Politics corrupt Hurricane Katrina analysis Partisan exploitation of Hurricane Katrina tragedy by the Left makes Bush the convenient scapegoat while protecting certain Democrats who are as guilty as the President. Bush failed. But what about the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, a Democrat? Why does he get a clean bill of innocence from otherwise active critics? Ray Nagin did not initiate New Orleans’ own evacuation plan, which calls for use of school and commuter buses to provide transportation to thousands who cannot evacuate on their own. Today those buses are flooded and useless in their parking lots. Imagine the seats in those buses and lives they could have saved.
As a matter of fact, Nagin declared mandatory evacuation only after President Bush personally urged him to do so in a phone call. Nagin did not prepare the Superdome, a designated shelter for hurricane. Why was there no food, no water and no medics at the Superdome?
He also failed to provide adequate security. New Orleans has murder rates 10 times higher than the rest of the United States. It is a city notorious for its lawlessness and corruption. Then why were there only 1,500 cops in the city of 500,000 under threat of a Category 5 hurricane?
President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on Aug. 28, two days before the levees broke, one day before hurricane itself. Why did Nagin not ask President for federal troops to beef up security, or for supplies, before the hurricane hit? Why is it that although Katrina missed New Orleans and hit Mississippi instead, everything is under control over there? Perhaps the local government in Mississippi is more qualified? Perhaps, instead of screaming profanity on national TV, they are actually prepared for the disaster?
Thousands lie dead in New Orleans as we speak. It is our duty, in order to honor their memory, to seek those who are truly guilty, regardless of creed or color. Stop exploiting their deaths for political gain!
Local and federal officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, were guilty of this disaster. To say that only Republicans or Bush failed, would be to drown victims of Katrina all over again for the sake of political bigotry. Arsen A. Ivanov