I’ve kept saying this:
If Bush could allow needless deaths and despair in New Orleans, a major American city, and other Americans stepped back and went on about their business instead of forcing his hand, sooner or later it’s going to happen to you in your town or city.
This is not just about natural disasters and Guard readiness.
Again, this is also about the Bush Administration screwing Democratic governors, and it doesn’t matter whether it is a Midwest or a Southern state like Kansas or Arkansas. This is about sabotaging sitting Democrats at the expense of their constituents.
First it was the now-lame duck and beleaguered Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, and now it’s first-term governor Kathleen Sibelius of Kansas.
I have no doubt that contrary to what paid liar Tony Snow said (that cancer was a warning from the Universe to stop lying, but apparently he’s not listening), Sibelius wrote the right memos and letters and called the right phone numbers and did follow-ups. Said Jennifer Loven of AP:
In an approach reminiscent of the blame game played by the White House with another Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, after the federal government’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina, Snow at first said the fault for any slow response would be Sebelius’. He said she should have followed procedure by finding gaps and then asking the federal government to fill them _ but didn’t.
“If you don’t request it, you’re not going to get it,” he told reporters Tuesday morning.
Snow said no one had asked for heavy equipment. “As far as we know, the only thing the governor has requested are FM radios,” the spokesman said.
Well, not exactly.
Uhuh. Well, I’ve seen that movie, too. Note that we’ve heard from few Republican governors who’ve been screwed by Bushistas during a state of emergency.
Instead, had Kathleen Sibelius been a Republican governor, we wouldn’t be spoonfed yet another piece of self-aggrandizing crap from the White House. And to endure yet another hypocritical and humiliating photo-op from Dubya. There’s no statue of Andy Jackson looming behind him to make him look good. He may have to hear an earful from the Greenburg populace.
A predominantly white, middle-class populace.
A populace from one of the most American of states.
A state that for some people, as I learned from driving cross country, going out to dinner means going to the Dairy Queen or to Denny’s or to any family-owned restaurant, not to places like L’Etoile or Greens.
It used to be that it didn’t matter whether you were in a blue or red state, you received aid and assistance during a state of emergency called during and after a natural disaster.
Not anymore.
In March, I wrote a diary critical of FEMA director Paulison and administration efforts on behalf of Arkansas, the home state of former President Bill Clinton. While red Southern states also hit by tornadoes received aid, Arkansas alone seemed to be struggling. Particularly, the media attention and aid seemed to be going to mostly white Cross County, and not to Desha County where blacks living in hard-hit Dumas constituted 60% of its population, 46% countywide. Moreover, editorialists wondered aloud whether it was the fact that Arkansas was a blue state with a blue governor.
Now it turns out that Volusia County, Florida, also hard hit by Christmas Day tornadoes last year, was denied FEMA assistance despite the fact that outgoing governor Jeb Bush made a direct appeal to his brother on behalf of Charlie Crist and the state that supposedly gave Bush his presidency. Federal and state officials sought to overturn FEMA’s decision at last look. I guess that since Bush doesn’t need Jeb any more, Florida should now look out for itself.
New Orleans is still wondering why all the aid money is still bottle-necked in Baton Rouge–who really does not need it–and why the Road Home Program underestimated how many homeowners would need assistance. Add to this the poor having to vacate even FEMA trailers in the future, having no place to come home to, much less the housing projects that are still barred to them. I would say that there is red tape involved, but not all of it can be laid at Kathleen Blanco’s doorstep–not this late. Louisianans seem more inclined to believe the rhetoric of Bobby Jindal as the Repubs salivate taking complete hold of the state without a sizable black population in New Orleans stopping the juggernaut.
Meanwhile, the public still does not know that on Christmas Day, 2006, FEMA officially decided to deny any more Federal assistance to tornado-stricken states. (I’m still trying to find out whether this meant for 2006 only, because its webpage insists that help is available for those in Kansas, Vermont, and in Texas.) Its official policy: “When making financial judgments against providing aid, FEMA often concludes that state and local authorities will be able to pay for disaster relief.”
But you and I know that is not often the case. When the states are not as rich as New York or California, the Feds have to step in. It’s our government.
Under Bush, however, it’s anybody’s but our government.