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via Hot Air

The initial response to Hurricane Sandy appeared adequate, at the very least.  All levels of government seemed engaged, first responders had the resources needed, and confidence was high that we could quickly address the immediate human needs and then shift quickly to rebuilding.  Those hopes have vanished in a fumbled response at the local and federal levels.  On the local level, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s bizarre idea to keep the New York City Marathon in place while people on Staten Island can’t get water, power or heat has undermined confidence in his approach to the crisis — as Bloomberg himself discovered when attempting to meet and greet some of the locals (via NRO’s Eliana Johnson):

Storm-ravaged and weary Rockaways residents cornered Mayor Bloomberg yesterday to angrily demand more aid for their devastated neighborhood.

“When are we gonna get some help?” blasted one desperate woman, who had to be held back by the mayor’s security detail as Bloomberg stood by with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

“When are we gonna get some f–king help?” she demanded.

“There’s old ladies in my building that don’t got nothing,” lashed out a man on video caught by a NY1 reporting crew.

Bloomberg’s trip to the Rockaways wasn’t announced and wouldn’t have been caught on cameras if the news crew hadn’t happened to run across him. Back in City Hall, he expressed sympathy with the residents’ plight.

Bloomberg’s predecessor doesn’t have much sympathy for him — or for Barack Obama, either.  Rudy Giuliani angrily castigated both for their inadequate response to the disaster.  Where are the generators, Giuliani wondered — and the water?

MORE . . .

Related articles

• Giuliani: Where the hell are the generators? (hotair.com)
• Rudy Giuliani: Barack Obama Is Desperate and Knows He’s Been a Failure (Video) (thegatewaypundit.com)