Dixie - In Memoriam
New member
I keep reading the op-eds comparing the current oil disaster to Katrina, and proclaiming this "Obama's Katrina." But, I have to take exception, it's not a valid comparison at all. It seems to me, there are several aspects which starkly contrast with each other, and it's just unfair as hell to compare the two disasters. Let's take a look at some of the discrepancies...
With Katrina, there was a period of almost a week, where everyone knew the hurricane would make landfall somewhere in proximity of New Orleans. This gave the people of New Orleans ample time to evacuate the city and plan for the impending disaster. With the BP spill, it was totally unexpected, an explosion which wasn't predicted or expected happened, and no one had time to plan for it. With ANY disaster, the time for preparation is the most vital element. Having a week or so to prepare, versus something that happens instantly, is not a fair comparison at all.
With Katrina, President Bush took unprecedented action to declare a Federal disaster, three days BEFORE the hurricane made landfall. That had never been done before in the history of the United States. In fact, some could argue that Bush overstepped his Constitutional authority by declaring a disaster early. It is important because the way federal assistance is established, the president has to first declare it a federal disaster, then the governors of the effected states can request federal disaster relief. This was Bush's reasoning for declaring early, to give the states a head start on requesting assistance. Now, the Democrat leadership of the state at the time, did not elect to make the request until Day 3 of the disaster, but this doesn't change when the president made that option available to them. Contrasting this with the BP spill, the president has yet to declare it a federal disaster, and the governors of the states are still unable to request federal disaster relief. We are in Day 51 of the disaster.
Within 2 weeks of Katrina, FEMA had mobile housing moving toward New Orleans, to provide shelter for the displaced. However, the Democrat leadership of New Orleans, would not allow the mobile housing into the city limits because of a city ordinance prohibiting mobile homes. With the BP disaster, the Feds still do not have the fire booms which could have prevented the spread of the oil to the coastline, if they had been deployed promptly. Also, every suggestion the state governments have to help avert the oil and prevent it from ravaging their coasts, is met with federal bureaucratic red tape and regulations, preventing implementation. Sand berms can't be erected because we haven't done an ecological impact study.. pontoons can't suck up the floating oil because the method hasn't been approved by the EPA. BP can't try to filter some of the oil out of the water, because they can't meet EPA standards for such filtration.
With Katrina, we had a weather phenomenon, after it passed, the crisis was caused by flooding...levies which did not hold. President Bush never made any statement regarding boots on the neck or kicking the ass of those who engineered the levies. In fact, Bush never attempted to blame the crisis on anyone or hold anyone accountable for it. Instead, he employed the services of two former presidents to appeal to the American people for donations. Americans responded by contributing more than for any disaster in American history. Obama has still not declared this a federal disaster.
It is completely unfair to compare the current disaster in any way to Katrina. It's better comparative example might be Carter's Iran Hostage Crisis, which illustrated his feckless lack of leadership and inept ability to deal with a crisis. Also, like that crisis, this has lingered on for days, with no end in sight, and seemingly no indication of a plan to deal with it from the leadership in Washington.
With Katrina, there was a period of almost a week, where everyone knew the hurricane would make landfall somewhere in proximity of New Orleans. This gave the people of New Orleans ample time to evacuate the city and plan for the impending disaster. With the BP spill, it was totally unexpected, an explosion which wasn't predicted or expected happened, and no one had time to plan for it. With ANY disaster, the time for preparation is the most vital element. Having a week or so to prepare, versus something that happens instantly, is not a fair comparison at all.
With Katrina, President Bush took unprecedented action to declare a Federal disaster, three days BEFORE the hurricane made landfall. That had never been done before in the history of the United States. In fact, some could argue that Bush overstepped his Constitutional authority by declaring a disaster early. It is important because the way federal assistance is established, the president has to first declare it a federal disaster, then the governors of the effected states can request federal disaster relief. This was Bush's reasoning for declaring early, to give the states a head start on requesting assistance. Now, the Democrat leadership of the state at the time, did not elect to make the request until Day 3 of the disaster, but this doesn't change when the president made that option available to them. Contrasting this with the BP spill, the president has yet to declare it a federal disaster, and the governors of the states are still unable to request federal disaster relief. We are in Day 51 of the disaster.
Within 2 weeks of Katrina, FEMA had mobile housing moving toward New Orleans, to provide shelter for the displaced. However, the Democrat leadership of New Orleans, would not allow the mobile housing into the city limits because of a city ordinance prohibiting mobile homes. With the BP disaster, the Feds still do not have the fire booms which could have prevented the spread of the oil to the coastline, if they had been deployed promptly. Also, every suggestion the state governments have to help avert the oil and prevent it from ravaging their coasts, is met with federal bureaucratic red tape and regulations, preventing implementation. Sand berms can't be erected because we haven't done an ecological impact study.. pontoons can't suck up the floating oil because the method hasn't been approved by the EPA. BP can't try to filter some of the oil out of the water, because they can't meet EPA standards for such filtration.
With Katrina, we had a weather phenomenon, after it passed, the crisis was caused by flooding...levies which did not hold. President Bush never made any statement regarding boots on the neck or kicking the ass of those who engineered the levies. In fact, Bush never attempted to blame the crisis on anyone or hold anyone accountable for it. Instead, he employed the services of two former presidents to appeal to the American people for donations. Americans responded by contributing more than for any disaster in American history. Obama has still not declared this a federal disaster.
It is completely unfair to compare the current disaster in any way to Katrina. It's better comparative example might be Carter's Iran Hostage Crisis, which illustrated his feckless lack of leadership and inept ability to deal with a crisis. Also, like that crisis, this has lingered on for days, with no end in sight, and seemingly no indication of a plan to deal with it from the leadership in Washington.
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