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FW, I certainly do know someone in the military
My younger son served proudly in the Air Force for three years, and after he gets his degree he is reenlisting as an officer because he liked it so much. 
As my dad (who was in the Army in World War II) used to say, there's the right way, the wrong way and the military way. And the military way got the job done where civilian bureaucracies were ineffective to helpless. You are absolutely right in that last sentence about graft and corruption, though, and Louisiana has been the classic example for decades.
posted by
WriterofLight
on February 18, 2006 at 8:12 PM
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mystic......
the damage was limited to a few city blocks.....not to diminish the impact of what happends......
The hurricans damage covered thousands of square miles....you are joking right?
Perhaps more will get done now that a judge is throwing the whiners out of their "hotel" life.
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on February 15, 2006 at 7:31 PM
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Corbin - Mississippi not complaining????
that noted "tort reformer" Trent Lott is suing his insurance agency. While Katrina may be the largest natural disaster, Rudy G. proved that we can still respond as a nation to a crisis. I fail to see your point .... again!
posted by
fwmystic
on February 15, 2006 at 7:22 PM
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Writer ... do you know anyone in the military?????
have you never heard the term FUBAR or "military intelligence" being a contradiction of terms. What makes you think the military is any more efficient than any other part of the bureaucracy???? Of course, they have guns and can bury their mistakes. As long as people are involved, there will always be a certain element of graft, corruption, inefficiency and incompetence, regardless which part is at the top.
posted by
fwmystic
on February 15, 2006 at 7:19 PM
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fwmystic
Since there's never been as large a natural disaster hit this country before..how can you make a comparison to other performances?
Why is it Mississippi and Alabama have been able to work ahead toward recovery...with little whining or complaining........
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on February 15, 2006 at 7:08 PM
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Hello, FW!
Thanks for weighing in. Let me clarify: Bureaucracy is inefficient, and the bigger the bureacracy and more complicated the procedures, policies and red tape it both imposes and obeys, the more inefficient it becomes. The mobile home debacle is a perfect example of this.
Beyond that, you're off your game tonight. You usually pay much better attention than you demonstrate here. Did I not say that the military, which was involved in rescue operations, was effective and efficient? And I did not even touch on the effectiveness and efficiency of the private sector, be it business or charity.
Read the last two paragraphs again: I most certainly come down hard on both a Republican administration and a Republican-controlled Congress. And I restrained myself from drawing the obvious comparisons to FEMA's grotesque delays in responding to Hurricane Hugo during the Clinton administration.
That said, you need to remember that it is the government's role to protect us from enemies to our peace and liberty, be they criminal or military enemies, or - as in the terrorists - a hideous bastardization of the two. Look at the Constitution (here, I'll make it easy - http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html) and you'll find that this role of government is a lot more clearly delineated therein than is disaster relief.
Does this mean that the government should not provide disaster relief? Of course not. But the government has to provide it in a far more efficient, common-sense fashion than was done here.
posted by
WriterofLight
on February 15, 2006 at 7:01 PM
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So, writer, since all government is inefficient ...
then I suppose you would have just left the people there to die. And then outsourced the bulldozers to plow them over, all in the name of efficiency. Maybe next time we can enourage disaster victims to kill themselves so they won't expose our nation's unpreparedness.
Your failure to admit that a Republican administration is no better, or in the case if FEMA, worse than a Democratic one reveals a massive doublestandard. You berate government programs like FEMA and universal health care, yet you wholeheartedly believe that the government has the only solution to terrorism.
You can't have it both ways. Wait! With today's conservatives, I guess you can.
posted by
fwmystic
on February 15, 2006 at 6:40 PM
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Thanks for commenting!
Bud, let's look at your insightful comment from the other direction. Had the military not been involved, then government response would have mostly been a failure. The key here is civilian versus military efficiency. Civilian bureaucracy is always going to be wasteful and inefficient. But given the woes of Canadian health care, I don't think you have any room at all to point fingers at our bureaucracy and incompetence. (And to think that Shrillary wanted to have that here . . . 
)
As far as what voters remember, what we need to remember is that big government is inefficient. We need to elect Republicans of a more conservative bent than President Bush, Republicans who will adhere to their party's aversion to wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy.
Glenn, talk about missing the mark . . . your comment isn't even in the same rink as the rest of this discussion.
posted by
WriterofLight
on February 15, 2006 at 5:59 PM
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writer,
Joe Public demanded the government do something in the wake of these devastating storms. And the government did something. A lot of it was good. A lot of it was bad. Some right and some wrong. We have to live with what we demanded.
posted by
sarooster
on February 15, 2006 at 10:51 AM
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WriterofLight,
Again you missed the mark! Billions not Millions are wasted on destroying America! So you go searching for a few dollars thrown away by individuals on what you people are luxuries for the oppressed! Wayne Geesky's wife gambled away 2 million dollars of using your logic "hard earned dollars that fans pay to watch grown men skate and chase a puck"! Get a life pal!
posted by
Glennb
on February 15, 2006 at 8:00 AM
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Bud....
Talk about incompetence......I can never get my favorite donut when at a Tim Horton's........inexcusable!
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on February 14, 2006 at 8:24 PM
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Writeroflight, it says something that the military performed the best.
It is the most exercised asset the USA has. The whole thing reflects the administration's approach to anything. Throw in the military, even when planning and some other response is required.
It is sad that Americans have to put up with such incompetence, but you get what you voted for.
Wanna bet that the voters will forget by election time?
posted by
Bud-Oracle
on February 14, 2006 at 8:18 PM
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Writer.....
How does the song go...."You ain't seen nuttin' yet"???
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on February 14, 2006 at 7:58 PM
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Good post, I hope that many learn from this, this is the reason I say
we are no better off then we were at 9/11, no one can convince me of that. We have the airlines covered but trains, subways, chemical and water treatment plants, bridges and tunnels are really not secure. Maybe FEMA and HS should be seperated.
posted by
scoop
on February 14, 2006 at 7:51 PM
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