Re: God Is Looking Down On All This

This is absolutely gut-wrenching ***. Thanks for the update.


"Gumboman" <noemail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Do6dnYYkftVs8IXeRVn-pQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Transcript of an interview with the mayor of NO that was posted on Daily
> Kos.
>
>
> Ray Nagin: You just tell him we had an incredible crisis here, and that
> his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. And that I have
> been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not
> able to marshall resources, and we're outmanned in just about every
> respect.
>
> You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had
> most of our resources saving people, thousands of people, that were stuck
> in attics, man... old ladies... when you pull off the doggone ventilator
> vent, and you look down there, and they're standing there in water up to
> their fricking neck...!
>
> And they don't have a clue what's going on down there. They flew down
> here one time, two days after the doggone event was over, with TV cameras,
> AP reporters, all kinds of goddamn -- excuse my French, everybody in
> America, but I am pissed.
>
> Garland Robinette: Did you say to the President of the United States, I
> need the military in here?"
>
> RN: I said I need everything. I will tell you this, I'll give the
> President some credit on this: he sent one John Wayne dude that can get
> some stuff done, and his name is General Honore. And he came off the
> doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And
> he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy -- if they
> don't want to give it to me, give him full authority, to get the job done
> and we can save some people.
>
> GR: What do you need right now to get control of this situation?
>
> RN: I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses. Man,
> they were talking about... you know, one of the briefings we had, they
> were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here ...
> I'm like, you've got to be kidding me! This is a national disaster! Get
> every doggone Greyhound busline in the country, and get their asses moving
> to New Orleans. That's them thinking small, man.... this is a major major
> major deal!
>
> And I can't emphasize this enough, man -- this is crazy! I've got
> 15,000-20,000 people over at the Convention Centre, it's bursting at the
> seams. The poor people in Plaquemines parish... they're air-bagging
> people over here in New Orleans... we don't have anything and we're
> sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines parish. It's awful down here,
> man.
>
> GR: Do you believe that the President is serious, holding a news
> conference on it, but can't do anything until [Louisiana Governor]
> Catherine Blanco requests him to do it, and do you know whether or not
> she's made that request?
>
> RN: I have no idea what they're doing, but I'll tell you this. You know,
> God is looking down on all this... and if theyre not doing everything in
> their power to save people, they are going to pay the price. Because
> every day that we delay, people are dying... and they're dying by the
> hundreds, I'm willing to bet you.
>
> We're getting reports in calling that are breaking my heart, from people
> saying, 'I'm in my attic...I can't take it any more. The water's up to my
> neck. I don't think I can hold out. And that's happening as we speak.
>
> And you know what really upsets me, Garland. We told everybody the
> importance of the 17th Street Canal issue. We said, please, please take
> care of this, we don't care what you do, figure it out.
>
> GR: Who did you say that to?
>
> RN: Everybody -- the governor, Homeland Security, FEMA... you name it, we
> said it.
>
> They allowed that pumping station, next to Pumping Station 6, to go
> underwater. Our sewage and waterwork people [unclear] stayed there and
> endangered their lives. And what happened when that pumping station went
> down, the water started flowing again in the city, and started getting to
> levels that probably killed more people.
>
> In addition to that, we had water flowing through the pipes in the city,
> that's a power station over there. So there's no water flowing on the
> east bank of Orleans Parish, so critical water supply was destroyed
> because of lack of action.
>
> GR: Why couldn't they drop the 3,000-pound sandbags or the containers that
> they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that could
> not be done?
>
> RN: They said it was some pulleys that they had to manufacture but you
> know, in a state of emergency, man, you are creative, you figure out ways
> to get stuff done. Then they told me that they went overnight, they built
> 17 concrete structures, and they had the pulleys on them and were going to
> drop them.
>
> I flew over that thing yesterday [Wednesday] and it's in the same shape as
> it was after the storm hit. There's nothing happening. And they're
> feeding the public a line of bull. And they're spinning and people are
> dying down here.
>
> GR: If some of the public called, and they're right, that there's a law
> that the president, that the federal government, can't do anything without
> local or state request, would you request martial law?
>
> RN: I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans. We
> did that few days ago.
>
> GR: Did the governor do that, too?
