The bafflement over decisions made in the aftermath of Katrina continues. Despite another Bush photo-op that just happens to coincide with the arrival of the impressive Navy hovercraft (all TWO of them) in Biloxi, reports of ineffective relief operations continue.
"3:32 P.M. Ben Morris, Slidell mayor: We are still hampered by some of the most stupid, idiotic regulations by FEMA. They have turned away generators, we've heard that they've gone around seizing equipment from our contractors. If they do so, they'd better be armed because I'll be damned if I'm going to let them deprive our citizens. I'm pissed off, and tired of this horse$#@@."
3:11 P.M. - From all corners of this country, hundreds of would-be rescuers are wending their way to the beleaguered Gulf Coast in buses, vans and trailers. But government red tape has hampered many who ache to help Katrina's victims.
Louisiana's Jefferson Parish is desperate for relief, but parish President Aaron Broussard says officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency turned back three trailer trucks of water, ordered the Coast Guard not to provide emergency diesel fuel and cut emergency power lines."
These reports have come out for days, all kinds of individuals turned away, first responders told not to "self-dispatch", Red Cross turned away. And it continues. After days of reports that rescuers were to arrive in New Orleans, the Dept of Homeland Security appears to have chosen to turn the operation over to corporate America.
On Sept 2, "The Department of Homeland Security, the Air Transport Association and the Department of Transportation today announced that the airline industry has launched "Operation Air Care" to provide emergency airlift to more than 25,000 New Orleans residents stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina ."
Walmart has provided 100 trailer loads of water and merchandise to shelters and relief organizations. They have also offered free prescriptions, even if people do not have a copy of their prescription. Pepsico, Culligan and Anheuser-Busch have donated water, walkie-talkie phones have been donated by Nextel, phone cards by Qwest, trucks and tankers by International Truck, amongst others.
I can't help but conclude that if Bush thinks the Presidential response is another photo-op, it stands to reason he and his corporate cronies would also think the greatest disaster in our country's history an extraordinary opportunity for an unprecedented PR campaign.
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=1346
