A political hurricane

[travelinman]

Yes it?s true, none of us were alive to see the Civil War.

[Dulcinea]

Bush 404 error

Seems appropriate.

[LAKE]

Ah! Speaking of Camp Casey.

[jumper69]

This is a great storie.....go here

Whether you realize it or not, we are witnessing history folks. Not just from Katrina but from a growing firestorm of events, both political and economic that will engulf this nation in turmoil such as we've never seen.

Pull up a chair.....it's gonna be messy!

[Lew]

ANd forgive my logistical ignorance but...if memory serves, West Berlin was supported for over a year. And we can't get food/water/supplies to New Orleans within a few days?

[travelinman]

Well yes it was, but you're not looking at all the facts (strange for a lawyer)

On August 2, 1945, the victorious Allied Powers reached the Potsdam Agreement on the fate of postwar Europe, calling for the division of a defeated Germany into four occupation zones (thus reaffirming principles laid out earlier by the Yalta Conference), and the similar division of Berlin into four zones, later called East Berlin and West Berlin. The French, U.S., and British sectors of Berlin were deep within the Soviet occupation zones, and thus a focal point of tensions corresponding to the breakdown of the U.S.-Soviet wartime alliance.

On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked access to the arteries of the three Western-held sectors of Berlin, which was deep within the Soviet zone of Germany, by cutting off all rail and road routes going through Soviet-controlled territory in Germany. The Western powers had never negotiated a pact with the Soviets guaranteeing these rights. Amid the fallout of the London Conference, the Soviets now rejected arguments that occupation rights in Berlin and the use of the routes during the previous three years had given the West legal claim to unimpeded use of the highways and railroads. General Lucius D. Clay suggested sending a large armoured column driving peacefully, as of right, down the Autobahn from West Germany to West Berlin, but prepared to defend itself if it were stopped or attacked. But President Harry S. Truman, following the consensus in Washington, believed this entailed an unacceptable risk of war, in which the U.S. might be unpopular.

On June 25 Clay gave the order to launch a massive airlift (ultimately lasting 324 days) that flew supplies into the Western-held sectors of Berlin over the blockade during 1948-1949. The first airplane flew on the following day, and the first British airplane flew on the 28th. This aerial supplying of West Berlin became known as the Berlin Airlift. Military confrontation loomed while Truman embarked on a highly visible move which would publicly humiliate the Soviets.


source

Do you really think Truman sat around for 3 years with his head in the sand and that the blockade was un-expected? The Berlin air lift is a perfect example of what can be accomplished without all that bureaucratic bullshit. Our President (and that could be any President) does not have that type of authority within the US.

Do you really want a President the have a well equipted standing army and airforce with hunderds of thousand of soldiers and airmen sitting inside our borders? That's exactly the conditions that lead to coups and revolutions every few years in the bannana republics.

Instead we have a National Guard that is controled by the Sates. This keeps the federal goverment in check but also creates inefficiencies.

<font color="#FFFFAA" size="1">[ September 04, 2005 08:06 AM: Message edited by: travelinman ]</font>

[gae]

President Bush should be unaffected. The Stafford Act requires the Governor of a state to request the federalization of National Guard. This is generally because states cannot absorb such a huge cost and all soldiers benefits are not attached unless the troops are on some type of fed training or activation.

Once the President federalizs the troops, the Stafford Act further calls on the GOVERNOR of the state TO DIRECT the troops' activities. This is to prevent any violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and it is a recognition of the power of states in a federal system.

In short, the governor of Louisianna is totally incompetent. If you recall, it was the governor of NY and the mayor of NY who directed their efforts after 9/11. There are legal reasons for that.

[Lew]

Trav-

no argument with what you posted. My point was, it's not that it COULDN'T be done. It's just that it WASN'T. And the reason it wasn't is due to many things, many of them mentioned in your posting.