Dept. Of Homeland Security Is A Joke

“lmao @ Aero!”

“This part was unsettling: "...was in a position that could cause structural damage."”

“About 30 years ago a buddy was in
UK researching his doctoral thesis. One evening, during a long and arduous session in a local pub, he went to the loo, leaving his breifcase beside his chair. He was in the the toilet much longer than he had intended (no, I didn't ask why).

This, BTW, is a favourite method of the IRA.

A very brave, off-duty soldier ran over, grabbed the briefcase and threw himself over it into the street just as my buddy was returning to the table.

My drunken buddy was insulted and hollered at the soldier, 'Do I look Irish, God damn it?'

This, sad to say,is a true story.”

“I am not gonna touch this one....”

“ewwwww @ all you guys :-D”

“From now on, dayhiker will officially be known as 'Moldy Dick'.”

“A reporter I used to work with was in Brighton, who has the last name O'Connor, left her car parked by her friend's flat in after a night on the town. She came back late the next afternoon and found the area cordoned off and the bomb squad about to carry out a controlled explosion.
They were clearing the area of cars ahead of a Conservative party conference, she hadn't read the signs posted, and they had cleared the area of everything but one car. Of course the police did a search on her driver's licence and came up with the name O'Connor.”

“I think she might have owned a bob too”

“Moldy Dick, funny. I guess that makes it a Great Green Whale instead of a white one.”

“I work for Home Land Security! I love this job. Pays very well.

Ex Military, and we are all still FREE and kikkin ass.”

“I don't know too many of these people,so my opinion is limited. Had to take a badboy to a funeral in the city. These Homeland folks showed up in uniform (wearing weapons) off duty to pay their respect too. Acted aloof & we thought it was kind of tacky. Then they tried to tell us what to do. Go away.”

“Flame!!!”

“until you have been in those nations, you have no real opinion.

if you have, run your mouth at will.

you people have no idea of the lifestyle that you are talking about. get informed beyond american media before you run your sucks.

respectfully submitted,
~BW

if you feel like you know what is up, send me an email, I will send you pictures that will wake you're American ass up.

Respect the freedom you have.

Do a search here for Djibouti, you will se the weakest photos I have.”

“thanks PS. I have been drinking tonight and maybe I should not respond so harsh, but I hate to hear American complain, when they have no real clue besides American media.

It is upsetting.

For real info:
http://www.cjtfhoa.centcom.mil/

The media, hates us.

~BW”

“get informed beyond american media before you run your sucks.

respectfully submitted,
~BW

Oh, I'm going to run my sucks all right!”

“McTell,
True understanding is only had through exposure. You don't understand how sucky a sunburn is until you've had your skin scorched. It's the same with existance. We won't ever fully understand or appriciate our own until we are exposed to another.
Give those of us who havn't had a chance to live off these shores alittle slack, because they speak only of what they know.
~ Maio”

“Right, all that makes good sense!”

“Katrina was the first real test of Homeland security, and it failed.”

“WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur.

But in fact, government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years.

Chertoff, fielding questions from reporters, said government officials did not expect both a powerful hurricane and a breach of levees that would flood the city of New Orleans.




This is why the Bush administration is worthless and deservedly should be blamed.

What is even sadder is that this same incompetent administration is going to fill two Supreme Court vacancies and appoint the new Justice.”

“Carefull there, the new Bush Ministry of Information might want to talk with you...”

“Jerko I mean Chertoff is either a liar or an idiot. Or both.”

“"Bush Ministry of Information"

That's a good one! LOL More like the Bush Mystery of Information. We know that the Bush administration doesn't heed the warnings of science...only God.
last edited: 9/04/05 3:11:41 PM”

“Everything is fine in New Orleans. People are enjoying the good weather.

”

“just about anyone with half a brain, a knowledge of the Gulf Coast (N.O. in particular), and knowledge of the power of hurricanes (either firsthand or studied) knew that this was a disaster waiting to happen.

Perhaps when this friggin' administration was busy paying off the public (remember the money back from taxes initiative that took place immediately after Numbnuts took office?) they should have put those funds into such things as disaster preventative measures and 'homeland security'.

What a bunch of lard-lickers.”

