Yesterday, Tim Russert took it to Democrat New Orleans Mayor, Ray Nagin:
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is defending his actions in connection with Hurricane Katrina, as he was grilled yesterday about why hundreds of public buses were not used to evacuate the city in advance of the devastating storm.
"I think I did everything possible known to any mayor in the country as it relates to saving lives," Nagin said.
The mayor, questioned by NBC's Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," claimed he could not find drivers for the metro and school buses, which were left to flood in the post-hurricane deluge.
Sounds like a little BS to me. Russert seemed to be thinking the same:
RUSSERT: But, Mr. Mayor, if you read the city of New Orleans' comprehensive emergency plan-- and I've read it and I'll show it to you and our viewers--it says very clearly, "Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the mayor of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. 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 procedure as needed. Approximately 100,000 citizens of New Orleans do not have means of personal transportation."
It was your responsibility. Where was the planning? Where was the preparation? Where was the execution?
MAYOR NAGIN: The planning was always in getting people to higher ground, getting them to safety. That's what we meant by evacuation. Get them out of their homes, which – most people are under sea level. Get them to a higher ground and then depending upon our state and federal officials to move them out of harm's way after the storm has hit.
RUSSERT: But in July of this year, one month before the hurricane, you cut a public service announcement which said, in effect, "You are on your own." And you have said repeatedly that you never thought an evacuation plan would work. Which is true: whether you would exercise your obligation and duty as mayor or that – and evacuate people, or you believe people were on their own?
MAYOR NAGIN: Well, Tim, you know, we basically wove this incredible tightrope as it is. We were in a position of trying to encourage as many people as possible to leave because we weren't comfortable that we had the resources to move them out of our city.
The entire transcript can be found here. The rest of the MSM needs to get off the blame FEMA for not dealing with people who should have never been in New Orleans in the first place. Its not like the Mayor didn’t have enough warning. What is the MSM afraid of anyway? The Mayor being a Democrat, or the Mayor being black, or both.
Here is more on this:
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that it wasn't his fault city school buses weren't mobilized to facilitate the Hurricane Katrina evacuation he ordered.
Appearing on NBC's "Dateline," Nagin was asked by host Stone Phillips: "What was mobilized? I mean were national guard troops in position. Were helicopters standing by? Were buses ready to take people away?""No. None of that," the Big Easy mayor replied.
"Why is that?" an incredulous Phillips asked.
Nagin replied: "I dont know. That is question for somebody else."
The Louisiana Democrat didn't explain just who the "somebody else" was, saying only:
"All I can do is [say] that I was dealing with it as a mayor -- how do I prepare my city for an incredibly powerful storm? So immediately we tried to get as many people out as possible."
The "Dateline" exchange was only the second time Mayor Nagin had been asked about the failure to use his city's school buses, hundreds of which sat 1.2 miles from the Superdome.
Two days after the levees broke, Nagin told a New Orleans radio station that he wanted Greyhound Bus Lines to send their entire fleet rather than launch an evacuation in public school buses.
"One of the briefings we had they were talking about getting, you know, public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out of here," Nagin said.
"I'm like - you've got to be kidding me. This is a natural disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."
The Mayor has buses 1.2 miles form the Super Dome and he is crying for Greyhound buses to be sent in from hundreds of miles away. The guy knows nothing about personal responsibility.
