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Presidential Visits I read comments on another blog about Obama not visiting the flood areas in Louisiana. My immediate thoughts were that those folks have enough to deal with without a "presidential visit". Fortunately I live about 70 miles out of town but LA has had more than it's share of presidential visits. We are a frequent favorite for large fund raisers. When one of these things occurr they completely disrupt the lives of the average folks our current candidates claim to represent. First of all there is the airport. Regan used a local navy base but our latest presidents have chosen LAX. I do not know why. This results in part of the airport being secured and disruption of air traffic and delayed commercial flights. After the airport the freeways and streets are actually closed while the president passes. Of course the politicians in all of this wisdom always seem to do this at rush hour, which is a nightmare on a good day. As a result people are late for or can't get to work and / or home and thousand's of people's necessary routine is disrupted. When the president is through the process is repeated as he goes to the place, usually a celebrity's home, where he will spend the night. In the morning it's the repeat process as he returns to the airport and once again air traffic is delayed and disrupted until Air Force One is out of our airspace. And again. this usually happens during the local commute times. This does not even begin to address the re allocation to police and other first responders, accommodation of the president's security, securing special vehicles etc. When a disaster is in process these resources are already spread thin with many of our first responders working almost round the clock with hardly enough time off to eat and sleep. My nephew is a firefighter and I can not imagine him having to do his job with the president, his security, press and everything else that comes with him under foot. In disaster areas all of the resources need to be directed to protection of residents and their property, search and rescue and housing, feeding and helping the displaced. The last thing any disaster needs is to have to deal with is all of the muss and fuss that accompanies a presidential visit. We are having our own share of disasters in the form of massive fires here in CA. I would not see any benefit from a presidential visit. The fires produce their own hot air and disruption. The disruption caused by multiple news source coverage is bad enough. The best thing anyone, including the president and other political figures, can do to help is get out of the way and let the professionals do their job. I have a funny story about what I did during a beach flood years ago but that will have to be a separate blog. Spiritwoman ^i^ |
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8/19/2016 11:04 am |
poof! Spiritwoman ^i^
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what Maisie said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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8/19/2016 1:01 pm |
It's been that way forever with mobilizing services. In the early 70's the beach community I lived in was flooding due to high tides and heavy surf. We were adjacent to the Navy CB base with all of the heavy equipment needed to save homes sitting there in view in their "practice" area but they could not help becasue getting them mobilized took at least 3 days to go through the chain of command and procedures. Meanwhile some local private contractors donated their equipment and time and built a berm but not until many homes had flooded. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/19/2016 1:04 pm |
The Louisiana Governor stated publicly that President Obama has been engaged with him personally from the beginning of this nightmare. I don't care how much it may disrupt a local neighborhood, if the President feels a need to go then he should go and citizens need to cease whining about it. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/19/2016 1:08 pm |
I just remembered something from one of the many disaster preparedness training I had to participate during my tenure with the county. It's a bit off topic but certainly to be kept in mind. We were told that everyone needs to be prepared to get through the first 3 days of any disaster without outside help. The other thing to keep in mind is that no matter how prepared you are you are you are likely to find your preparations inaccessible and survival will depend on your ability to use what you have n hand to do what needs doing. Spiritwoman ^i^
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California fires happen every year and they wouldn't get so bad if farmers could continue plowing fire walls to prevent fires from jumping from property to property, but they made a law against farmers doing that over 20 years ago, all for the Kangaroo Rat they claim they are protecting. Wonder how many of those rats they have left now after the lands have burned down? Funny how Obama and Hiliary haven't made it to Louisiana, but Trump did. I guess he's the only one that even cares, but all in all, best Obama continues golfing, keeps him away from his pen.
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8/19/2016 6:33 pm |
Concrete assistance is not going to come from you, but it will come from Presidential involvement and thus it needs to happen. On the other hand, you could pick up a bucket and not sit there refusing to get involved again. Spiritwoman ^i^
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Is it? That is something you might give deeper thought to. Obama is always golfing, or going on vacation when disasters hit, which he has become known to do, people bet on it.
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8/19/2016 9:58 pm |
The media is definitely maddening. I reached the point where tonight I commented something like "Enough of sensationalism about political nothings. can't we switch to a local car chase?" Pretty bad since one of my biggest complains is that the news stations around here have a habit of preempting the regular news with the latest car chase. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 3:29 am |
Excellent blog Spirit. The only reason Trump went to Louisiana is for a photo op to make him look like a caring person. If he really wanted to help he could make a huge donation. I can't even imagine the financial cost alone of having a president visit any city, and Louisiana could certainly use that money, but after days of hearing Trump hammering out his endless insults against President Obama he's decided he'd better visit Louisiana on Tuesday or Trump will never shut his mouth. Politics is such a dirty business and so phony.
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I don't begrudge anyone taking vacations, or going golfing, but that's all he and his family seem to do. Do you have any idea the cost of all these outings? We are paying for it, it's not coming out of his pocket, and presidents are only allowed so much per year for a vacation, and he's way over his vacation budget. When I hear him say we must make sacrifices, why is it he does not set a good example for the rest of us?
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seems to me the seek of harmony is sowing discord
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8/20/2016 9:25 am |
I don't begrudge anyone taking vacations, or going golfing, but that's all he and his family seem to do. Do you have any idea the cost of all these outings? We are paying for it, it's not coming out of his pocket, and presidents are only allowed so much per year for a vacation, and he's way over his vacation budget. When I hear him say we must make sacrifices, why is it he does not set a good example for the rest of us? Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 9:30 am |
I agree that the last person I would want to see in that situation would be any politician. I can not imagine anything any of them could do that would help with the need of the moment. What the government could do mobilize and authorize the active military to assist with the physical labor things like digging out and rebuilding but that never happens. Any help we might get comes from our local first responders and local charities. . Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 9:32 am |
California fires happen every year and they wouldn't get so bad if farmers could continue plowing fire walls to prevent fires from jumping from property to property, but they made a law against farmers doing that over 20 years ago, all for the Kangaroo Rat they claim they are protecting. Wonder how many of those rats they have left now after the lands have burned down? Funny how Obama and Hiliary haven't made it to Louisiana, but Trump did. I guess he's the only one that even cares, but all in all, best Obama continues golfing, keeps him away from his pen. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 9:34 am |
Been through a few natural disasters myself as well as many disaster trainings when I worked for the county. Also have fire, police and military people in the family. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 9:37 am |
I never cease to be amazed at how we are controlled by the media. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/20/2016 9:42 am |
Excellent blog Spirit. The only reason Trump went to Louisiana is for a photo op to make him look like a caring person. If he really wanted to help he could make a huge donation. I can't even imagine the financial cost alone of having a president visit any city, and Louisiana could certainly use that money, but after days of hearing Trump hammering out his endless insults against President Obama he's decided he'd better visit Louisiana on Tuesday or Trump will never shut his mouth. Politics is such a dirty business and so phony. As for financial cost - I'm sure that is the last thing either of our current candidates would consider. Spiritwoman ^i^
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Hadn't heard that one about the plowing before. The orchards around here all have cleared spaces around them and must rural homes have local regulations regarding brush clearance but once a fire gets going it can easily jump the barrier, particularly after several drought years.
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