Subj : Re: Ok, NOW Brownie resigns
To   : alt.tv.farscape
From : Ken McElhaney
Date : Tue Sep 13 2005 07:07:54

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape


Nick wrote:
> Ken McElhaney wrote:
> > Nick wrote:
> >> Ken McElhaney wrote:
> >>> Nick wrote:
> >>>> http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/katrina.impact/index.html
> >>>
> >>> Well, at least the Mayor is safe from recall since there are no
> >>> longer any New Orleans' residents to kick him out of office.
> >>>
> >>> But as for the incompetent gov....
> >>
> >> I am sure she wasn't perfect but she wasn't as bad as some reports I
> >> have seen on the news.
> >
> > The Washington Post had an interesting article on her last thursday.
> > In particular, she (or to be technical, her state homeland security
> > office) prevented both the Red Cross & the Salvation Army from going
> > to the Superdome & Convention Center during that week.  The reason?
> > They were going to evacuate and didn't want either organization
> > there. The problem? The Gov didn't order her National Guard to
> > commandeer the buses required until WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.  By then,
> > the buses in New Orleans were up to their hubcaps in water.
> >
> > Basically, if "Brownie" should've been kicked out, the Gov certainly
> > should be in the same boat.
> >
> > Ken - someday, someone will realize that FEMA is not a first
> > responder organization and is subject to decisions (however stupid
> > and incompetent) from state & local officials.
>
>
> FEMA should be trained to handle situations like this.

> A governor does
> not have training in this type of situation and will never get any until
> this situation actually occurs.

It is true that this situation has never happened before.  However, it
has been predicted for a very long time. A local New Orleans paper ran
a big story a couple of years ago detailing exactly what eventually
happened. So this was not unexpected.

Local officials and governor have disaster plans, spend lots of money
practicing in cases of emergencies, and are the first line of response
(I know, I've participated in emergencies drills). It was certainly
clear that the Mayor and Governor either didn't have a plan or poorly
executed an inadequate one.

> Therefore, I would expect the experts to
> be advising the non-experts on what they should be doing.  If they don't
> do that what do we even have them for?

Bottom line, it's the governor's choice and it was up to her whether to
listen or not, no matter what advice she got.

> I just typed FEMA into google.  Here is the first hit:
> "Federal Emergency Management Agency
> Agency of the US government tasked with Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness,
> Response & Recovery planning.
> www.fema.gov/ - 7k - Sep 11, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
> FEMA Flood Map Store - Kids
> 2005 Federally Declared Disasters - US Fire Admin
> More results from www.fema.gov"

Does FEMA have hundreds of buses on call? Does FEMA have 747's full of
doctors, medical supplies, and like on 24 hour call? No, they have to
coordinate with other states to bring in the necessary stuff. If the
governor is unwilling to make good decisions, FEMA can't override her.


> Governors are elected, they answer to the people.

Exactly. Which is why she should be held accountable for her decisions.

> BTW, I am down here an hour from New Orleans.  I see the stuff that is
> happening.  You aren't going to convince of anything.

To someone who only believes PART of the news stories about your
governor yet is willing to believe ALL the stories about FEMA, I'm not
surprised. I live in Oklahoma where tornadoes regularly rip through the
state. I can tell you with certainty that FEMA comes in AFTER the local
and state responders do.

Again, FEMA is not a first responder, so don't treat it like one. 

Ken

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