Obama has the same “constraints” of the Constitutional division of powers between the national and state governments.

He may walk over those “constraints” and the MSM may give him a pass and a chuckle. I can relate several instances where Clinton did exactly that. I have been covering Presidents and governors since the early 1950′s. My eyes are open and I have plenty of things I look for. Your warning that I become attuned to Obama is duly noted.

I am confused about why you have referenced my comment: FEMA had to be asked in by the governor in order to take over local authority. — David

Well….

….maybe I was confused by the way you put the first two sentences of your comment #114, when you said….

Katrina was a mess in which New Orleans, Louisiana, FEMA all dropped the ball. FEMA had to be asked in by the governor in order to take over local authority. — David

You came across like BC to me.

RE: Obama? Constrained?

Obama is constrained by the same Constitution when it comes to out thinking governors. — David

I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.

First indicator, his unwillingness to provide a bona vide, signed and sealed birth certificate.

All the material all the Democrats and ‘progressives’ have provided wouldn’t hold up in ANY court of law….except one that doesn’t honor truth or the Constitution of the United States.

So, I’d suggest you keep a weather eye on the Constitution and an Obamanation administration.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. In a worst case scenario, I would expect to see the suppression of freedom of speech, via people who say bad or disagreeable things about The One, being cut off from use of the internet. That would be what we say in military parlance, a ‘key indicator’.

But it will be hard to notice, because you’ll be looking for absence as opposed to presence.

I am confused about why you have referenced my comment: FEMA had to be asked in by the governor in order to take over local authority.

The FEDERAL Emergency Management Agency can not come into a state without the permission of the governor. This is because of the Constitutional division of powers between the state governments and the national government.

Before Katrina hit, President Bush (2) specifically asked Governor Blanco if she wanted FEMA presence in Louisiana. She said “no” to President Bush (2) right through the evening before Katrina came ashore. Mayor Nagin also told Governor Blanco that he did not need her to send in the Louisiana National Guard. In the morning of the day before Katrina, Amtrak notified Mayor Nagin that they were going to pull their equipment out of New Orleans to save it. They offered to take evacuees with them. This was the last of many Amtrak offers of evacuation help that Mayor Nagin turned down.

After one more late evening call to Mayor Blanco and one more refusal for Federal help, President Bush (2) went to bed. By that time, there was nothing left to do but wait and see what would happen.

After Katrina hit, FEMA went into action in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The governors requested FEMA and they ordered the National Guard out. FEMA works with state and local authorities, but all smoke aside, FEMA has martial law powers in coordination with the National Guard.

There is no real evidence that “Brownie” muffed the preparedness planning on the part of FEMA. He quickly became the fall guy for the anger unleashed by Blanco, Nagin and Shepherd Smith. Most of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle quietly went to work with FEMA’s help and did not clutter up the news. Chertoff went into CYA mode and helped make Brown the whack-a-mole in the spotlight.

Lawton Chiles pinned the same wrap on Bush (1). Before Andrew tore into Homestead, Florida, President Bush (1) offered to get the Marines and FEMA down to the Miami area to be in place. Chiles said he wanted the state to handle it. After the storm hit, Chiles still stalled. Meanwhile, the generators, ice, water, and Marines were piled up in South Carolina waiting to make the 12+ hour trek when Chiles finally asked for Federal help.

Neither President Bush had the Constitutional power to force Federal help on reticent governors. The media was derelict in its duty to make that clear to the public. In all likelihood, the only thing FEMA (with military help) could have done was to be better situated and to have forced evacuations under martial law.

Obama is constrained by the same Constitution when it comes to out thinking governors.

FEMA had to be asked in by the governor in order to take over local authority. — David

The law STATES that the governor MUST ask for federal intervention.

Or would you rather that the feds just show up on their own, without persmission, and just ‘take over’? From local government? Whenever they feel like doingit?

That’s called ‘martial law’, where I come from.

Think about it….

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "We're from the government and we're here to help." -- President Ronald Reagan]

If the Feds had shown up when they were suppose to, there would have been little or no issue. — BC

What an asinine statement THAT is.

I wonder how much time BC has done working in Emergency Management. From his comment, it is apparent to me, the answer is ‘none at all’.

I did over 10 years helping state-level planning for natural disasters and national emergencies, working are area that made up the western third of the contiguous 48 states. That included throwing an 8.3 earthquake at Oregon, with an impending eruption of Mount Hood and a radiation leak at the Trojan nuclear power plant to the west of Portland.

