Subj : Re: Ok, NOW Brownie resigns To : alt.tv.farscape From : Ken McElhaney Date : Wed Sep 14 2005 14:15:52 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape John Iwaniszek wrote: > TNW7Z7Z7Z12345 wrote in > news:43273B0B.B8D27D6E@aol.com: > > > 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? > > > And besides, Blanco is an expert. She did what she could. The disaster > clearly overwhelmed the capacity of Lousiana to cope. Her actions and > the action of Mayor Nagin saved lives. The Congressional Research > Service was asked to review her performance in this disaster. > Conclusion: She took the necessary steps in a timely fashion to secure > federal assistance in the face of hurricane Katrina. > > http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf Hmm, why am I not surprised that John Conyers apparently asked for this. Anyhoo, the conclusion John states in his paragraph above is not quite the same as the conclusion reached by this group; (page 11 of 25: Conclusions) "...it would appear that the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster declarations for the State of Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane Katrina. In response to the Governor's request, it appears that the President did take the steps necessary to trigger the availability of Stafford Act emergency assitance and disaster assistance..." It would appear that both the gov & the Prez took the necessary buearocratic steps in advance of the hurricane, but does not apparently address what each person actually did during the week. Nor does it apparently address some questions about the gov's actions that had nothing to do with this report. > There is no mistaking Brownie and the several layers below him for what > they are: Political hacks with nothing to recommend them as qualified > to head FEMA. Perhaps so, but there are still questions to be asked about the gov & Mayor's reaction to this disaster and hopefully there will be a bi-partisan investigation of this in Congress and I hope that Con. John Conyers participates. Ken .