Recall eligible?

[hvp05]

I wrote this post a day and a half ago -- with no response. I'll try again...

The specific part that I would like attention brought to regards the potential for a recall of New Orleans Mayor Nagin and/or Louisiana Governor Blanco. I am especially interested in this in light of intense criticism of FEMA's Michael Brown.

This site lays out many recall particularities. Only 18 states allow the action, and Louisiana is one.

Impeachment requires the House to bring specific charges and the Senate to act as a jury. In most of the eighteen recall states, specific grounds are not required, and the recall of a state official is by an election.

And...

Proponents of the recall maintain that it provides a way for citizens to retain control over elected officials who are not representing the best interests of their constituents, or who are unresponsive or incompetent.

Gov. Blanco could easily cross the bar, and Mayor Nagin almost certainly does. The problem is, since this is a citizen driven campaign -- 33% of the eligible voter count from the last election would need to petition -- one has to wonder if enough people in New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole are pissed enough to stand up.

Nothing could have blocked Katrina. Entire regions would have been flattened and New Orleans flooded, no matter what. And nothing could have been done to force everyone to evacuate New Orleans. But corruption and ineptitude have long thrived in that city; Katrina simply punctuated the dire socio-economic situation. Part of the cleaning-up process should be cleansing their respective levels of government of these negative forces... or it will never be remedied. (Good related article: Critics say mayor failed to follow emergency plan.)


Now, where is my buddy Mr. King?

 

[aps45819]

The problem is, since this is a citizen driven campaign -- 33% of the eligible voter count from the last election would need to petition -- one has to wonder if enough people in New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole are pissed enough to stand up.

For the most part, the people impacted by the relief disaster in N.O., are the ones that don't stand up, they wait for the gubbermint to come by and hold them up.

 

[rraley]

Are you kidding? If we're gonna recall leaders for failing New Orleans during this time of awful need, let's get rid of the FEMA head, whose greatest point on his bio is that he was the director of the International Horse Association.

This is the guy who got his news from CNN and not actual briefings...awful.

 

[hvp05]

Are you kidding?

So Nagin and Blanco did respectively admirable jobs to the best of their ability? Gotcha.

I suppose the Administration and Brown are, moreover, responsible for four decades worth of corruption and decay in N'awlins.

 

[remaxrealtor]

So Nagin and Blanco did respectively admirable jobs to the best of their ability? Gotcha.

I suppose the Administration and Brown are, moreover, responsible for four decades worth of corruption and decay in N'awlins.

I've heard that Bush blew off his military responsibilities years ago in order to focus his attention on the weather machine that would eventually destroy New Orleans.

 

[rraley]

So Nagin and Blanco did respectively admirable jobs to the best of their ability? Gotcha.

I suppose the Administration and Brown are, moreover, responsible for four decades worth of corruption and decay in N'awlins.

So wait the governor whose been in office for two years is?

 

[Bruzilla]

Are you kidding? If we're gonna recall leaders for failing New Orleans during this time of awful need, let's get rid of the FEMA head, whose greatest point on his bio is that he was the director of the International Horse Association.

This is the guy who got his news from CNN and not actual briefings...awful.

You want to fire this guy for doing his job the way he's ordered to do it by Congress? Or maybe you want him canned as a means to motivate Congress and the states to change the rules about when FEMA can move in and take action, thereby placing control for all disaster responses with the feds? By all accounts the head of FEMA did exactly what his job called for him to do.

As for the CNN BS, I wouldn't be so quick to bite on every bit o' crap that you hear. There's so much misinformation, lies, and manipulation going on right now it's impossible to know what the truth is. I've been hearing stories about helicopters getting shot at as if it were Vietnam all over again, only to hear last night that one helo was fired on by some nutjob with a little .22 pistol. As usual, we only get part of the story.

 

[hvp05]

So wait the governor whose been in office for two years is?

He is part of the chain; he certainly hasn't made things better. Nagin's -- and Blanco's -- judgment through the past week has been questionable, if not outright despicable. He failed his city. How many more chances to fail should he be granted?

 

[rraley]

He is part of the chain; he certainly hasn't made things better. Nagin's -- and Blanco's -- judgment through the past week has been questionable, if not outright despicable. He failed his city. How many more chances to fail should he be granted?

