If I Were Prez… [post-katrina hindsight]
If I Were Prez…
Okay, I admit I’m just a dumb woman/mother/grandmother who’s never run anything bigger than a seven-kid family and one-person business of my own...so, who the flyin’ fleep am I, to tell the leaders of the world’s greatest country how to run things, right? But, if I were in charge of things down there in the hurricane-prone South, and/or could take over the reins, as the nation’s daddy figure, here’s what I would’ve done right away, or would do right now, quicker’n you can spit:
- airdropped food, water, bug spray and flotation gear to those trapped on highways and roofs of major buildings, who can’t get to safety/dry land...
- airdropped food, water, oxygen and police/armed troops to hospitals, to keep them safe from the looters that are now breaking in looking for drugs, food, and whatever...
- evacuated all hospitals, by any means available, as soon as the storm had passed...
- long ago had all fire trucks equipped with simple pumps capable of using flood water to put out fires, so the firemen don’t have to stand around and watch the Latin Quarter begin to burn down...
- paid for levees to be built big enough, strong enough to withstand a category 5 hurricane, instead of only a 3, when a 5 was bound to arrive eventually, to save lives, instead of subsidizing casinos where people ruin their lives...
- stopped the levee breaks right away, by chopper-delivered material commandeered from whatever source was available, no matter who owned it and no matter how many private industry workers had to be impressed into service to get it done...
- prepared the Super Dome properly, ahead of time, with the promised medical needs, with enough food and water for the largest number of refugees the place could hold, with a large enough cadre of troops/police to keep order, and with an evacuation plan in place to get all out ASAP, if/when those sheltered there were endangered further...
- had a plan to handle prisoners, if the jails and prisons were not safe, with ways to immobilize them, so citizens in danger of dying could be trucked out, before the criminals were...
- made sure the nation had enough military might still in the country, to handle any kind of major emergency that might arise, no matter how many wars we were fighting in other parts of the world...
- had a plan in place to handle looters, leaving them handcuffed wherever caught, to fend for themselves, if necessary... and called in the Army, with city placed under martial law, at first report of hospitals being attacked...
- had stockpiles of all necessary supplies/vehicles, etc., stored in places well above the flood-prone ‘bowl’ of the city and underground, where safe from hurricane winds...
- sent the navy with support ships, a hospital ship, supplies, choppers, and amphibious landing craft capable of evacuating survivors, refugees, and saving those trapped by floodwaters...
- had a plan in place to relocate, house, treat, and support a million or more sick, emotionally-shattered, homeless refugees, since the ‘big one’ has been predicted for decades...
- cancelled all I was doing [including vacationing] the minute I knew a disaster was in the making...
- addressed the nation from the serious Oval Office, not the pretty Rose Garden, when my people were suffering and dying by the score, in conditions no American can even imagine...and done it the first day, not two or three days after the catastrophe hit...
But, I’m not, of course. I’m just a dumb, unpolitical woman with no clout whatsoever. Nobody special. Just a mom who knows how to take care of her kids, and will do her damnedest to figure out how to save them, whenever they’re in danger. No matter how many she has. Hey, it’s nothing more’n plain, ordinary common sense, right? But, I guess it’s not, is it? Common, that is. Not in those who we need to have it most, that’s for sure!
If I Were Prez…
Okay, I admit I’m just a dumb woman/mother/grandmother who’s never run anything bigger than a seven-kid family and one-person business of my own...so, who the flyin’ fleep am I, to tell the leaders of the world’s greatest country how to run things, right? But, if I were in charge of things down there in the hurricane-prone South, and/or could take over the reins, as the nation’s daddy figure, here’s what I would’ve done right away, or would do right now, quicker’n you can spit:
- airdropped food, water, bug spray and flotation gear to those trapped on highways and roofs of major buildings, who can’t get to safety/dry land...
- airdropped food, water, oxygen and police/armed troops to hospitals, to keep them safe from the looters that are now breaking in looking for drugs, food, and whatever...
- evacuated all hospitals, by any means available, as soon as the storm had passed...
- long ago had all fire trucks equipped with simple pumps capable of using flood water to put out fires, so the firemen don’t have to stand around and watch the Latin Quarter begin to burn down...
- paid for levees to be built big enough, strong enough to withstand a category 5 hurricane, instead of only a 3, when a 5 was bound to arrive eventually, to save lives, instead of subsidizing casinos where people ruin their lives...
- stopped the levee breaks right away, by chopper-delivered material commandeered from whatever source was available, no matter who owned it and no matter how many private industry workers had to be impressed into service to get it done...
- prepared the Super Dome properly, ahead of time, with the promised medical needs, with enough food and water for the largest number of refugees the place could hold, with a large enough cadre of troops/police to keep order, and with an evacuation plan in place to get all out ASAP, if/when those sheltered there were endangered further...
- had a plan to handle prisoners, if the jails and prisons were not safe, with ways to immobilize them, so citizens in danger of dying could be trucked out, before the criminals were...
- made sure the nation had enough military might still in the country, to handle any kind of major emergency that might arise, no matter how many wars we were fighting in other parts of the world...
- had a plan in place to handle looters, leaving them handcuffed wherever caught, to fend for themselves, if necessary... and called in the Army, with city placed under martial law, at first report of hospitals being attacked...
- had stockpiles of all necessary supplies/vehicles, etc., stored in places well above the flood-prone ‘bowl’ of the city and underground, where safe from hurricane winds...
- sent the navy with support ships, a hospital ship, supplies, choppers, and amphibious landing craft capable of evacuating survivors, refugees, and saving those trapped by floodwaters...
- had a plan in place to relocate, house, treat, and support a million or more sick, emotionally-shattered, homeless refugees, since the ‘big one’ has been predicted for decades...
- cancelled all I was doing [including vacationing] the minute I knew a disaster was in the making...
- addressed the nation from the serious Oval Office, not the pretty Rose Garden, when my people were suffering and dying by the score, in conditions no American can even imagine...and done it the first day, not two or three days after the catastrophe hit...
But, I’m not, of course. I’m just a dumb, unpolitical woman with no clout whatsoever. Nobody special. Just a mom who knows how to take care of her kids, and will do her damnedest to figure out how to save them, whenever they’re in danger. No matter how many she has. Hey, it’s nothing more’n plain, ordinary common sense, right? But, I guess it’s not, is it? Common, that is. Not in those who we need to have it most, that’s for sure!