FEMA Head Bears the Brunt of Katrina Anger

AP ^ | Sep 7,2005 | NANCY BENAC

[Anti-Bubba182]

This was posted on DRUDGE. I thought this one might lose his job, but I don't think the President should cave and fire him now for what has been turned into a political issue to take pressure off abysmal State and Local performance of the Democrats in Louisiana.

The hearings will be partisan and vicious.

[Prime Choice]

The hearings will be partisan and vicious.

You don't say!

Personally, I think the Democrat Mayor of New Orleans and the Democrat Governor of Louisiana should be getting all the heat. It was their supreme and unbridled idiocy that killed thousands (if not tens of thousands) of Americans.

FEMA did its job. This is evident in Mississippi and Alabama. The only breakdown was due entirely to the sheer and utter incompetence of the Louisiana governor and the idiot mayor. Until the Democrats acknowledge it, they'd best be prepared for a major butt-kicking.

[Oldexpat]

It seems to me that Clinton appointed one of his State Police body guards to head FEMA. Isn't that correct?

[putupjob]

Search the page. Blanco doesn't appear. This is a noticeable trend. Blanco is disappearing as a player in this whole story.

[Anti-Bubba182]

The problem with Brown is that he did not look good on TV and that leaves an opening the media and Dems are all too happy to exploit.

They will have to play that card to take pressure off the Governor and Mayor who have a lot to answer for.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I notice. The thing will be spun that way by MSM.

[kms61]

There are problems in MS and AL as well. Let's don't whitewhash FEMA just because a Republican happens to be in the whitehouse. GWB himself has said things need to improve. So--let's identify what has to be fixed and fix it. Just because the Democrats are being partisan is no excuse for the GOP to play the same game. The people are smart enough to know who's serious about this and who's playing politics as usual. Thereis a stellar opportunity here for the GOP to cement its place as the party of competence. But If the Katrina aftermath devolves into a finger pointing orgy, the public is going to go into "a pox on both your houses" mode.

[advance_copy]

I hear Hillary Clinton is considering the appointment of Gov. Kathleen Blanco to be head of FEMA if she is elected President.

[Prime Choice]

There are problems in MS and AL as well.

Such as? Anything on par with what's going on in LA?

GWB himself has said things need to improve.

There's always room for improvement in all things. Personally, I don't see how FEMA could have deployed faster without the request and OK from the LA governor. That's kind of required. And deployments on that scale are not simple or easy. It requires a lot of logistics and planning to go from Zero to Three-State-Rescue and Recovery.

Also, it is my belief that the State and Local governments are supposed to have the most say in how things are done; not the Feds. If the State and Local people can't do their own damned jobs, that's not the fault of the Fed.

[Prime Choice]

The problem with Brown is that he did not look good on TV...

Arrange it so Brown's every appearance is opposite of Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco. Brown will come out clean and smilin' every time.

[MEG33]

There are always lessons to be learned by all responsible.

[Prime Choice]

Blanco doesn't appear. This is a noticeable trend. Blanco is disappearing as a player in this whole story.

Then I'll simply have to make sure she gets kicked back to the front row for maximum exposure and ridicule.

Eh...it's a hobby.

[msnimje]

I think within a matter of days, Nagin and Blanco are going to bring each other down. Nagin has already made a few remarks about Blanco and yesterday she pulled rank on Nagin.

[HAL9000]

He's been called an idiot, an incompetent and worse.

The #2 guy at the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services told me that his boss - James Lee Witt - was an idiot too.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Hope you are right.

[SR 50]

What should be said about Brown, that is not being said, is that he was hired for the job "BY THE SENATE" after his conformation in 2002. That's why we have the hearings, to give senate approval. The same could and should be said about the war in Iraq.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Interesting, to hear the press tell it Witt is a cross between
Jesus and George Washington.

[kublia khan]

They only had the final act in a play that was opened 40 years ago when a welfare state was first envisioned and embraced by LBJ. The people who remained in NO after the evac order had been given were mostly poor innercity blacks who had grown up depending on the Govt. to subsidize their housing, provide them with food assistance (food stamps), USDA food, heating and cooling assistance, general relief funds etc. When the Government didn't show up to evacuate them it was the first time in many of their lives that they had ever faced a crisis and the Govt failed to rescue them. Sure noogin and Blaaaaaanco shoulder a great deal of the responsibility for what happened in that wretched city but when you look deeper each and every politician who has ever voted for a social program that did not have as its core goal a proactive move towards independence by the recipient is also responsible. Disasters like the one in NO will not be avoided by building taller Levees they will be ended when we tear down a system of governance and one party in particular who have made their mark on the world by creating ever increasing numbers of dependants.

[Marauder]

Until the Democrats acknowledge it, they'd best be prepared for a major butt-kicking.

Don't hold your breath, if you're looking for honorable behavior from a dim-bulb lib.

[kenth]

hmmm... The AP titles an article with a headline that implies an overall dissatisfaction with the FEMA head, then goes on to quote crazies/democrats. Yeah, the AP has no bias.

The dems were salivating at the potential loss of life before the hurricane hit. The majority of criticism of Nagin and Blanco here started during the live threads as we watched with disbelief at the sheer scope of incompetence with which they "performed" their duties. That they were dems was beside the point.