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It Affects You
Sadly, in President Bush's poor response to Katrina, we all saw how ill prepared the Bush administration was to handle any sort of large scale disaster, despite all the promises they made post 9/11. We could not know the depths of that failure until we saw it in action in New Orleans, but as the mayor of the city which is both America's largest and most likely terrorist target, Michael Bloomberg was in a better position than virtually anyone to know how deep those failures ran. Yet in 2004, almost three years to the day after 9/11, Bloomberg stood on a New York stage and endorsed his ally George Bush for president. Michael Bloomberg owes us all an explanation.
Let's be clear. He did not just endorse president Bush; he raised significant amounts of money for the Bush campaign while thanking him in glowing terms, particularly noting Bush's commitment to homeland security:
I want to thank President Bush for supporting New York City and changing the homeland security funding formula and for leading the global war on terrorism.
The president deserves our support. We are here to support him. And I am here to support him.
We all must recognize that homeland security funds should be allocated by threat and no other reason.
And I will repeat this message to my fellow Republicans, Democrats and independents as many times as it takes so we can keep New York safe and secure.
Back in 2004, we did not yet know just how irresponsible and nonchalant the Bush approach to homeland security really was. Katrina exposed a complete lack of planning, and the sad results were that the suffering in New Orleans was a great deal worse than it needed to be.
We could not know that back in 2004, but Michael Bloomberg did.
We saw that the Bush team did not have any plans to evacuate a large city. But Bloomberg knew exactly how little Bush's government worked with city officials to prepare for an evacuation. If New York was attacked or inflicted with a terrible natural disaster, millions of New Yorkers would have been stranded with no plans to get them out. Bloomberg new exactly what plans were and were not made, yet he cheerily endorsed Bush anyway.
In the wake of what happened in New Orleans, we saw that the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA were terribly run organizations unable to fulfill even the most basic functions they were created to do. Mayor Bloomberg had to work with these organization to plan for an attack against New York. He knew the desperate condition they were in and the incompetence of their leaders. He knew they could not be counted on in a disaster. Yet somehow he thanked President Bush for helping to keep New York safe and secure as he gave his endorsement.
We found out this summer the Bush team had not given any thoughts to planning the chain of command between the various local and federal agencies ahead of time. For days, nobody knew who was in charge on the Gulf Coast, and basic life or death decisions were not made. As mayor, Bloomberg knew the chain of command issues were not dealt with. It resulted in disaster in New Orleans, and it would have here, too. Yet Bloomberg praised Bush's commitment to homeland security.
We saw New Orleans descend into deadly chaos because the Bush team fumbled about for days before getting the National Guard in place. Bloomberg was in a position to know exactly how difficult it would be to get emergency troops into New York. He knew there was no well greased and coordinated system to get help to American cities quickly, yet he praised and endorsed Bush anyway.
The disaster in New Orleans could just as easily have happened here. If God forbid there was a large scale natural disaster or a major terrorist strike here in NYC, we would have been left to our own devices. Many of the scenes we saw on our televisions and newspapers would have been replayed a thousand times over from the streets of New York. Mike Bloomberg knew this, yet he raised money to help reelect George Bush as he gave his shining endorsement.
I understand Bloomberg is more progressive than the typical Republican. Heck, he was a Democrat until he changed parties to run for mayor. He is an advocate for reproductive rights, he supports gay rights, and he does other things New Yorkers expect in a mayor. Bloomberg has never really been a popular mayor, but he is peaking at the right time for reelection and many New York Democrats are comfortable voting for him because of some of his progressive ideas. But never forget - never forget - that when forced to decide between doing the right thing for New York City and the Republican party, he left us out cold. He chose the GOP and George W. Bush.
Mike Bloomberg needs to answer some questions. How much did you work with the Bush administration, DHS and FEMA to ensure the safety of New Yorkers in the wake of a disaster? When did these meetings occur? What were the plans and were you happy with them? Did you think the Bush response to New Orleans was appropriate? If not, why? What would have made a federal response in New York different?
From It Affects You