BC seems to think that the feds show up at a scene just like your local fire department. That’s not the case. The real truth is that the Governor of a state has to ASK the feds to come and help. Governor Blanco didn’t ask until it was way too late to do much of anything.

And, to add to the disaster, Governor Blanco and her State Adjutant General, i.e., the military commander of the Louisiana National Guard, allowed their one major military formation, a Mech-Infantry Heavy Independent Brigade, to be deployed to Iraq during the hurricane season.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[There is no known cure for 'dumb'.]

Katrina was a mess in which New Orleans, Louisiana, FEMA all dropped the ball. FEMA had to be asked in by the governor in order to take over local authority. It is doubtful that FEMA would have done any better if it had been asked. But the governor specifically turned down federal control before Katrina hit. The mayor of New Orleans specifically told the governor that he was in charge and did not turn the city over to state control. The mayor turned away evacuation services from Amtrak. Your tale about the school busses is a red herring. The school busses were the backbone of the evacuation plan drawn up by New Orleans and submitted to Homeland Security for emergency evacuation well in advance of Katrina.

After Katrina hit, the mayor of New Orleans appeared on television ordering that busses show up immediately and evacuate people. The Mayor’s pleas may have been dramatic, but his force of political power stops at the city limits. It was a classic example of too little too late.

The current governor of Louisiana has made certain that hurricane plans are complete and the state government and New Orleans government not only have a plan, but are prepared to act. This past September, Louisiana showed that the state and the city have pulled themselves up to the adult level.

Louisiana is no stranger to hurricanes. What is always lost in the Katrina story is how well Mississippi, Alabama and Florida handled the same devastation from Katrina. New Orleans immediately played the victim card and shifted the blame.

It is clear that you have a dog in this fight. But, politics aside, New Orleans and Louisiana were the first responders and the governor and the mayor went into the eye of the storm like it was just another career move.

Maybe New Orleans will have a flood of evacuees from Houston some day and the city will have the chance to handle the influx with the good spirits and competency demonstrated in Houston. Personally, I don’t think The Big Easy will ever escape the filth and deceit of its long entrenched political system.

Priceless.

I have met a lot of people who experienced the epiphany of the depth of leftist bile when Hillary was so ignominiously dumped and dumped upon.

But, Ann Coulter aside, when right-wing orators stir up left-wing crud, it is valid political commentary. Obama is a remarkable phenomenon. What is lacking in the man that the MSM refused and refuses to address? It is all those things the right-wing orators have pointed out.

Palin was savaged by the left-wing. But her executive experience far exceeds that of Obama. Certainly, if you were being a disinterested judge, you could make the list of Palin’s and Obama’s executive leadership and actions and show it graphically. But the passion of partisanship and the divide between being devoutly “progressive” or “conservative” makes individuals do and say irrational things.

In defense of Ann Coulter, she is the Imus or Howard Stern of right-wing commentary. The left-wing never dismantles her premiss, they go apoplectic over her adjectives. That is her shtick and it is mostly amusing to the choir and rarely accepted by the sinners.

Rush Limbaugh predicted the Hillary/Obama rift and started “Operation Chaos” to exploit it.

New Hampshire has a devastating influence on the primaries. People can pour in there from everywhere and vote in the primary. (They only have to say they are thinking of moving to New Hampshire.) The Republicans got nailed with John McCain because of this. Perhaps a lot of Democrats flooded in to choose him. That is Rush Limbaugh’s conclusion.

So, in Operation Chaos, Rush suggested that Republicans keep Hillary going in the primaries. It worked, but many Democrats were enraged that this was unsportsmanlike conduct and was making a mockery of ….. blah, blah, blah. Of course, ACORN which receives a lot of federal funding is not a non-partisan, totally above board altruistic band of idealists who are bringing the vote to the isolated little people. ACORN is a sleazy Democrat gang of ideologues that targets the lazy, the deceitful, the reprobates, and even the mentally ill in key precincts. Besides which, they flood the zone with multiple bogus registrations and costly, frivolous legal maneuvers all to weaken and confuse the election process.

Before you dismiss right-wing orators out of hand, I suggest you examine your own “progressive” principles. If you believe in wealth redistribution by state intervention, socialized medicine, education, retirement, etc., using the force of law to manage the culture, limiting political speech on the airwaves, government management of the economy, etc. then you will find that your principles are in conflict with conservative principles.

However, if you are mostly concerned about improving health care and access to it, meeting the energy problems head on, improving education, expanding the economy, strengthening the infrastructure, defending the country against enemies both domestic and foreign and preserving the freedoms in the Bill of Rights you might be open to conservatism and right-wing oratory.