GOOD MAYORS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN GOOD PRESIDENTS

When you get time from the tube, beach, and family get togethers this holiday weekend you might sit down and think for a while about what New Orleans had better teach all of us.

First, it starts at the bottom.

We need good mayors more than we need good presidents. Good mayors are those with the brains to prepare for disaster. Where do you put refugees? How many people are without resources to evacuate and how do you evacuate them? If roads are destroyed? If rail and air infrastructure are destroyed? How bad is the local police department? Are they the most corrupt in region, and if they are can they be relied upon in an emergency? (I think N.O. shows us that they cannot.) How will Homeland Security grants made to assure emergency communication be spent? (The Brain in N.O. spent said money on cell phones instead of battery powered short wave radios). Are there adequate back up supplies available? Does the Mayor have the tools to force people to evacuate, if not why not? Where do they evacuate to?

The most vivid recollection of mayoral competence I have in my mind is the line of ambulances stretching for a mile or more that was parked and ready in New York as the Twin Towers were burning. I thought then that the Mayor or somebody had done a hell of a job of planning. Note that everyone evacuating was directed to the still standing bridges and that busses were also ready.

The blame for most of what went wrong in New Orleans starts with the Mayor, elected because he was black and not because he might be competent. The people of N.O. are as responsible as anyone, but far be it for any PC media or government committee to actually point the finger where it should be pointed. It looks like the finger is pointing in the direction of the nearest white person, the elected governor herself, a Democrat that the Democrat media doesn't want accused. That means blame Bush. He should have done the counting, planned for all local disaster relief, and whatever else can be heaped upon him.

It starts at the bottom. With the Mayor. The race baiting by Blacks is really going to compromise financial donations eventually. Whites are being attacked for helping. The victims are all black? Well I guess that's because the Blacks refused to evacuate when ordered. It is also obvious that the poor in the effected areas are all black. So, this proves racism? It does to the Al Sharpton crowd and let's face it, the Al Sharpton crowd is seeking to get money out of this. Had the hurricane hit the poor areas of Appalachia the victims would have been white, had it hit Chinatown the victims would have been Asian.

JunkyardBlog and lots of other bloggers are shining the light on this lousy mayor and the criminally neglegent local pols.