failed again...

under the bush administration the enviornmental protection agency reversed the previous wetlands protection policy and allowed developers to fill in and build on the mississippi delta wetlands that had served as a natural protection against the flooding we see in new orleans today as a result of hurricane katrina .

the bush administration despite evidence of melting arctic ice caps and increasing ocean temperatures from global warming refuses to pull its head from the sand and sticks to its tired mantra that global warming --and the much more powerful storms--like katrina-- which were predicted to be global warming's result --are all unconnected events .

the bush administration emasculated fema by appointing to head the agency first one bush-crony with no disaster management experience ,followed by another appointee equally inexperienced.

fema was reduced to an appendage of the department of homeland security and its emphasis switched over from preparing for and managing national emergencies and natural disasters , to fighting the war on terror.

it is believed that the bush administration's view is that the federal government should get out of the disaster management business and eventually privatize fema's functions. (more lucrative government contracts for the likes of kellog ,brown and root/halliburton crew of treasury-looters no doubt)

35 percent of the louisiana national guard ,the state's first line of defense against the aftermath of hurricanes and flooding are in iraq --along with the equipment and vehicles they used at home for flood rescue and flood relief work .

it has been reported that earlier this year members of the louisiana national guard requested that their vehicles and equipment be sent home where they would be needed for hurricane season --the pentagon turned the request down.

the $250 million congress had approved over the years for the army corps of engineers to improve and fortify the levees and pumping stations in the new orleans/ mississippi delta area and upgrade them to withstand the effects of a category 5 hurricane was siphoned off by the bush administration for the war in iraq and the war on terror .

$70 million was slashed by bush just this year from new orleans area army corps of engineers--a cut of more than 40% of the previous year's budget along with an 80% slash in funding to prevent flooding for the lake pontchitrain area--these funds also rerouted to the iraq war-- as i understand it , it was this levee near lake pontchitrain that broke and along with another burst levee , caused a major portion of the flooding in new orleans AFTER katrina had passed through the city.

and then while the situation spiraled downwards and chaos errupted --despite the mayor's declaration of martial law --the state and federal government seemed confusedly inactive as more people suffered and died in the considerable lag time between the disaster and the RESPONSE to the disaster.

meanwhile , george w. bush vacationed on his ranch in texas just nextdoor to the catastrophe --apparently hiding from an angry cindy sheehan wanting answers concerning why her son had to die in iraq .

later dubya turned up in a photo-op in san diego where he strummed a guitar --generating inumerable blogger comparisons to emperor nero of antiquity fiddling while rome burned .

existing protocols aside between mayors , governors and presidents for the handling of these emergencies , 'dub' could have, as commander in chief--the 'leader' of the nation , realizing the magnitude of the hurricane approaching the gulf region, wisely stepped in immediately and begun coordinating efforts well before the hurricane arrived --i left the deep south the night before katrina hit new orleans--the tv news and weather channel both warned non-stop around the clock that katrina had gained enough additional power in the gulf waters after passing through florida to threaten the region with huge and catastrophic amounts of destruction and loss of life .

if cnn and the weather channel knew a disaster was imminent the president should have had the common sense to know that the region was facing a catastrophe larger than the individual states could handle on their own .

common sense should have given bush the foresight to realize that the gulf states and especially states like mississippi --one of --if not THE poorest state in the nation would not have the resources to deal effectively with a huge disaster--especially with more than one third of the states' front line defense--their national guard units and equipment foolishly sent to iraq .

during katrina's approach and in her destructive aftermath --just as he did on 9-11-01 --when told to his face that america was under attack --bush
did NOTHING--and people died needlessly as a result.

george bush's own words uttered ridiculously on the campaign trail now later return to indict his inactivity and damn his indecisive performance as commander in chief during this recent katrina crisis--a crisis that struck millions of citizens. "a president has got to 'president' his nation" --george w. bush

mr. bush , once again you did not 'president' .