Subj : Re: Ok, NOW Brownie resigns To : alt.tv.farscape From : Ken McElhaney Date : Tue Sep 13 2005 15:21:26 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape TNW7Z7Z7Z12345 wrote: > 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. 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? > > > > 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" > > > > Governors are elected, they answer to the people. > > 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. > > > I'm with Nick. I'm not surprised. > When revamped under Clinton, FEMA had disaster experts who > immediately explained all options/procedures to state and local > officials, who can't possibly know every detail of how to get help from > the federal bureaucracy. And now, FEMA is under the department of Homeland Security. > And yes, state and local officials screwed things up (and that will > come out in an investigation), I really hope so since their decisions helped lead to the disaster that happened. > but the instant FEMA understood the > situation (no power, *NO COMMUNICATION* between first responders, etc.), > they should've stepped in and helped rather than hinder the situation. > Brown didn't have the faintest idea what to do. And I'm not defending Brown in any way, he should've resigned and did so for his inaction and being totally ill-informed. However, FEMA cannot override the state and local authorities, even if they are incompetent. When Blanco apparently denied the Red Cross & Salvation Army from going to the Superdome, FEMA cannot override her decision. > Suppose terrorists bombs had wiped out all the local officials. Would FEMA > not act because there were no state officials telling them what to do? FEMA cannot act under federal authority unless it's been established that no local or state officials exist in the area for control. So no, FEMA can't do squat if local and state officials DO exist and make stupid decisions. > What has Bush and homeland security been doing since 2001? Well, late 2002 actually. I certainly wasn't a fan of combining all those departments, but given the political pressure to do something even if it was wrong, was too great for Bush to deny it. > The big > issue in NYC was communication failures. Blanco begged FEMA for phones > and didn't get them for days. But that doesn't explain why Blanco was so late in moving her national guard into New Orleans. If she truly was not in control and couldn't contact them, she should've told Bush to federalize them and make them his responsability. > The *media* had satellite phones. I guess next time state officials > should ask CNN, Fox and MSNBC for help, since Homeland Security can't > handle it. At least you acknowledge that local and state officials are the ones who make the decisions. > Ken, in your other post you objected to the Salon article I cited > describing the decimation of FEMA. Exactly, as I would dismiss any editorial article from a right or left wing organization since they are propaganda pieces that purposely leave out contradictory information. Right now, Salon has no mainstream cred, so it get's dismissed. > Did you also dismiss John's > article on the same topic (written a year *before* Katrina)? Here's > another account from the LA Times (although it is not nearly as detailed). > > > or No, in fact it shows the shortcomings of combining departments and adding a layer of unnecessary beaurocracy. > > More important here's a very long and detailed chronology of events that > spares no one. > > > > or Yea, that one is pretty bad. It assumes that once Chertoff made the declaration, federal aid, troops, and supplies would appear instantly. Besides, isn't the state national guard STILL under Blanco's control? Ken .