Over the weekend, I wrote about politicians high fiving each other over the "excellent" FEMA response to Hurricane Sandy, but when you hear from hurricane victims, FEMA is doing anything but working efficiently to help people.
Joseph Curl over at the Washington Times asks, "Imagine if Bush had..."
Imagine if the bashed and thrashed 43rd president had popped over to FEMA for a 30-minute photo op, then jetted off for yet another campaign rally with Hollywood celebs?
“This continues to be my number one priority,” the president said at his FEMA photo-op Saturday before skipping back off to the campaign trail. Lest any reporter think the federal response was ever not Mr. Obama’s No. 1 priority, a campaign flack aboard Air Force One said, “He’s focused on it every minute he’s not on the stage.”
Play the game one more time: “Imagine if Bush had said that?”
Mr. Obama and his top aides flustered and blustered and bloviated over their superior pre-storm planning. The president vowed that nothing — nothing — would stop him from saving New York and New Jersey from the vicious storm. He pledged to be on the case around the clock, come hell or high water. And then he blew out of town, headed to Vegas.
The storm hit one week ago. What is the status of the states hardest hit? Dire. There are still 2.5 million without power, and temperatures have dipped into the 20s (another powerful storm is blowing up the coast and expected to hit the region by midweek). Bodies are still being recovered in Staten Island. Chaos reigns in the streets of the outer boroughs. Residents have taken up arms — baseball bats, machetes, shotguns — as crime and looting soar. Handmade signs popped up: “Looters Will Be Shot” and “Block Protected By Smith & Wesson.”
“It’s like the Wild West, a borderline lawless situation,” said one resident as he stockpiled knives, a machete and a bow and arrow.
By Sunday, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg felt safe enough to hit the streets. “When are we gonna get some f–ing help?” one woman asked bluntly. And more federal officials were on their way: Department of Homeland Security Chief Janet A. Napolitano strolled the hardest-hit areas, again with egoist Chris Christie.
Nowhere, so far at least, are the obvious questions: Why didn’t FEMA set up gas reserves well in advance? The storm was on the radar screen for more than a week, and a direct hit was never in doubt. How about food, water, even generators? All could have been positioned nearby and moved in quickly after Sandy hit. And a week later, the stranded are still asking: Why is it taking so long?
Then, there's NYC Mayor Micheal Bloomberg who endorsed President Obama last week in the name of climate change, referring questions about help for hurricane victims "to the press guy."
Makes you miss this guy, eh?