“And the sad thing is we still have three-and-a-half years left of this clueless bastard in the White House.”

“Ha, I just saw a news clip that Mike Brown, the Director of FEMA had no emergency management experience before taking this job. His last job was Commissioner (or something) for the Arabian Horse Association. WTF???”

“The only way I can look at this whole thing right now is the fact that people's lives have changed. It has opened eyes and closed eyes. It has displaced people into possibly much better conditions than before Katrina, who knows? I feel terrible about the deaths, and the suicides but the living are still here.

I try to look at it all as a second chance for many people who may have NEVER had an opportunity for change based on their lifestyles or utter feeling of being "trapped" in a system that may not have been working prior to Katrina.

Tomorrow, Michigan is receiving at least 500 people. They will be going to Ft. Custer, in Battle Creek. They will be given what they need there for a short period of time with the hopes of being placed in housing elsewhere throughout the state. Even though our unemployment rate is 7.3%, and there are very few jobs here, JUST MAYBE, some things can happen here. Maybe these 500 people will make a better life for themselves here? At this point, their chances here are better than where they just came from.

I think this whole thing can have a lot of positive things come from it all if we just look at them.

No one is ever going to forget that a city drowned, took lives with it, and changed the lives of many others, forever. How it happened cannot be changed. How it was dealt with cannot be changed this time. All we can do is open our eyes, hearts and put all our fears and ignorance to the side and welcome new faces to our very own solid, unflooded, streets, and welcome them into solid, sound structures. And next time you see the American flag wavering above the bank you get your money out of, or on a neighbor's porch, or draped acrossed a veteran's casket, remember what this country is. It's strong because each of us makes it that way. Not our government.”

“Well put.


And yet... it sounds like we have returned to the day when the director of FEMA was simply a political appointee with no experience.

Didn't Mr. Brown appear on national television before the storm hit talking about all the pre-positioned matériel?”

“Yeah I had read the same thing Creek Dancer. You could tell he was clueless when on the Today show each morning this week he kept repeating the same scripted message.

"The government has everything under control. Don't pay any attention to the little man behind the curtain. Yada, yada , yada ad nauseum."

Time for a sea change! Vote in 2006!
last edited: 9/04/05 7:26:00 PM”

“In America, the government is of the people, by the people and for the people.

So, while we are individuals and must make our way as individuals, we also belong to a community. And good government is one aspect of good community.

It is people in the community choosing to lead and help others. It is good.

There are many ways in which private citizens help others through businesses, churches and charities. There are also many ways in which people can help themselves.

But the government is us. It can do good. And it can help give people a boost on the path. But we can't keep hammering at it.

We will never be strong as a nation of individuals.”

“Don't Blame Bush for Katrina

Christopher Ruddy
Monday, Sept. 5, 2005

George Bush and the federal government are not to blame for the disaster we have witnessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In fact, the primary responsibility for the disaster response lies with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and other local officials.

Yet leading Democrats and their allies in the major media are clearly using this disaster for political purposes and ignoring one obvious fact.

This fact – which needs to be repeated and remembered – is that in our country, state and local governments have primary responsibility in dealing with local disasters.

The founding fathers devised a federal system of government – one that has served us remarkably well through great disasters that have befallen America over more than two centuries.

But if we believe the major TV networks, George Bush, FEMA and the Republicans in Congress are all to blame for the current nightmare.

Let's remember that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was created only in 1979. It was formed to coordinate and focus federal response to major disasters – to "assist" local and state governments.

Common sense suggests that local and state governments are best able to prepare and plan for local disasters.

Is a Washington bureaucrat better suited to prepare for an earthquake in San Francisco, a hurricane in Florida, or a terrorist act in New York?

After the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center, no one suggested that the Bush administration should have been responsible for New York's disaster response or that federal agents should have been involved in the rescue of those trapped in the buildings.

Last year, four major hurricanes slammed into Florida. Governor Jeb Bush led the disaster response and did a remarkable job, with nothing happening like what we have seen in New Orleans.

The primary response in disasters has always come from local communities and state governments.

First responders and the manpower to deal with emergencies come from local communities: police, fire and medical. Under our federal system, these local departments answer to local authorities, not those in Washington. These first responders are not even under federal control, nor do they have to follow federal orders.