Proof? What about the federal government?

Please cite something credible too.

 

[hvp05]

Proof? What about the federal government?

Please cite something credible too.

I have a little tool at my disposal... it's called GOOGLE.

Did you read this article I included in the progenitor post? I consider the Times pretty credible.

And I found this one fairly easily: Mayor on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Nagin lacked the communication skills to promote his legitimate accomplishments. He also oversold his blue-sky ideas. During his first term, Nagin has pledged at various times to build a new City Hall, take over the city's failing public schools, streamline government by merging agencies, reduce the number of mayoral appointees, and sell the city's airport to private investors. None of these proposals has come to fruition. Meanwhile, the city's major structural problems—poverty, unemployment, crime—have only gotten worse.

How many more do you require? I'm sure such sources/articles are plentiful. Actually, I know that just in picking around various sites in the past week. Nagin -- and you in your awkward defense of him -- are doing what the Demmies do best: divert.

One of the first rules realized in this debate is that the initial and primary relief/rescue response must be initialized by the state and local governments. So, naturally, we analyze them first. And we see they bit the big one. However, when they are taken to the mat it's, "What about the Feds?!" Any slight poke at the Dem leaders returns this response. I am not necessarily letting the Feds off the hook, but it is patently obvious that the bulk of the errors were committed within Louisiana's architecture.

They are at ground zero... supposedly trying to protect their state. If you can honestly analyze their behavior then the debate can move on to the Feds, but by then there might not be much debate remaining.

 

[Ken King]

Now, where is my buddy Mr. King?

I don't know what you're looking for but my take is that I would say right from the get go that the mayor won't face anything for a while as his citizens have been distributed around the nation and any means of holding a New Orleans election would be logistically prohibitive.

Now as to the Governor, she might have a problem as many Louisianans are still in state. But can you get 33% of the eligible to call for an election when the majority are being led to believe that the disaster was a Federal problem when, based on my observation, it was the city and state that failed to provide for their people when they had the resources to do so.

 

[hvp05]

I don't know what you're looking for...

You're good at legal issues -- certainly better than I.

But can you get 33% of the eligible to call for an election when the majority are being led to believe that the disaster was a Federal problem...

Yeah, I wonder if the people will remain under the spell of letting Nagin's administration guide their every thought or if the truth may at last knock them upside the head.

 

[Ken King]

Yeah, I wonder if the people will remain under the spell of letting Nagin's administration guide their every thought or if the truth may at last knock them upside the head.

If DC is a guide to urban foolhardiness then he probably has a lock on that city. For the most part there are many that don't care anything about the truth; they only care about how large and regular their assistance checks are.

 

[rraley]

Are you kidding? If we're gonna recall leaders for failing New Orleans during this time of awful need, let's get rid of the FEMA head, whose greatest point on his bio is that he was the director of the International Horse Association.

This is the guy who got his news from CNN and not actual briefings...awful.

Well it seems that the Bush Administration has decided that mistakes have been made and has held the FEMA head partially responsible

 

[BuddyLee]

Well it seems that the Bush Administration has decided that mistakes have been made and has held the FEMA head partially responsible

Why would we appoint someone to that office who has no prior experience in the first place?

 

[hvp05]

Well it seems that the Bush Administration has decided that mistakes have been made and has held the FEMA head partially responsible

Beautiful. You continue to drift further and further. The original topic is [here] and you're waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off in your own little paradise.

Why did you challenge me to post something credible about Nagin's negligence (nice ring there), and then when I did that you completely blew it off?

Come on, dude... don't be a Qpid.

--

As for BL's comment:
Bruzilla made a good comment about this on another thread. When you are at this level of an organization, be it governmental or corporate, the concern is on a candidate's logistical and directorial abilities. Having hands-on rescue/aid experience may help round-out Brown's knowledge, but not having such experience does not imply he can't do the job. Analogies can be drawn in the corporate world where you witness high-ranking officials change companies all the time. The CEO of Toys 'R' US could move to PETsMART and then to Circuit City and be successful without ever knowing much about kids, pets or electronics.