>
> RN: I don't know. I don't think so. We called for martial law when we
> realized that the looting was getting out of control and we redirected all
> of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dead
> tired from saving people. They worked all night because we thought this
> thing was going to blow wide open last night, and so we redirected all of
> our resources and we held... I'm not sure we can do that another night,
> with the current resources.
>
> I'm telling you right now, they're showing all these reports of looting,
> people doing all that weird stuff, and they are doing that. But people
> are desperate. They're trying to find food and water. The majority of
> them.
>
> You have some knuckleheads out there, taking advantage of the lawlessness,
> this situation where, you know, we can't really control it, and they're
> doing some awful, awful things. But that's a small [minority] of the
> people. Most people are looking to try and survive.
>
> Nobody's talked about this: drugs flow in and out of New Orleans and the
> surrounding metropolitan area so freely they were scaring me. That's what
> we have an escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this,
> but I'm going to talk about it. You have drug addicts that are now
> walking around this city, looking for a fix. That's the reason why they
> were breaking into hospitals and drug stores. They're looking for
> something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will. And right now
> they don't have anything to take the edge off, and they've finally
> probably found guns. So what you see is drug-starving, crazy addicts, drug
> addicts, that are wreaking havoc. And we don't have the manpower to
> adequately deal with it. We can only target certain sections of the city,
> and form a perimeter around them, and hope to God that we're not overrun.
>
> GR: You and I must be in the minority, because apparently there's a
> section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law that says
> the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper
> people, that everything that's been going on to this point has been as
> good as it can possibly be.
>
> RN: Really?
>
> GR: I know you don't feel that way.
>
> RN: Well... did the tsunami victims request? Did they go through a formal
> process to request? Did Iraq -- did the Iraqi people request that we go
> in there? Did they ask us to go in there?
>
> What is more important? I tell ya man, I'm probably going to be in a
> whole bunch of trouble, I'm probably going to be in so much trouble it
> ain't even funny. You probably won't even want to deal with me after this
> interview is over.
>
> GR: You and I will be in the funny place together.
>
> RN: But -- we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq, lickety-quick. After
> 9/11, we gave the president unprecedented powers -- lickety-quick -- to
> take care of New York and other places. Now you mean to tell me that a
> place where most of the oil is coming through... a place that is so
> unique, when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world,
> everybody's eyes light up... you mean to tell me that a place where you
> probably have thousands people that have died, and thousands more that are
> dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources
> that we need? Come on, man.
>
> You know I'm not one of those drug addicts, I am thinking very clearly.
> And I don't know whose problem it is. I don't know whether it's the
> governor's problem, I don't know whether it's the president's problem.
> But somebody needs to get their ass on a plane, and sit down, the two of
> them, and figure this out right now."
>
> GR: What can we do here?
>
> RN: Keep talking about it.
>
> GR: Okay, we'll do that What else can we do?
>
> RN: Organize people to write letters, make calls to their congressmen --
>
> GR: Emails...
>
> RN: -- to the president, to the governor. Fill their doggone offices with
> requests to do something. This is ridiculous.
>
> I don't want to see anybody do any more goddamn press conferences. Put a
> moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until
> the resources are in this city, and they come down to this city, and stand
> with us, with their military trucks and troops that we can't even count.
> Don't tell me there are 40,000 people coming here, they're not here! It's
> too goddamn late!
>
> Get off your asses and let's do something. Let's fix the biggest goddamn
> crisis in the history of this country!
>
> GR: I'll tell you, right now, you're the only politician that's called,
> and called for arms like this. And whatever it takes, the governor, the
> president... whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes... I bet
> that the people listening to you are on your side.
>
> RN: Well, I hope so, Garland. I am just... I'm at the point now, where it
> don't matter. People are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have
> jobs. The City of New Orleans will never be the same. And it's time.
>
> (Then there's silence. Background studio noise comes up as the
> microphones self-adjust to pick something up. You hear sniffling...
> Nagin's in tears. Interviewer too.)
>
> GR: We're both pretty speechless here.
>
> RN: I don't know what to say. I've got to go. Okay. Keep in touch
>
>


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