In addition to local responders, every state in the Union has a National Guard.

State National Guards answer first to the governor of each state, not to the president. The National Guard exists not to defend one state from an invasion by another state, but primarily for emergencies like the one we have witnessed in New Orleans and in other areas impacted by Katrina. (See: http://www.arng.army.mil/about_us/organization/command_structure.asp)

Tim Russert and the Blame Game

The media would have you believe that this disaster was worsened by a slow response from President Bush and his administration, though the primary responsibility for disaster response has always been with local and state governments.

It is true that federal response was not as fast as it could have been. The president himself has acknowledged that fact.

But the press has focused on the first 48 hours of federal response, not uttering a word about the fact that New Orleans had 48 hours of warning that a major Category 4 or 5 would make landfall near the city, yet local officials apparently did little to prepare.

Obviously, Gov. Blanco did not effectively deploy her state's National Guard.

And New Orleans' city leaders did almost nothing to evacuate the portion of the population with no transportation. In failing to follow their own evacuation plan, these officials did little to pre-position food, water and personnel to deal with the aftermath.

I was surprised Sunday to watch Tim Russert, on his show "Meet the Press," tear into Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. During his encounter with Chertoff, Russert did not suggest once that local government had any role in dealing with the disaster. Russert also asked for Chertoff's resignation.

It wasn't until after the first 29 minutes of his show – 29 minutes – that Russert raised the question of local responsibility. And when he did so with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, he did so in a passing way. Broussard brushed off his question with a non-answer.

Broussard began his interview claiming that the nation had "abandoned" New Orleans.

That is nonsense and a lie.

Broussard, who was never identified by "Meet the Press" as a Democrat, spent much of his time attacking the Bush administration, as has Democratic New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Broussard then ended his performance as he collapsed in tears with a demand: "For God's sake, just shut up and send us the money!"

His tears didn't wash with me. My sympathies lie with the tens of thousands of people who have suffered or died because local officials like Broussard, Mayor Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco, also a Democrat, failed monumentally at their jobs.

As former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial told Russert, the disaster in New Orleans was "foreseeable."

In fact, New Orleans has long known that such a disaster could take place if a major hurricane hit the city.

The municipality even prepared its own "City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan."

The plan makes it evident that New Orleans knew that evacuation of the civilian population was the primary responsibility of the city – not the federal government.

The city plan acknowledges its responsibility in the document:

As established by the City of New Orleans Charter, the government has jurisdiction and responsibility in disaster response. City government shall coordinate its efforts through the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

The city document also makes clear that decisions involving a proper and orderly evacuation lie with the governor, mayor and local authorities. Nowhere is the president or federal government even mentioned:

The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State, if he deems this action necessary for the preservation of life or other disaster mitigation, response or recovery. The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.

It is clear the city also recognized that it would need to move large portions of its population, and it would need to prepare for such an eventuality:

The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed. ...

Evacuation procedures for small scale and localized evacuations are conducted per the SOPs of the New Orleans Fire Department and the New Orleans Police Department. However, due to the sheer size and number of persons to be evacuated, should a major tropical weather system or other catastrophic event threaten or impact the area, specifically directed long range planning and coordination of resources and responsibilities efforts must be undertaken. [You can read New Orleans' Emergency Plan for hurricanes at its Web site: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26]

The city's plan also specifically called for the use of city-owned buses and school buses to evacuate the population. These were apparently never deployed, though the Parish of Plaquemines just south of the city evacuated its population using school buses.

The plan, written well before Katrina was even a teardrop in God's eye, was obviously never heeded or implemented by local leaders.

But why should the New Orleans mayor and Governor Blanco take responsibility when they can blame George Bush and the Republicans in Washington?

With congressional elections fast approaching, Democrats who are out of power in every branch of the federal government know they need to change the tide quickly.


They have apparently seized on the Katrina disaster to harm the president politically.

Criticism of the federal government's response is fair and warranted. But putting full responsibility for this disaster on the Bush administration is way over the top.

Primary responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like Nagin and Blanco, not President Bush.”

“Oh, come on.

There is blame for everyone. All involved did a crappy job. Nagin and Blanco should have had satellite phones and gotten the school buses running.

But this idea that there are clear walls between local, state and the federal government is garbage.

