico, Ditech and John Basedow--Fitness Made Simple ads.

Katrina, which hit on August 29th, was introduced as a catastrophic hurricane, possibly headed for the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts as early as August 26th. This was not a government secret. It was being tracked by the National Hurricane Center, with reports every 3 hours. See?http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/KATRINA.shtml

Now here is where we need to stop and take an inventory of personal responsibility. With all the available news services telling us a major hurricane was breathing down our necks, more people remained behind than would show up at a Grateful Dead concert offering free beer. In this case it was probably the same people.

If I lived next door to one of the category 3 levies being threatened with a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane, I would have lugged my sorry butt out of New Orleans, until Katrina blew over. But despite the warnings, many thousands decided to wait until Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco or President Bush knocked on their doors and begged them to leave.

Need I remind you that Bush and Company were busy with a global War on Terror, an oil industry extorting shameless prices for energy, a foreign economic invasion, entitlement and pension obligations--that are bankrupting Americas biggest corporations and governing bodies--and a Liberal media bent on hounding this President from office. And while Katrina made her way toward shore, Democratic leaders opposed anything by, for and from Bush.

While the Left were wetting themselves with the possibility of blaming Katrina on this administration--due to global warming--tens of thousands remained in Katrina?s path for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which was that Big Government would bail them, if not chopper them out.

With Katrina 24 hours out-- at Category 4-- the wheels were coming off the evacuation train. Stupidity was epidemic as those that wouldn?t leave were melded with those that couldn?t leave. The indigent, who ignored the wall to wall warnings, refused to leave and magically morphed into victims entitled to rescue and support as wards of the State and Federal Governments.

While responsible evacuees ended up on floors, benches and basements in surrounding communities and States, the slackers ended up in high priced hotels and cruise ships at taxpayers expense. And after their 20 weeks of fame, thousands of these ungrateful ne?re-do-wells are leaving their luxurious accommodations in a shambles, a thoughtless thank-you to the rest of us.If Katrina has taught us nothing else, the aftermath will carry a price tag to be paid for by generations to come. Reality has collided with the Bureaucracy and environmental Whackos. Tens of thousands of relief trailers sit idle in Arkansas, because they cannot be set up in a flood zone. Refuse remains in the streets of New Orleans, as it is determined toxic and no regional landfill is deemed acceptable to receive it, nor is it allowed to be burned.

Add to this, Mayor Nagin, who has sucked all the disaster broadcast time from hundreds of surrounding communities. He has anointed New Orleans as ground zero for the relief effort. The City?s future depends on the reconstruction of levees that were supposed to have been rebuilt years ago. But those funds were redirected after ecologists protested and blocked storm surge construction. http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/neworleans2.html

The pending reconstruction will face hurdles from Eco-Nazis and bureaucrats unparalleled in our times. Mark my word, the level of graft, mismanagement, corruption and fraud, connected with Katrina?s reconstruction, will one day soon make Halliburton blush.