How would Al Gore or John Kerry have handled Katrina any differently?

mmarshall · 09-12-05, 07:07 PM

Since there are so many in CL who want to criticize the way President Bush handled the Katrina relief effort (even though much of the apparant initial blame rests on local and state authorities there), let me pose a WHOLE new thread here and a whole new line of discussion.. Suppose Al Gore had won in 2000 and a second term in 2004.......and HE had to deal with this mess. Since you want to point so many fingers at Bush.........how would Gore have done any better? What would ( or could ) he have done that Bush didn't? Or...... suppose that John Kerry would have won last year....his first term. How would HE have dealt with the mess under these awful circumstances? I know much of this is speculation, but if you guys think that another President would have done so much better, lets hear HOW and WHY.
I, for my part.......I have no problems with Bush or how he handled it, so I'll keep quiet and turn it over to you anti-Bush guys and see what Gore or Kerry would have done instead to win your approval.

Matters · 09-12-05, 11:16 PM

Same thing, but with better hair.

drink300 · 09-13-05, 01:21 AM

Al Gore would blame it on Global Warming and promptly hold a summit to discuss the issue with leaders including RFK Jr, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. He would then issue a press release claiming that he invented the modern-day hurricane.

John Kerry would blame it on the rich and promptly tax them to pay for the cleanup. But then after discovering a new Gallup poll claiming that Americans hate taxes, he would retract the new tax law. Well darn, he just can't decide. After all, he was for the hurricane before he voted against it.

On day two, he would tour the flood area in a swift boat, take fire from some rougue looters and be forced to issue himself a purple heart.

drink300

GS wanted · 09-13-05, 01:54 AM

In all honestly if anybody is anti-Bush and pro-anybody but Bush it wouldn't matter if their actions were the same as Bush's or not. Personally, I'm not a Bush supporter. I think a president should be voted in by the people rather than appointed by the court. That's a completely different can of worms though.

Every president has their faults but personal perceptions are key in how they are viewed. Bottom line, politics aside, Bush is not personable to me. He does not come across as sincere or polished at all. Now insert the politics, i.e. capital punishment statistics in his great state of Texas along with the racial implications and overtones, his anti-abortion stance, etc. and there is additional support for not liking him. Further, add this war under false pretense he has us in and it's lackluster execution and there is more fuel for the fire. Add to the mix his holier than thou hypocritical religious rhetoric (wow, talk about your assonance and alliteration...ha ha ha) and that fire just keeps blazing. I don't think I Bush-bash

I just don't like the guy. With that said, if any other president were in the same exact situation and carried out the same actions I'd have issues with them too. But if they came across as smooth, coherent, knowledgeable, and compassionate as slick Willy they'd be more likely to get a pass in many people's books. Right or wrong I think a lot of people view it that way.

And more specific to your direct question, with Bush's perceived agenda to supercede state's rights (authority in this case) he could have actually done so by usurping Governor Blanco's authority and there probably wouldn't have been much objection. Then again, there's always the possibility that FEMA wouldn't have been downgraded or had their budget slashed so dramatically by Gore or Kerry either. We know that Clinton's FEMA Project Impact plan was canceled under Bush. We're only left to speculate whether Gore or Kerry would have done the same.

RobSoVIP · 09-13-05, 02:55 AM

He probably would not have been on a 5 week vacation... and he probably would not have stayed on vacation for 2 days after the storm struck. The vice president would not have stayed on vacation till 5 days after the storm struck. He probably wouldn't put a Horse Club president incharge of FEMA...

But what is this thread going to accomplish, this is all guessing. The sad fact is that it doesn't matter what other people would / could have done. What matters is what has been done.

O. L. T. · 09-13-05, 03:55 AM

Gore would have been on it pretty quick, it's just a TN thing to want to help out. People do it for sport around here.

Kerry would have needed to consult his yacht club schedule and ask his wife for permission. He didn't have 1/10th the balls needed to run this country nor manage aid.

Lil4X · 09-13-05, 06:27 AM

Gore would have gone to New Orleans and spoken to the refugees at the Superdome by October 1 - conducting a master class on the implications of depleting the ozone layer and how hurricanes were the result of global warming, which he has opposed. Being a signatory of the Kyoto Agreement, he would explain in a three-hour PowerPoint presentation, we could look forward to fewer hurricanes in ten thousand years. Mistaken for a cadaver, he would have been carried out of the Superdome in a body bag during a lull in his speech by the National Guard . . . which he invented.

