Lege Watch

Well, at least they only gave her one minute and thirty seven seconds to speak.

This is a terrible speech.

What an embarrassment this person is to our state. Even Nagin or Blanco would have been a better choice of speakers. It is a pity they would not, could not let Governor Bobby Jindal speak instead.

The text of her speech.

Mary Landrieu from the Great State of Louisiana.

Well, at least she got her name right.

It has been 3 long years, since hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the failure of the federal levee system devastated New Orleans, the region and the Gulf Coast.

The FEDERAL levee system? The FEDERAL levee system! The FEDERAL levee system !!!

She admits and takes no responsibility or blame for this disaster upon her self at all !!! She has been our Senator for a long time before this storm struck. She is as culpable as anyone in the Government.

When I moved to this area 24 years ago, I looked at the FEMA flood maps for possible hurricanes. New Orleans either remained unflooded or under twenty foot of water. The breakpoint was for Cat. 3 hurricanes. For storms less than that category, the city remained dry. For storms above that category it was flooded. For Cat. 3 storms, the outcome depended on the particular storm.

That was why when we woke up Saturday morning to face a Cat. 5 storm bearing down on the city, we immediately hightailed it to the emergency shelters in Monroe. The levees were not designed for a storm of this magnitude.

The Bush White House and the Republican leadership and FEMA showed up not just late but wholly unprepared.

Our Federal representative, Bobby Jindal, certainly showed up. That is why he is the Governor of Louisiana today.

Ahem, now who was our Senior Senator during this time period? Where was she hiding?

America deserves a FEMA that works.

We certainly do.

We also deserve representatives that work and don’t just posture. Bobby Jindal certainly rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Don’t remember Landrieu doing much at all.

A FEMA that understands the best ways to leverage the private sector and the robust non-profit community. A FEMA that will help us rebuild our communities with respect; dignity; and determination.

Huh?

I was very impressed many aspects of FEMA’s response. The Coast Guard response in particular was spectacular. It is time we all started re-evaluating what happened from a less emotional. standpoint.

I was very unimpressed with the response of the state government. I was also unimpressed with the response of the local governments.

Where is her demand that the “Road Home” program start to work?

America deserves a president who is willing to lead. Who will cut through the red tape and serve the people not the bureaucracy. And a president who will stand with mayors and governors and not against them to get the job done.

President Bush responded very quickly to this disaster. He called the Governor and the Mayor and got them to declare the first ever mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. On the day before the storm, Governor Blanco said this at the Mayor’s press conference declaring a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

‘GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: Thank you, Mayor. I want to reiterate what the mayor has said. This is a very dangerous time. Just before we walked into this room, President Bush called and told me to share with all of you that he is very concerned about the citizens. He is concerned about the impact that this hurricane would have on our people. And he asked me to please ensure that there would be a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.”

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That is the hope of the people of America and that is the promise of Barak Obama.

Barak has promise but he has never been in a position to respond to any major emergency. We simply do not know how he will handle or respond to an emergency of this magnitude. How about giving us Bobby Jindal instead?

God bless our efforts to recover and God bless Louisiana.

God bless us all indeed.

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