Have a look at this over at Captain Ed's place: Fox News Channel's Major Garrett tells Hugh Hewitt that Louisiana's state department of homeland security would not allow the Red Cross or the Salvation Army into New Orleans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
I was very specific with the American Red Cross, president and CEO Marty Evans, and said wait. Tell me clearly. Were you prepared to go in before the levees broke? Before water became an issue of any kind? She said absolutely. Were you denied access before the levees broke? She said we were denied access from minute one.Okay, so we know that help was there and ready to move in, but that the people running the show in New Orleans didn't want to make the Superdome into a place where services would be provided, but as an evacuation hub. Well, what the fuck? If Nagin and the other morons weren't going to respond to the facts on the ground and recognize that people were not coming prepared to the Superdome, then what's the idea of blocking these world-renowned American NGOs from coming in to help? It's ridiculous.
Captain Ed sums it up:
The suffering and deprivations that caused the revulsion of the nation did not result from a lack of response from FEMA. While FEMA may have struck a few discordant notes, especially its tone-deaf chief Michael Brown, the truth is that they prestaged most of the necessary materials for the relief of New Orleans, counting on the city to follow its own emergency operations plans. When that failed, the key NGOs FEMA uses tried on several occasions to get the aid to the victims, only to have all their efforts blocked by Louisiana. The city failed to provide transportation to those who lacked it for the mandatory evacuation, and the state refused to allow the aid workers to go to the centers where the state and city urged the victims to congregate.People want to bitch about governmental incompetence? Let them start with the dumbasses in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
(Incidentally, FNC's website sucks.)