May I point out that major US city's *have* had this level of destruction before, for example you might have heard of a little something called the Great Chicago Fire?
Which part of "in living memory" is causing confusion here?
(Hint: Great Chicago Fire took place in 1871;
Dumb as he may be the man does not control the weather and is not responisble for building a city below sea level on the coast of an area that gets yearly hurricanes.
Nope; he sure as hell does have a lot of control over funding, though, and there was an *awful* lot of money taken out of the levee-building programs to fund our ill-conceived adventures in Iraq.
If you don't think it's viable to go on protecting New Orleans, fine, *make* that decision. Declare that federal funding for protection etc will cease. Make arrangements well in advance so the nation's economy isn't severely damaged by sudden loss of one of its biggest ports. Organise a relocation program for those who can't go elsewhere on their own resources, so you don't get the massive social disruption and death toll that inevitably occurs when thousands of refugees show up in the nearest town above water.
But don't treat it as a gamble where you can cut the programs below safe levels, do a half-arsed job, and hope that the next big one won't hit for a few year, when some other President will have to carry the can.
no subject
Which part of "in living memory" is causing confusion here?
(Hint: Great Chicago Fire took place in 1871;
Dumb as he may be the man does not control the weather and is not responisble for building a city below sea level on the coast of an area that gets yearly hurricanes.
Nope; he sure as hell does have a lot of control over funding, though, and there was an *awful* lot of money taken out of the levee-building programs to fund our ill-conceived adventures in Iraq.
If you don't think it's viable to go on protecting New Orleans, fine, *make* that decision. Declare that federal funding for protection etc will cease. Make arrangements well in advance so the nation's economy isn't severely damaged by sudden loss of one of its biggest ports. Organise a relocation program for those who can't go elsewhere on their own resources, so you don't get the massive social disruption and death toll that inevitably occurs when thousands of refugees show up in the nearest town above water.
But don't treat it as a gamble where you can cut the programs below safe levels, do a half-arsed job, and hope that the next big one won't hit for a few year, when some other President will have to carry the can.