That I let myself get sucked into a political discussion about this. Right now the only thing we whould be talking about is how to help the people who need it most.

Go to Oliver’s current post (09/01/2005) and give what you can. Or find other ways you can help.

That is much more important right now. If you want to snipe, there is an election next year.

And that Minnesota blue/red thing? Minnesota has been a blue state for a long time and yet those counties in the west and south have long been toss ups. Minnesota is blue because of the dominance of the Twin Cities and the Iron Range counties which have traditionally been hard core DFL. (Although the suburbs of the Twin Cities have grown immensely and are becoming heavily Republican.)

Perhaps more on point, North Dakota has one of the highest call-ups of National Guard units per capita in the country. What happens if Grand Forks floods? Or tornadoes hit a city? We’re gonna be in a lot of trouble.

National Guard units should stay in the states so when we need them, we have them. Selfish of me? You bet!

Guess what, North Dakotans? The next time Grand Forks is flooded, Jack Chambliss wants us to fend for ourselves. No longer shall we receive “charity” and “handouts” from the federal government to clean up and rebuild. We’re not welfare queens in N…

I don’t believe I will, Marty. MN, especially in 1997, was a blue state. One can even argue North Dakota, with two Dem Senators at the time, was still more blue than red.

As for NOLA flood monies being diverted to Iraq and to Homeland Security, you ll need to document that claim.

I’m certain your apology is forthcoming.

Why Marty Should Apologize

Key excerpts:

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security — coming at the same time as federal tax cuts — was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: “No one can say they didn’t see it coming. … Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation.”

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.

On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: “It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.”

Emphasis mine.

As for NOLA flood monies being diverted to Iraq and to Homeland Security, you’ll need to document that claim. Show me ONE non-blog, non-editorial link that proves that claim. (Not that I’m saying that you’re making that up…. Well… Actually, I am saying that.)

In 2001 (before 9/11), FEMA came out with a list of what they considered to be likely catastrophic scenarios for the US. They were: terrorist attacks in NYC, a major earthquake in the Bay area, and a hurricane hitting NOLA.

This was 4 years ago. Before 9/11.

Before 9/11, AWOL George’s admin cut funding for counter-terrorism. We now know from the 9/11 Commission–only one person was actively working Al Qaeda–while there were some 400 FBI agents cracking down on prostitution in NOLA. We know AWOL George basically ignored PDBs and his NSC seemed uninterested in OBL and his crew.

Now, we’re finding (post-9/11) that monies that were earmarked to improve levees in NOLA and better flood management were diverted to Iraq and Homeland Security.

There’s really no need to be subtle about this. FEMA, in 2001, told this administration what the likely catastrophes might be. 2 of 3 have come to passand in each instance this admin has been behind the curve.

I wouldn’t say that they are DECIDEDLY blue areas. You can’t even call Minnesota a DECIDEDLY blue state anymore with a Republican Governor and a Republican State House. Only the State Senate as a Democrat Majority. And the Congressional Delegation is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. But how nice of you to take a cheap shot at Rob. Perhaps you should look within and check your facts before challenging someone’s education and intelligence.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/MN/P/00/map.html

And Rob is definitely right about North Dakota.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/ND/P/00/map.html

But somehow I knew you would find a subtle way to do it. (Or perhaps, not so subtle.)

In pont of fact, the areas most harmed by the 1997 flooding (Grand Forks, ND, E. Grand Forks, MN and Ada, MN) are decidedly blue areas.

I realize Rob would like to pretend the flooding only affected North Dakota and never crossed that imaginary wall into MN but that’s pretty typical of Rob’s lack of education and general low intelligence.

Why should it take anyone long to point out the simple truth?

The facts are what they are. I just visited another blog where a conservative poster was trying to make the case that it’s pretty stupid for people to live in New Orleans. That spending federal funds to improve levees and flood management is just throwing away money.

As for the smaller Govt. issue; would you disagree that the hallmark of the GOP has been to run on a smaller Govt. platform? Yet, when Repugs hold all the keys to power–why hasn’t Govt. gotten smaller? In fact, over the past 50 years, GOP admins have increased the size of Govt. at a rate greater than Dem admins.

Last time I checked, ND was a crimson red state. I should know. I live there.

Grand Forks and Fargo (both in the red river flood plane) are university towns and thus a bit more blue than the rest of the state, but saying that its a “democrat” area is, well, stupid.

Though really that’s pretty much a hallmark of Jadegold comments.

I think you simplify it too much, Oliver…but your key point remains intact: that Government agencies like FEMA are best suited to respond to national disasters. The CDC is best suited to respond to a viral outbreak. The FDA is best suited to respond to a recall of a dangerous drug that is on the market. The NIH is best suited to do basic biomedical research.

The list goes on. There are thousands of Govt. success stories…but it’s waste, fraud and abuse that get reported in the “liberal” media. In fact, that “liberal” bastion of American journalism, ABC news, regularly reports on the “Fleecing of America.”

Well, it could be worse. If they followed the Fox News formula, they could be on their 11th week of Natalie Holloway. (I feel for the family as much as the next guy, but people go missing every single day. One wonders if it’s just the well-connected that get CNN/Fox news airtime when bad things happen to them.)

JK