Answer: Yes Some People Apparently Think So.
Yesterday while watching MSNBC's "Connected Coast to Coast" the roots of the GOP ideology as pertains to disaster relief strategy was laid out in one short interview. Take heed.
This live segment "Why is the relief effort taking so long? Analyzing the government's response to Hurricane Katrina" wraps it all into one neat little package with a bow on top.
Lisa Daniels guest-hosted the show and interviewed Dan Goure "NBC Analyst". We will get to Dan Goure's resume later, but for now let's review what he said in the interview. Please take a moment to read the interview in its entirety.
It is really very short, but extremely instructive as to what will come from the GOP in terms of deflection of accountability for this disastrous disaster relief "effort". Analysis below...
S E G M E N T T R A N S C R I P T E X C E R P T S + "M E"
LISA DANIELS: Dan, I want to go back to the pictures we saw of those army vehicles moving slowly but steadily to the Superdome carrying supplies. ... It seems so easy when we talk about it. Is there some complexity that we're missing here? Why isn't this being done faster?.
DAN GOURE: We are missing the complexities. First of all, you've got to remember on Monday, nothing could move. On Tuesday, you had to clear the areas that you were going to deploy from, where you were going to bring in the helicopters, the trucks, the food and water before you just took it directly to the Superdome. You couldn't dive bomb the place with food and water from on top...
[Edit]
So really, if you want to criticize what's going on the Guard and responses may be 24 hours behind optimum schedule...
Me: Really Dan? Only 24-hours behind schedule? Wow that is really good. We had no idea they were doing such a good job. We thought is well over 24 hours late, but now that you put it that way...
DANIELS: It's good to get a different perspective for it because we hardly hear people from that point of view to be quite candid. I've heard a lot of people saying this is the United States of America, the biggest superpower. Why can't this effort get convoys of aircraft to just send the supplies down?
GOURE: Unless you're going to drop the palates from 10 or 20,000 feet on the heads of these poor people, you have to get it to an area near the disaster zone and then bring it in by truck or helicopter.
Me: We would have thought that aircraft dropping food and water fly a little lower than ten or twenty thousand feet, but Dan you are the expert. But okay so no airdrops possible, but what about placing resources nearby before the emergency?
GOURE: You have to in fact, put all your resources far enough away from the path of the hurricane that they wouldn't become victims themselves and the Guard and the FEMA have said this.
Me: Oh, I see. So that is why we have our National Guard, the traditional first responders, in Iraq. That is definitely far enough away. Good plan keeping them well out of harm's way, Dan.
DANIELS: ...Surely, the nation has handled much tougher assignments then this one...
GOURE: Well, let's remember that it took us four months to send an army to Iraq in late 2002, early 2003 in benign conditions, no roads were broken, nothing was damaged. It takes time to move thousands of tons of supplies and tens of thousands of people. It is remarkable that we have done so well in such a short period of time... Yeah, but let me tell you where the responsibility for the failure rests.
Me: I think I have the answer to this one Dan! It is The Federal Government for not getting there faster and letting conditions deteriorate to the point of near mayhem right? Surely we can be angry with the Federal government for losing that day and other opportunities to mitigate the effects of the disaster can't we?
GOURE: Unfortunately, I hate to say this; it rests first with the government of the City of New Orleans and secondly with the government of the State of Louisiana that failed in their emergency plans. They knew about this problem. They had it in their emergency plans in 2000. In fact, the emergency plan on their website predicted a category 4 of 5 hurricane would cause 20 foot storm surges and would flood the city. They should have known this was going to happen. It was in their plans and they should have responded before the event and called in every federal resource they could get their hands on. They didn't.
Me: Dan, I am stunned. I really don't think I got that answer wrong. You made no mention of the Federal Government's responsibility in this disastrous disaster relief effort.
Wow, Dan upon further consideration of your comments, I had no idea you could be such a complete and utter liar about the State and Local response as evidenced here by the LA Governor's request for Federal Emergency and here, here and here by the President and FEMA's responses in granting a series of requests made starting on Saturday, August 27 - two full days before the storm.
