Kudos to Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans!

Yes! We should just forget about NO's problems and use this opportunity to slam the prez for the rebuilding of Iraq! Yes, kudos to Nagin for taking the lead here. Yay Nagin, you're doing a wonderful job

I've posted the entire audio interview on my site. It's right on the page so no need to download. It's roughly 13 minutes long and for some reason 30 seconds of it repeats about 2 minutes in...besides that however it's an amazing thing to listen to.

unmature.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">Radio Interview with Mayor Nagin

I honestly don't see how anyone can even think about laying anything at the feet of the Mayor of NO.

Listen to the Podcast:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

He doesn't have the resources unless the federal government sends them, he knows what they need and he has begged for it from the get go. He has also laid it flat out on the line without any regard for his political future. This man is for real, he has remained in the trenches throughout.

I walked by this on the news early this morning and turned to see who was the raving maniac spewing now, and by the time I had finished watching I could only say that this is the only sane leader left.

I for one want him in the oval office! Here is a man that is truly a man of the people, and if he were at the helm, he would never hesitate to pull all the plugs, whatever it takes (if he were in charge of the resources). He has been let down and he is letting everyone of us know that we have been let down. I give him a lot of credit, and I wish we had more leaders like him.

God Bless Mayor Nagin and all of the people of New Orleans who manage to survive this most shameful time in the history of the US.

Important piece at around 5:46 of this interview:

We told everybody the importance of the 17th Street Canal issue. We said: "Please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do. [Please] figure it out.

HOST: Who'd you say that to?

Everybody. Governor. You know, Homeland Security, FEMA. You name it, we said it. And, you know, they allowed that pumping station next to it, pumping station six, to go under water. Our sewage and water board people [...] stayed there and endangered their lives. And what happened when that pumping station went down, the water started flowing again [into] the city. And it started getting to levels that probably killed more people.

Is he saying that the governor or HomeSec/FEMA was present at this pumping station and watched it die without helping?

What is being said here?



[edit on 2-9-2005 by smallpeeps]

The situation in New Orleans is not entirely the fault of the President or the Federal Government, except for the fact that they could have possibly acted a few days sooner.

The real problem is how the issue was handled until the Federal Government showed up. New Orleans didn't know how to react. The Mayor had no idea what he was doing. He told people to go to the convention center and the Superdome and pretty much left them there. They had no contingency plan in place to deal with that many people in a crisis.

Sure, the Federal Government could have been there a few days sooner, but the local New Orleans government is as much at fault as, if not more than, the Federal Government, because they should have done everything in their power to aid the people UNTIL the Federal Government showed up. But, they didn't. They dumped the people off, did almost nothing to assist them, then started yelling and pointing fingers at the Federal Government because they didn't get there fast enough.

I would also like to add that the Governor of any state has the right and ability to call in the National Guard from their state and also request National Guard forces from other states as well. Did the Governor of Louisiana do this? Obviously not. Otherwise, they would have been there the day after Katrina hit and the levys broke.

What if this had been a terrorist attack? The Mayor and Governor of New York handled the situations of 9/11 very well. What would the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governer of Louisiana done? Would they have stepped up to the plate like Juliani and Pataki did? Or, would they have waited for the Federal Government to get there? From what I've seen to date, the latter.

I have an enormous amount of respect for Mayor Nagin for saying it the way it needed to be said, not fearing the consequences of what he said(because it was truth), and not kissing the ass of the president jus because he is the president. The federal response to this disaster has shown the world how concerned America is for its own citizens. Nagin gets my vote for president!

Nagin was a breath of fresh air in this entire disaster. His voice and his message cut through the sewage like a knife. The care he showed for his people was impressive and his tenacity was unparalleled, even though, it seemed to me, he was being brushed aside by FEMA and DHS.

Ray Nagin showed politicians what it means to lead in a crisis. He has my utmost respect. This world needs more like him.

Originally posted by masqua
Ray Nagin showed politicians what it means to lead in a crisis.

please elaborate as to when, where and how....


...I won't hold my breath.


.

I don't care what everyone thinks of this statement but,

Ray Nagin = terrible leadership

President Bush = Strong leadership, knows the situation was handled terrible and admits it and did something about it ... he should get the kudos.

Bush declared a state of emergency on Saturday, 8/27, before Katrina struck.

The president's emergency declaration authorizes the FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and to provide appropriate assistance in a number of Louisiana parishes, or counties.

SOE
The governor of LA had no disaster plan, however.

Today the National Guard and buses arrived in NO. The first stop was a downtown hotel. Nagin was there. Guess who he pushed to the front of the line to get on the buses first? Four hundred tourists that didn't even live in LA.

He didn't even have the decency to put his own people first.:shk:

Originally posted by jsobecky
Bush declared a state of emergency on Saturday, 8/27, before Katrina struck.

The president's emergency declaration authorizes the FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and to provide appropriate assistance in a number of Louisiana parishes, or counties.

SOE
The governor of LA had no disaster plan, however.

Today the National Guard and buses arrived in NO. The first stop was a downtown hotel. Nagin was there. Guess who he pushed to the front of the line to get on the buses first? Four hundred tourists that didn't even live in LA.

He didn't even have the decency to put his own people first.:shk:

Probably because those tourists still have homes to live in. The rest of the people are refugees.

If you're going to ask the President why, then you need to ask the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana why as well.

Mr. Mayor, why did 2/3rd's of the New Orlean's Police Force skip town?

Mr. Mayor, why didn't you command the local law enforcement until Federal help arrived?

Mr. Mayor, why didn't you assist the people in New Orleans UNTIL the Federal help arrived?

Mr. Mayor and Ms. Governor, why didn't you personally call up the Louisiana State Guard instead of waiting for the Federal Government to do it?