Clinton would have gone to New Orleans but never gotten past the Quarter. He was just there to hide from the martinet he married and see if he could pick up some chicks. Hillary, being the world's smartest woman, would have finally had him shot by setting up an ambush at his private table at Rick's. She would be accused of unfairly hunting over bait, but her shadow government would have her exonerated, claiming "he done her wrong". The crime would have been pinned on a pair of innocent lap dancers.

Kerry would have long since disbanded the military, turning over the officer corps to al Qaeda for their disloyalty, muttering something about how, given time he would have found the strawberries . . . and awarding himself the Congressional Medal of Honor. In the aftermath of Katrina, he would have negotiated aid from the NVA, renamed New Orleans Ho Chi Minh City, and begged the French Army to patrol the streets - since they both spoke the language and could drink the coffee. HQ would be the Cafe du Mond, where the grande latte – all foam - would be named in his honor. Of course, Kerry himself would never visit the city because of all of the dirty, low-class people there, but would supervise the recovery effort from the Paris White House – but only when his wife let him.

LexRoc · 09-13-05, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drink300

Al Gore would blame it on Global Warming and promptly hold a summit to discuss the issue with leaders including RFK Jr, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. He would then issue a press release claiming that he invented the modern-day hurricane.

John Kerry would blame it on the rich and promptly tax them to pay for the cleanup. But then after discovering a new Gallup poll claiming that Americans hate taxes, he would retract the new tax law. Well darn, he just can't decide. After all, he was for the hurricane before he voted against it.

On day two, he would tour the flood area in a swift boat, take fire from some rougue looters and be forced to issue himself a purple heart.

drink300

mmarshall · 09-13-05, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sc400texas

He probably would not have been on a 5 week vacation... and he probably would not have stayed on vacation for 2 days after the storm struck. The vice president would not have stayed on vacation till 5 days after the storm struck. He probably wouldn't put a Horse Club president incharge of FEMA...

But what is this thread going to accomplish, this is all guessing. The sad fact is that it doesn't matter what other people would / could have done. What matters is what has been done.

The point of the thread, sc400, as I first stated, is that if people are going to bad-mouth Bush for his actions following the hurricane, WHAT basis do they have to believe that Gore or Kerry would ( or could ) have done any better? That is not just speculation....that is simply justifying critisism.

GS wanted · 09-13-05, 09:44 AM

LexRoc,
At least we agree on the beauty of the C5.

(ha ha)

bitkahuna · 09-13-05, 10:58 AM

Gore and Kerry would have probably been on scene sooner than Bush did - that picture of him looking out Air Force One will haunt him. Gore and Kerry would probably also have worked more effectively with Blanco.

Kerry would have sent in truckloads of ketchup.

GS wanted · 09-13-05, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitkahuna

Gore and Kerry would have probably been on scene sooner than Bush did - that picture of him looking out Air Force One will haunt him. Gore and Kerry would probably also have worked more effectively with Blanco.

agreed.

RobSoVIP · 09-13-05, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitkahuna

Gore and Kerry would have probably been on scene sooner than Bush did - that picture of him looking out Air Force One will haunt him. Gore and Kerry would probably also have worked more effectively with Blanco.

Kerry would have sent in truckloads of ketchup.

Ketchup...

Your absolutly right though. Bush's statement about flying over seperated himself from the common man (which imo was one of his strong points during the 2004 elections since Kerry was viewed as being high class, while bush was more of a mans man

RON430 · 09-13-05, 05:12 PM

I am beginning to find these sorts of threads somewhere between depressing and naive. I think that we should realize that the president, whoever he/she is, is far more a figurehead in these things than an actual participant. Our democratic republic presents constraints on our input but the majority of the posts in these threads are playing politics. Maybe as they should.

I am definitely more interested in setting up a system of response to fix the failures in this whole event. We will need them again in the future whether for another hurricane, flood, earthquake, or terrorist event. Maybe even happening in another country. And I want this country to fix or establish an institution that can respond in the way that we as voters and taxpayers have a right to expect. I could care less whether the photo op helps or hurts a Democrat or Republican.

bitkahuna · 09-13-05, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RON430

I am beginning to find these sorts of threads somewhere between depressing and naive. I think that we should realize that the president, whoever he/she is, is far more a figurehead in these things than an actual participant. Our democratic republic presents constraints on our input but the majority of the posts in these threads are playing politics. Maybe as they should.

I am definitely more interested in setting up a system of response to fix the failures in this whole event. We will need them again in the future whether for another hurricane, flood, earthquake, or terrorist event. Maybe even happening in another country. And I want this country to fix or establish an institution that can respond in the way that we as voters and taxpayers have a right to expect. I could care less whether the photo op helps or hurts a Democrat or Republican.

Process drives action. But perceptions drive emotions.