When was the last time any local community build a bridge or overpass without significant state or federal support? Local communities just don't usually have the money to do these things.

Also, the Army Corps of Engineers controls a lot of the water management facilities in NO. That means it is federal property, under federal control. Nagin could have prodded and pushed the feds. to fix the things, but ultimately, it was a federal line item and a federal decision.

And when 10,000 or 20,000 people die - that's the latest rumor I hear - blame needs to be affixed. This means that NO needs a new mayor. LA needs a new governor. And the US needs a president.”

“While I agree with most of what you pasted. The levee break was the problem. And Bush made a major cut in the funding for the program that was reinforcing the older levees.

Also in Florida, FEMA was here the day after the hurricane hit. Meaning the hurricanes hit at night and in the morning FEMA was already working with the local authorities, I know because I am a retired Reserve Deputy Sheriff and I work for the power company in Orlando so I actually saw them. They were not there in New Orleans until several days later. I saw the mayor on TV calling for federal help on Monday (didn't watch much on Saturday or Sunday). I just think the feds could have handled it better. And you are right about the media coverage focusing on the feds. We really didn't see coverage about the locals does that mean they weren't doing their job? No! It just means we didn't see it. There were some cops that were working days without sleep. And the reports of 60% of police not showing up were wrong, have I seen a retraction? No again.”

“...When was the last time any local community build a bridge or overpass without significant state or federal support? Local communities just don't usually have the money to do these things.... reformed lurker
7:45:26 AM

That is true, but as a proud state employee, I can say that things are not done overnight! If this cooperation was not preplanned, it takes time to get rolling. Jeb Bush made a few mistakes with his first hurricane a couple of years ago, and he didn't have to deal with the sunken/sinking city. Churches responded overnight after Katrina. The beauracracy is as much of a problem as the leadership.
last edited: 9/05/05 8:00:06 AM”

“Well lets say the 15 billion dollar levee improvement project passed in 2001. Do you have any idea how these government project run? I do, I have pretty good first hand knowledge since I design a lot of infrastructure like this for a living:

$15B project, approved in 2001, would start the planning process in 2002. There'd be long discussions, planning sessions, local bigwigs getting their points of view in, trips to the Netherlands to study their systems, contests between architects, civil engineers, builders, to see who would be selected, etc. Eventually in 2003 or maybe even 2004 there would be a complete design presented. It would need to be approved. How long would approval take before the work started? Heck, it takes longer then 4 years for your state to build a highway... and that's a much simpler project to undertake then something like this.

The city's own plan (linked in the first post) calls for them to use buses to evacuate people that didn't have transportation, and they didn't do it. It called for them to stage supplies at evac centers, and they didn't do it. There are a lot more things that they where supposed to do, but these kinda stand out since the people they didn't get out didn't have basic supplies either.

FEMA could have been a whole lot better, but the local officials didn't even try and half the local police force just walked out.

I'm sure this will be analyzed for years to come. There are too many emotions involved in this one at this point.

Local government was overwhelmed from day one. State government didn't react well and things got worse. Lastly the federal agencies didn't pass the test when it counted.”

“DeoreDX.

I think we are actually on the same page with this one now.”

“They were pojects have been in place since the '60's. The Southeast Lousiana Urban Flood Control Project has been in place since 1995. After several years of funding cuts (coincidently these cuts came after the beginning of the war in Iraq) the Corps office there had to impose a hiring freeze. SELA project was cut to $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million. It was not enough to start any new jobs. And remember this is just the last cut not the first. The feds also cut funding for several projects that were shoring up levees that they knew were older and not as stable:

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans City Business.


How do you know they didn't have supplies where they were supposed to be? Maybe the supplies were washed away?
last edited: 9/05/05 8:27:04 AM”

“Help me! Help me!

Man I’ve been down in this bunker stewing and percolating in my own self righteousness for so long it seems and yet the government hasn’t come to rescue me! They should have been here days ago to put in the cable feed to my bunker and deliver more free food! Bassturds! I can’t believe I even pay taxes for such poor service! Boohoo! Boohoo! I’m calling my lawyer!”

“Get out of your wheelchair, swim to a store and loot it, you slacker!”

