An interesting proposal
Some are lobbying for Rudy Giuliani to run the ground response to Katrina's aftermath. An intriguing idea, I suppose. Of course it probably would have been more helpful to have had a Rudy-esque leader managing New Orleans in the first place.
As someone who lived in Manhattan during September 11, I've been thinking lately about how Rudy handled the 9/11 aftermath. For starters, he did not simply throw up his hands and cry (literally) and wait for the feds to come in. He recognized that his most important duty at the time was to rally the people of the city, to inspire them to pull together and appeal to their better angels of hope, determination and cooperation.
Equally importantly, he took charge. He gave orders. He bypassed bureaucracy, cut through red tape and almost certainly did not conduct everything strictly by-the-book, or even legally, in some cases. He asserted calm and determined leadership and got things done, while at the same time exhorting us all, by word and by example, not to despair, not to panic, but to come together and get New York back on its feet.
Now I know these two disasters were very different and that one can't draw a direct analogy. But don't you think just a little bit of that spirit would have gone a long way?
Comments
I imagine is hard for you to believe, but this administration has shown serious incompetence in this disaster. This was a huge national disaster and the federal goverment and the president should had been on top of the situation from day one. However, it took 3-4 days for the president to really show up and for things to start happening. It is beyond imagination that he was still on vacation the first couple of days. In fact Cheney is still on vacation. Is that right?
Posted by: Blue Wind | September 2, 2005 09:56 PM
I was thinking the same thing about Guiliani, but the difference is that New York was a well run city before 9/11. While FEMA's response has been less than stellar, the response of local government has been abysmal at best, non-existent at worst.
I heard the police chief of Miami interviewed yesterday. He said that his department maintains a list of all stores in the city that sell firearms, and whenever there is a disaster, he makes certain that policemen are posted at thost stores first.
The finger-pointing at FEMA by the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana is really just an attempt to shift the attention away from their own ineptness. It is clear now that New Orleans had no disaster plan, despite it's vulnerabilities.
Posted by: CRB | September 2, 2005 10:54 PM
As to Blue Wind's comments.... Let's be real. Bush will get no accolades and would have gotten nothing even if he stood in the Gulf of Mexico and shouted, "peace be still" and we all went on our merry ways. Further, we would have been in endless discusions about states rights and the audacity of the federal government to think that it can usurp a states authority at the drop of a hat. This is not a Bush v. Democrat issue, nor is it a political issue. It is a NATURAL disaster; unpredictable in destruction, fallout, and consequences.
I lived through Hurricane Andrew in '92. Was a mere 10 miles north of the City of Homestead, which was literally flattened. We didn't have nearly the amount of water, nor did we have the amount of chaos in the city, and communications systems were somewhat adequate for getting information. Yet it still took 2 days for a first response, and this in Florida that gets hit by hurricanes fairly often. I think the response taking 3-4 days to really get mobilized is about what we could have hoped for.
Posted by: Malcolm | September 3, 2005 09:56 AM
Agreed, Mal. None of us are happy with FEMA's response time, but as someone who went through hurricane Hugo in South Carolina, I'd say it's pretty much par for the course.
Posted by: Barry | September 3, 2005 10:05 AM
Malcolm,
I agree in general with what you wrote. It is only so much a president can do and no one believes that Bush himself could have done something more in the case of a natural disaster like that (although FEMA has shown serious incompetence).
The problem with Bush is his overall demeanor and lack of sincere concern for what happened. As the New York Times editorial put it "his demeanor seemed casual to the point of carelessness". If he really cared about what happened he should had interrupted his vacation 3-4 days earlier. You would expect a president to do this, not just for political reasons but because he really cares. Bush did neither.
Posted by: Blue Wind | September 3, 2005 12:29 PM
Thank you for your comments Blue Wind. However, I respectfully disagree with the assesment of Bush (not to mention that I hold in suspect almost anything the New York Times says anyway). When his lips quivered while speaking from his office in the days following 9/11, he was chastised for showing to much emotion, for not being a strong enough leader, and for showing weakness when bravery and a stern face was needed. The guy can't seem to win for losing.
I think CRB's comments are appropriate as well. The blamming largely seems to be so that the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA can save some face. They are the first line of responsible leadership, and good head leaders (like a president) allow those leading underneath them (Governors, Mayors, City Councilmen, etc), empowered to make decisions, to do so first. I think the LA Governor is doing an ok job given the his responsibility to the enitire state of LA. The Mayor of NO seemed to give up before the storm was even over.
Posted by: Malcolm | September 3, 2005 03:39 PM
The Feds DIDN'T clean up after 9/11...the City of NY did and rightly so.
Sure, the Feds promised $20 Billion a few weeks later, but the rescue and recovery effort, the clean up, etc were all done by competant local officials and Municipal workers.
Where's the Mayor of New Orleans been?
There's your reason that "there was no Rudy Guiliani down there."
Where's the Governor of Louisanna been?
George Pataki (NY's Governor) was no Guiliani, by a long shot, on 9/11 and after, but the officials down in the Big Easy are even making him look like a champ!
The locals do the bulk of the heavy lifting, when it comes to the clean up of local disasters. Federal aid is almost never immediate. Each State's National Guard is controlled by the Governor of that State. The locals screwed the pooch down in LA.
Bottomline, NYC handled the aftermath of 9/11, while Louisianna's local government have failed miserably to handle theirs.
JMK
Posted by: JMK | September 3, 2005 08:28 PM