In fact, Dan the Louisiana State officials beat their Mississippi and Alabama neighbors to the punch by a whole day in starting the emergency management process. Dan, it should also be noted that while New Orleans is the central focus of media attention, there are numerous accounts of people being neglected in Gulfport and Biloxi Mississippi. Why aren't you holding their State and Local officials responsible too? Why do you question only Louisiana's response? Okay fine. Let's just get back to what can be done now...
DANIELS: ...correct me if I'm wrong I believe this has played out before in the history of the United States, where we have conducted operations where we have lowered the food down. There's nowhere in this area where the food could have been dropped?...
GOURE: ...the problem is, of course, unless you know that you have a clear zone, you're lucky to drop it on people's heads[sic]...
Me: Yes especially at 20,000 feet, Dan. You're right about that. But I think you meant "not" drop it on people's heads. Anyway, so what else you got?
GOURE: ...There have been cases for example, during severe storms, winter storms, where the Air Force or the Air National Guard has gone out to drop hay to stranded cattle and there have been cases where after that during the reconnaissance run, the reconnaissance aircraft would take pictures. Some of these cases, all they found were cattle, four legs up because they got hit in the head by these bales of hay.
Me: Dan I am speechless. Surely we could agree that there are some key differences between people and cows?
For instance, people understand alert calls like, "Hey get out of the way! Clear the area!" Cows don't. Dan, do you really think that the refugees in New Orleans can be compared to cows? The subtle undertones of a comparison like that are quite troubling and I dare say a damning glimpse of your character.
W H O I S D A N G O U R E?
Now I want to know exactly who you are, Dan, because Lisa Daniels didn't bother to tell us your credentials in assessing or rather "analyzing" this situation. Are you a cow expert? Are you a disaster relief expert? Who are you Dan?
Let's find out... Dan Goure! This is your life! I searched the net for you and found that you are not an "NBC" analyst - one who might analyze NBC - but rather an NBC "Military" Analyst.
Okay so you may be qualified to comment credibly on logistics operations. However, your view on the process of relief response is completely out of step with just about everyone else's views including others with equally strong credentials. So why is that Dan? Why are you comparing the people who have been victimized by hurricane Katrina's wrath and their Federal Government to cows?
Dan, according to your NBC bio you are a "Vice President with the Lexington Institute, a nonprofit public-policy research organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia". What is the Lexington Institute?
Sourcewatch quotes the Lexington Institute mission as saying:
"The Lexington Institute believes in limiting the role of the federal government to those functions explicitly stated or implicitly defined by the Constitution. The Institute therefore actively opposes the unnecessary intrusion of the federal government into the commerce and culture of the nation, and strives to find nongovernmental, market-based solutions to public-policy challenges. We believe a dynamic private sector is the greatest engine for social progress and economic prosperity."
Right Web also has a fairly complete file on your organization and connections here.
So Dan, what Lisa did not tell us about you is that you don't believe that the Federal Government has a role to play in this relief response.
She didn't tell us that you believe instead in "market-based" solutions to problems like these that the Founding Fathers naturally assumed a benevolent and humane Democratic government would provide with out having to have it spelled out "explicitly".
So why didn't you just tell us Dan that you felt that the lack of "market-based solutions" were at the root of the problem this week?
Why didn't you just tell us that the real problem is, Dan is that the cows - I mean the poor people (you almost had me there) - the refugees don't have the money to get this relief engine started? The problem is not that they wouldn't know to get out of the way if you told them you were dropping food to save their lives...
Me: The real problem Dan is that these refugees didn't have enough cash on hand to waive at your Dear Leader's aircraft as it was flying over at 10 or 20,000 feet. They only had their white flags, their arms, and desperate SOS messages sent from their roofs. They needed cold hard cash to get your attention.
C O N C L U S I O N
Now that I understand where you are coming from, Dan, I am even more sickened by your outrageous comments than I was when I listened to them live on TV. Brian Williams ought to fire you after what he has witnessed and reported this week, Dan. Lisa Daniels should be fired for failing to tell us exactly who you are Dan. Really Dan. Comparing people to Cows? Cattle?
Hey, Dan, President Bush, GOP Ideologues, Federalist Society Wingnuts! Yes You!
I am pointing my finger.
D I S G U S T I N G.
Please note Dan: I just watched a food drop live on CNN, and none of the people were hit by the boxes of meals ready to eat. Don't give me any more sorry excuses, Dan.
We are watching very closely now.