“I am going to vent a little, so I apologize in advance for this. This is all so frustrating for me.

They have been doing construction on the levees for as long as I can remember and I am 39. Everyone knew that the levees near our home were only good to a category 3 hurricane and that the "big one" would either push the lakes water over the top of them or knock them out altogether flooding the entire area. Why in my 39 years was nothing done about it if they were making all these improvements?

Welcome to the "good ole' boys Laissez les bon temp roulez!" state of Louisiana… home of the most dysfunctional state government in the United States of America. Where do you think all that money for contractors went for three decades? Into the pockets of good ole' boys contractors that were part of the good ole' boys network. As long as the cash kept coming in, let the good times roll!

The circus that will appear in the state after this will be worthy of Barnum and Bailey. All the worthless politicians (almost all Democrats) will be trying to save their jobs by screaming, "It's the president’s fault!" Why not, he's a Republican and an easy target. They'll say anything to save their jobs including ripping each other down. There is no honor among thieves.

They’ll totally ignore the fact that the wetlands are one of the cities most significant defenses from hurricanes, sucking energy out of them before they hit the city… the same wetlands that are disappearing at the rate of a football field a day in large part because the levees themselves change the way silt is deposited in the delta. They knew about that for as long as I remember as well. I can remember people telling me that the Christmas trees that were picked up were hauled out and dumped in the wetlands to help prevent erosion. Really effective conservation strategy…

I got so fed up with the scene down there that when I was old enough to move out I left and never looked back. Like I said, they’ll rebuild the city and it will shine again, but it will be as rotten as it ever was.”

“I think the time for carefully looking at where the ball got dropped is not yet upon us. I'm sure there will be plenty of blame to go around, and plenty of lessons to be learned, all the way from private individual decisions, through neighborhood, city, state and federal. This includes Democrats and Republicans, past and present office holders (i.e. includes Reagan, Bush-I, Clinton, and Bush-2).

A lot of folks are looking to blame someone else and to look innocent.

Since this is a Home Land Security thread let me share what I found on their website:

“For all those who say the Feds aren't responsible, please address what I found on the Homeland Security Website:



Preparing America

"In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS."

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp
last edited: 9/05/05 3:41:01 PM”

“Wow, that looks right on point Ped.”

“I disagree a lot with USA, and think some of USA's claims are outlandish, but this one may be supported by the evidence (it's too soon for me to decide):

Katrina was the first real test of Homeland security, and it failed.USA
11:43:29 AM
9/04/05”

“Interesting reading Deordex's cut and paste of the rant by Mr. Ruddy. Mr. Ruddy attacks Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and makes him look like a manipulative whiner, referring to his tears on Meet the Press and attacking Russert for not mentioning that Broussard was a Democrat. What is notable is that Ruddy doesn't mention the context of the tears or anything that might suggest that Broussard was responding as a human being who'd been through something close to He!! and seen people he cares for do the same. The tears were in describing "how a colleague's elderly mother died in her home Friday after waiting four days for rescuers that never arrived." (the words in quotes are from http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09.html#077000)”

“I am a Jeffersonian Republican so all this talk about the Federal Government managing our lives scares me. It should scare you too.”

““I am a Jeffersonian Republican so all this talk about the Federal Government managing our lives scares me. It should scare you too.”

Ditto. How is this storm even falling under Homeland Security anyhow?”

“Nigal read the first sentence of the quote from the Homeland Security Website (which I posted at 3:38:08 PM today.

I'm also concerned about the powers granted to the Federal Government, esp. under Homeland Security administration and the Patriot Act. It's even more concerning when we see how little it seems to have added to security and safety in the homeland.”

“Question for Jeffersonian Republicans, especially Bacpac.

Do you share Jefferson's opinions on the separation of Church and State, and on the Church and Christianity?”

“WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur.

But in fact, government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years.

Chertoff, fielding questions from reporters, said government officials did not expect both a powerful hurricane and a breach of levees that would flood the city of New Orleans.



I have to bring that up again because it is such damning evidence that the Bush administration is imcompetent. This is a Bush appointee who doesn't have a clue, just like Condi Rice who said the Bush administration could not have predicted that airliners could be used as missiles. As Tilt said, "Where do they find these people?" There are morons in the White House.”