Worst Case

What a mess this storm is going to turn out to be.

First off, people are wigging out. Big time. All roads out of costal regions are clogged, like a public toilet at a chili cook-off. At this point, people need to re-assess their plan. The place to be is NOT in your car. You are far better off in your home than a car. If you are not in a storm surge danger area, or other flood zone, secure your home and stay there. If you must leave, hit up a public shelter near your home. You do not have to drive to North Dakota, although at this point it seems like a good idea to move there.

But what I think is interesting is the human buildup. Last storm, Georgie was on vacation, in TEXAS, where he lives, and we all know what happened. There was no plan. It took far too long to get any serious recovery assets in place. The guy in charge of FEMA was shown to be an idiot who got his job because he used to be a drinkin buddy of The Shrub.

For this storm, there are all kinds of assets spread over a wide area. The military is ready to act. Planes and trucks and ships are loaded with all kinds of stuff. There will be a swift and heavy federal response - relief will be pouring in as the winds die down.

Keep in mind that Katrina was only a few weeks ago, and for that storm there was much jackassery afoot.

So where did all these plans come from? Remember people saying stuff like "it takes time to make plans" and "things can not happen overnight" and "Louisiana did not file FEMA form 82.49-A and Pentagon form 5675.997-C, in triplicate, then fax it to the proper location to formaly request help". I remember people saying this stuff. I remember some guy in a suit with the deer-in-the-headlights look saying that the former FEMA director was doing a great job, when in fact nothing was getting done.

Now that it is TEXAS, and more importantly the oil refineries in TEXAS, that are in danger - things are mobilized and ready to move in. And where does Bush supposedly live, before he lived for most of his life in New England? And how did his family get all their money? Texas and oil you say??? Hummmmm....

Of course, The Lazy One does not think that the landfall location is the motivating factor here. The federal government has a history of watching a disaster happen while not being prepared for it - then over compensating for that inaction later. We are just seeing that happen in a short time frame.

The motivating factor for all this is Katrina. Plain and simple. People are wigging out, and roads are clogged, because of Katrina. The federal government has things ready to move in because Katrina made them look so bad.

I hope that everyone in the path does what they need to do - be that evacuate, move into a shelter, or shutter up and ride it out at home. Whatever aid is needed after the storm, people need to get. This whole "nobody asked for it" excuse used for the last storm is total bullshit.

I will wait and see what this storm does, realizing that it COULD have been me in the path. It is not like South Floirda is North Dakota or anything. I want to see swift action on the federal level. I want to see military stuff there. I want to see how fast tent hospitals can be set up.

But I think that no matter what happens, Bush is in a no win situation. If things go well people will point to Katrina and say that things were ready for Rita because it was Texas, and the Texas refineries, that were in the cone of death. And if things are managed poorly, people will rip Bush an ass for obvious reasons.

What would you do if you were President? Do you order in everything to make up for last time? How about doing nothing? Nope, that would be worse.