Ties right in.
Demanding Dictatorship in Katrina's Wake?
By Joe Mariani
September 9, 2005
Probably the most astonishing result of Hurricane Katrina so far has been
the overall reaction of the Left. I don't mean the whining criticisms or the
politicizing of tragedy for political purposes, however -- those Liberal
reactions are par for the course in any situation. Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch
(web site) was at his most honest when he said that "it's fair game for the
Democrats to attack the president at this time. They want to win the House
next year." What amazes me is that the same people who have spent four years
accusing President Bush of shredding the Constitution and mounting a
military coup in America seem to be angry with him... because he didn't
shred the Constitution and mount a military coup.
The most persistent Liberal and Democrat attacks (web site) concerning the
aftermath of Katrina have been that "the government" (by which they mean the
federal government) was too slow to take charge of the situation.
According to the critics, Bush should have immediately sent the US military
into New Orleans to keep order, taken personal command of the National Guard
and directed relief efforts on the scene from the moment the levee gave way.
FEMA should have assumed direct control over all police, fire crews, EMTs
and other first responders.
In other words, Liberals seem to feel that the rights and responsibilities
of state and local governments can and should be taken away by the federal
government in emergency situations. But that's exactly what the Constitution
was designed to prevent.
More than anything else, the Founders feared an all-powerful central
government dictating to the states and citizens. The United States is
supposed to be a federal (web site) republic, not a centralised totalitarian
government. The President has no authority to command state militia (or the
modern substitute, National Guard units) without permission of the state
governor to whom they report. He cannot order the evacuation of a city. He
cannot simply assume command over the local and state governments. He
certainly cannot send the US military to take control of a city or state
except in case of insurrection. And the last thing the looters in New
Orleans were doing was setting up their own secessionist government.
"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by
the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or
Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be
fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both." - US
Code, Title 18, Section 1385 (web site)
The Posse Comitatas Act of 1878 (web site) forbids the President from using
the US military to enforce the law without an Act of Congress. Posse
comitatus, or "all possible force," refers to the power of a sheriff to call
upon every able-bodied man in his county to help apprehend a criminal. (The
things you learn from watching old Westerns...) The President can not
similarly use "all possible force" to enforce the law, because doing so
would be equivalent to declaring martial law in the United States.
Exceptions to the law, aside from suppressing insurrections, include
assisting drug enforcement agencies or during emergencies involving nuclear,
chemical or biological weapons. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on
your point of view), there is no exception for a local or state government
failing to respond properly to a crisis. State and local officials failed to
evacuate the citizens, declined to quell the looting and other crimes being
committed, and even refused permission for the Red Cross to bring food and
water to the people packed into the Superdome and Convention Center. The Red
Cross explains on their web site (web site) that "The state Homeland
Security Department had requested... that the American Red Cross not come
back into New Orleans following the hurricane.
Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come
into the city." Without the governor's permission to act, the federal
government was effectively hamstrung.
Louisiana Governor Kathy Blanco could have requested federal help, but would
not sign the authorization to allow it, even after the situation had
descended into total chaos. "Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush
administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a
federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans," the Washington Post
reported. (web site)" Target="top">(web site) "The administration sought
unified control over all local police and state National Guard units
reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after
talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable
to a federal declaration of martial law." Governor Blanco decided to
maintain final authority over the situation in New Orleans. With that
authority comes responsibility for the results -- good or bad.
Every person who complains because the federal government did not take
control of the New Orleans situation -- despite the governor's refusal to
give permission -- is advocating a far more powerful federal government than
we should ever want. The burden of response to local disasters rests on
local elected officials while they choose to retain their authority. The
federal government cannot intervene unless specifically requested to do so.
To suggest otherwise is to invite a military dictatorship.
-----Original Message-----
From:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com]On
Behalf Of Jim
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 9:23 PM
To:
DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: NKLR Katrina response
Erik,
Perhaps because of your proximity to this tragedy, your reasoning is
clouded by emotion. Step back and look at this again in light of your
own words.
> them, I don't give a flying flip about legal BS.
First understand we are a nation of laws and whether you give a
"flying flip" about them makes no difference.
The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a
state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush
declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the
only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to
request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send
a timely request for specific aid, that is a fact.
FEMA had the resources,
> and refused to use them for FOUR DAYS because, get this, THE EFFIN'
> But this is all the victim's fault because, well, the victims, not FEMA.
I listened to a NO scanner channel on Tuesday evening and heard a
trucker loaded (truck and trailer) with MREs ask the local NO dispatch
for directions to the superdome THREE times in the course of an hour.
He repeated each time his cargo and requested directions to the SD
and for an escort. Three times the gal on the radio said "OK just a
minute" and never answered back again. That disgusted me, and now I
understand the city officials knowingly did not move food and water to
the SD in order to discourage any more refugees moving on site as they
were already overwhelmed. If you want to get angy over missmanagment
and needless suffering include this also.
> That's wrong. That's just so wrong. So wrong in so many ways.
> Baton Rouge until "a proper request on the proper form has been
> submitted". My GOD, this is the LOCALS' fault?
Local leaders, YES. If citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder
to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest
fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's
role is to offer aid upon request, see above.
> I do agree with you on one thing: Governor Kathleen Blanco bears
primary responsibility for all this.
We agree on this. History will prove her incompetent during this
disaster.
>But as far as the
> local guys go? In my book, they are ALL heros. They didn't abandon the
> ship. They were right there, fighting with everything they had, doing
> their best to care for their people.
If you are refering to the local law enforcment that did not resign
and walk off I would agree they payed it forward for sure.
But if you are trying to include local pols in this then we disagree.
Louisiana has a history of poor management and misuse of FEMA funds,
including a suspected conspiracy by three top officials at the
Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
involving misspent funds for flood-prone homes.
In March, FEMA demanded that Louisiana repay $30.4 million in flood
and hazard mitigation grants awarded to 23 parishes between 1997 and 2002.
Last year, a federal grand jury in Shreveport indicted three top
officials in the New Orleans agency on charges of obstructing an
investigation into how federal money was spent to buy flood-prone homes.
I also hope you do not include the mayor because if so you are plain
wrong on this also. The mayor of New Orleans is coming under
increasing fire for exacerbating the disaster by not properly
implementing his city's emergency-management plan. Have you read the
plan Eric?
The New Orleans contingency plan is still posted on the city's Web
site, and states: "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is
one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive
Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored.
Why was it not followed? Does that help the people? Simple answer,
no, while he cried people died and the 10,000 people expected to have
died is less the number of people who could have been removed before
the storm with the public busses that now sit underwater, that is a
fact, no emotion.
Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to
the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no
provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people
died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor
Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to
manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he
wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's
emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations
center. This was not done.
One other fact is that people refuse even now to be evacuated and they
refused to leave when told to evacuate. If you are going to tell me
they had no way out then reread the previous paragraph. I heard
someone remark in previous storms, when folks had refused to leave,
that officials handed out marking pens and requested that they write
their social security # on there body for positive ID. Perhaps that
would have been enough for some to rethink their position of "riding
it out".
I hope when all the information is in that you Eric and others tangled
up in this emotional tragedy can rationally examine the where it all
went wrong despite years of warnings and exhaustive contingency plans.
--Jim (sitting around the campfire talking)
A-15
Archive Quicksearch at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html
List sponsored by Dual Sport News at:
www.dualsportnews.com
List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at:
www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html
Yahoo! Groups Links
erik