The first FEMA aid hit Kentucky within 12 hours of the disaster declaration by the President. I live in one of the 61 counties named in the Federal disaster declaration (that’s one more than half the state, by the way), and I’m told that we had FEMA contact that same day; we were in good enough shape that they could send their stuff elsewhere in the state.

Seriously, FEMA has done exactly what it was asked to do, and they’ve (so far) done a good job. There’s one guy (who has been cited in a half-dozen press articles) who think that they should have been in his county sooner, but that same guy also complained that National Guardsmen don’t come with chainsaws. *laugh*

Self-sufficiency is all well and good. But, we all need a little help from our friends sometimes. Plus, this is what we pay our tax dollars for, for FEMA to get in there after a disaster and get people the help they need to be self-sufficient.

Unfortunately in their folly the people of NOLA chose to retain Ray Nagin as their mayor.

2-for-3 ain’t bad, and it’s more than a start.

It is amazing to be able to look out over the wooded areas surrounding Tulsa, to see how every tree is broken off to the same height: looks like the place got a very large “buzz” cut… It will be many years until you won’t be able to see any impact from that storm.

I feel very sympathetic to the people east of us that were hit by ice this year…

In the meantime, Anderson Cooper is arranging to leap from a SnowCat on the steps of the Statehouse in Frankfort and angrily demand answers to why people aren’t angrier.

Or so I can dream.

First responders are still state&local authorities and the utilties crews, aren’t they? Not that the media grasped the nuance during their hysterical Katrina coverage.

It should be Obama DOESN’T CARE about white people.

See? Major difference.

Wait…

It’s not even about renovating the agency; it’s about getting on the phone making sure they do something, at least try and get to people.

The primary difference between KY and NOLA that obtains toward Obama and the MSM being able to ignore the situation in KY, is the long appreciated American value of self-sufficiency.

In KY, the first few cuts toward dealing with the problems of the emergency will stem from the concept of self-sufficiency. Take care of as much of the problem as you can on your own.

This is anathema to the liberal mind and will be punished as such. Local officials who think they can take the first few steps on their own without Federal help MUST be punished for such effrontery. Self-sufficiency must not allowed to ‘reproduce’ and must be selected against.

In NOLA, self-directed action was never considered by local officials – they stood by doing nothing to await whatever Bush and FEMA could deliver. They were rewarded by being able to place the blame squarely on Bush.

In KY we see more self-directed action. Gov Beshear graciously related his conversations with Obama and FEMA and jumped the gun on crediting them with being helpful. Being helpful on the phone is one thing. He should have waited to see what help actually arrived and got deployed.

Bet he is wishing now that he had not squandered his praise so early…

There is an update to the absence of chainsaws mentioned above. They finally did get their chainsaws, but they didn’t come from FEMA. Anyone who has served in the military can figure out what probably actually happened:

* Experienced KYNG NCOs figured out what needed to be done.

* They got their officers (especially the JAG and Civil Affairs officers who could interfere with progress the most) safely situated in warm donut shops where they could do no damage, calling the arrangement ‘Headquarters’.

* The NCOs began contacting public spirited hardware store owners and Home Depot managers and got their chainsaws ‘off the books’ by departing from established, approved procedure (SOP).

* They got to work producing results and getting out to the folks who need help.

* They passed reports up the chain to the PIOs so they could write their own press releases.

* They got on down the roadn to the next problem

But there are only 4,600 KY NG.

Meanwhile FEMA wrote press releases: http://www.fema.gov/news/eventnews.fema?id=11049 (NO new press releases on Monday; problems must all be solved!) and complained of delays caused by road closures and get this: ‘ icy conditions’.

Count on the federal government to complain that they cannot deliver emergency aid because of, well, emergency conditions!

Self-sufficiency and self-directed solutions can, and will be, punished. Any local government entity than can exist without Federal aid must be extinguished.

Hope KY gets the lesson: next time DO NOTHING until federal help is WAY TOO LATE and IS BLAMED ON YOU and then the deepening disaster will mean the liberals will win the next election.

Then you will get your help. It won’t be enough, and it won’t be in time, but at least the MSM will be on your side.

The folks in KY are my brethren. They will pull themselves out of this with a minimum of federal help and will have their pride (and their status as a red state) intact and reinforced.

But is interesting to note and to agree with others that under the last disaster template, this is all Obama’s fault.

Aren’t they Americans?

Aren’t they suffering?

Aren’t they in need of help from the federal government?

Shame on Barack Obama and the entire Democrat party controlling our government. Shame on them for turning their backs on the helpless and needy in Kentucky.

The bad news is: They also have long memories and the no-show of FEMA when it was most needed will be remembered come election time. McConnell will be sweating his next campaign more than the one he just experienced. If memory serves me right, he barely squeaked out a win.

Obama can write the state off for a second run as well. For somebody in perpetual campaign mode he sure didn’t care enough about losing KY to at least put in an appearance or say something about their plight on national TV.