I don’t know where Michael Evans gets his
”
facts,
”
but it appears they come from the same talking-points clearing
house operated by the GOP and utilized by Fox News and several
right-wing Web sites.
Editor,
I don’t know where Michael Evans gets his “facts,” but it appears they come from the same talking-points clearing house operated by the GOP and utilized by Fox News and several right-wing Web sites.
Here’s a point-by-point analysis of the “facts” in Evans’ letter. It can all be verified with a bit of Internet research.
Evans: “No buses were ever provided, even with three days warning.”
Fact: The now-famous 200 school buses were used for evacuation before the hurricane made landfall, but were parked when three people died on one bus en route to Baton Rouge. (School buses are not designed for long trips and have neither air conditioning nor bathrooms, and many of the people being evacuated in them were elderly and/or ill.) New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin then asked federal officials to send commercial-style buses; the request was unheeded. (Source: AP, Reuters et al.)
Evans: “The governor of Louisiana took an extra 24 hours to declare a state of emergency which delayed national guard deployment.”
Fact: Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency on the morning of Friday, Aug. 26, two days before landfall. (Source: Louisiana Governor’s Office.) On that same day, Gulf Coast states requested troop assistance from the Pentagon. (Source: Department of Defense.) That night and on the following day, Blanco asked President Bush to declare a federal state of emergency, which he did Saturday, Aug. 27. (Source: The White House.)
National Public Radio reported Sept. 9 that Bush told Blanco, “I’ll send in the troops if you answer to the White House.”
Evans: “…I can tell you that FEMA is not a first-response provider.”
Fact: FEMA is a first-responder in a federal state of emergency. (Source: FEMA.)
Evans: “The socialist state of Louisiana failed!”
Conventional wisdom: Ignoring the baseless “socialist” comment, there can be no doubt that the City of New Orleans, the parishes of Orleans and St. Charles and the State of Louisiana must all share the responsibility for the needless loss of life. But the vast majority of responsibility must be assumed by the federal government, whose response to this unprecedented disaster was inexplicably, and shamefully, laggard.
And, yes, Mr. Evans – I wrote my “big check” too.
Dave Moseley, Hollister
