B.O. ~ He said, “Yes we can…”

Like most Americans who proudly watched our nation’s man of hope and change deliver his election winning speech in Chicago back in November 2008—I’m disappointed.

We all remember the tear streaked faces of his most ardent supporters who braved the chilly November night in Grant Park.

They stood shoulder to shoulder to hear a newly elected Mr. Obama give the first of his now famous 10th-grade level speeches—a speech that he punctuated with his trademarked line, “Yes, we can.”

A “line” the crowd repeated like hypnotized drones for the entire seventeen minute speech.

While Americans have reluctantly had to accept the excuses for his failures over the last eighteen months--the BP blowout has been Mr. Obama’s first real world test at leading this nation out of a disaster occurring on his watch.

This catastrophe and lack of response has proven there’s no leadership at the top, no leadership in the middle and no substance in the agency staffing at the bottom of the Obama administration.

The administration’s critical failure has been “since day one” when it was discovered that a mandated piece of equipment—an oil fire boom—was not owned by the government agency responsible for a quick response.

When the leadership of the responsible agencies finally surfaced eight days after the deaths of eleven men—they made the rounds on the Sunday morning news shows in a media mop up of their mess by reassuring the nation they’d been on top of the event “since day one.”

You’ll notice that since that weekend of them eating their feet on television--which was followed by a couple of brief appearances on the Gulf Coast—the DHS, DOI and EPA heads have been relatively unseen—swept into the closet to allow the President to appear and “take control.”

That control, or lack of it, was readily apparent in the speech delivered from the Oval Office last Tuesday night.

In using the Oval Office, a setting reserved to deliver only the most important of messages to the American people—Obama chose to redeliver his politically motivated eco-agenda and eliminated any leadership or solutions in his message to those in peril along the Gulf Coast.

His words were as empty as his suit.

In the weeks prior to the BP blowout, Mr. Obama admitted to our nation that the responsible agencies under his leadership, were incapable of responding to a terrorist driven nuclear attack of any size—and the BP oil spill reaffirmed our national level of preparedness to be weak at best.

What Obama’s proven good at is convening divisive committees who argue party lines, filing lawsuits, and layering bureaucracy so thick that nothing—I repeat NOTHING--can be done without pain to save our Gulf Coast.

In my opinion—it’s by design—to allow him to push his Obama “green economy” and his unaffordable cap-and-trade bill—-in other words, his agenda.

What better way to win the hearts and minds of the Grant Park “Yes-we-can” Club, than with pictures of oily beaches, oily dead birds and the oil-broken lives of ruined people?

The real leadership in the Gulf has proven to be the locals—just watch Governor Bobby Jindal or Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nunguesser during their interviews—they have a plan, they want to act and instead of helping lead—the President and his henchmen and women are in the way, purposely.

I wonder if those same tear streaked faces of the Grant Park group are watching the heartbreak along the Gulf Coast from their air conditioned living rooms—where are the Hollywood stars, the Jesse’s, the Al’s, the Oprah’s—they’ve been incredibly silent since April 20th.

Perhaps the multitudes who stood there in Grant Park and were so moved to mimic the chant, have realized what many of us knew before they voted for him—when it comes to leading us and our nation, through this or any other major disaster—“No, he can’t.”

Hurricane Season starts June 1st, now's the time to prepare!

Hurricane season 2009 starts June 1, and while the “busy season” statistically runs during August, September and October, now’s the time to prepare.

Preparedness – Having a Checklist

School teachers use checklists in lesson planning for your kids, pilots use them before each and every flight, SCUBA divers use them before every dive and doctors use them before surgery. Hopefully, you already use one, even if it’s a mental checklist that you have for each day before you start your car and drive to work – although we know there are some drivers on the roads who appear to have no plan of where they are going!

Keep in mind that nothing is set in stone, the things you need to make your life comfortable may not be the same as others. Basics should include copies of important documents, food, water, personal medications and a plan for shelter, whether that be a plan to sty at home (ie: Shelter-in-place), or to evacuate to a friend or family members home or even a community shelter.

Packing your Kit

While I base my personal preparedness on hurricane planning, your preparedness plan will be regional in application, although the basic preparedness kit contents may be the same.

Your preparedness kit should be sealed in waterproof plastic containers or coolers. It should be your complete solution, holding just about everything you’ll need to survive for the first week after an event, and is not to be confused with another critical item, the “go bag,” which contains just the most essential items for a sudden evacuation, when you cannot take much with you.

If you live in an area that’s safe to do so and you’re planning on sheltering-in-place, focus on supplies for the home. These are the types of things you buy once and pack away knowing you have them if you need them. They are mostly non-consumables and can be stored year after year for the emergency you hope will never come.

You don’t have to run out and buy all of these items at once. There’s a good chance you’ll have some of these items already on hand, but they’re probably stored separately and without any organization, in various closets, or wherever you found space the last time you were putting things away.

Need ideas on what to put in your preparedness kit? Check out the related videos on this blog or got to my website http://www.mattlawrencebooks.com/ and click on my preparedness guide, What To Do Til The Cavalry Comes: A Family Guide to Preparedness in 21st Century America.

I’m always interested in hearing other people’s ideas, so if you think you have an innovative idea or know of a product that makes preparation easier, contact me via my website! You might see your idea in an upcoming article! Existo paratus!

Matt Lawrence