Posted on 09/14/2005 8:25:34 PM PDT by Uncle Joe Cannon
-snip-
In his first extensive interview since resigning as FEMA director on Monday under intense criticism, Mr. Brown declined to blame President Bush or the White House for his removal or for the flawed response.
"I truly believed the White House was not at fault here," he said.
He focused much of his criticism on Governor Blanco, contrasting what he described as her confused response with far more agile mobilizations in Mississippi and Alabama, as well as in Florida during last year's hurricanes.
But Mr. Brown's account, in which he described making "a blur of calls" all week to Mr. Chertoff, Mr. Card and Mr. Hagin, suggested that Mr. Bush, or at least his top aides, were informed early and repeatedly by the top federal official at the scene that state and local authorities were overwhelmed and that the overall response was going badly.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And what pray tell were they supposed to do about it?
"A spokesman for Ms. Blanco denied Mr. Brown's description of disarray in Louisiana's emergency response operation. "That is just totally inaccurate," Bob Mann, the governor's communications director, said. "Everything that Mr. Brown needed in terms of resources or information from the state, he had those available to him.""
If that was true, there would not have been chaos.
I thing Brown hit all the right points. Wow, how the NY Times spun the meaning of Brown's comments. Instead of recognizing how different the Louisiana was from Mississippi, Alabama and Florida's responses over the last few years, the NY Times instead says Brown's comments mean the blame goes higher up.
Wow! Just damn... the NYT hasn't a clue.
"But Mr. Brown's account, in which he described making "a blur of calls" all week to Mr. Chertoff, Mr. Card and Mr. Hagin, suggested that Mr. Bush, or at least his top aides, were informed early and repeatedly by the top federal official at the scene that state and local authorities were overwhelmed and that the overall response was going badly."
Bush's fault. Interesting revisionist spin, casting as special and private governmental communication what anyone watching on TV from dayone can tell was happening.
In fact, that Brown didn't seem to know at a stage about the convention center refugees undermines the spin.
Can you imagine the shreeking if the federal government had stepped in and taken control.
Bush should not have "accepted blame" - then maybe Brown's comments could have actually helped get out the truth about the locals.
Mr. Brown, then director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he told the officials in Washington that the Louisiana governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, and her staff were proving incapable of organizing a coherent state effort and that his field officers in the city were reporting an "out of control" situation.
"I am having a horrible time," Mr. Brown said he told Mr. Chertoff and a White House official - either Mr. Card or his deputy, Joe Hagin - in a status report that evening. "I can't get a unified command established."
By the time of that call, he added, "I was beginning to realize things were going to hell in a handbasket" in Louisiana. A day later, Mr. Brown said, he asked the White House to take over the response effort.
He said he felt the subsequent appointment of Army Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré as the Pentagon's commander of active-duty forces met the need for more federal help.
In his first extensive interview since resigning as FEMA director on Monday under intense criticism, Mr. Brown declined to blame President Bush or the White House for his removal or for the flawed response.
"I truly believed the White House was not at fault here," he said.
He focused much of his criticism on Governor Blanco, contrasting what he described as her confused response with far more agile mobilizations in Mississippi and Alabama, as well as in Florida during last year's hurricanes.
"Wow! Just damn... the NYT hasn't a clue."
The general criticism of Brown was that he seemed NOT to understand the gravity of the situation.
"Can you imagine the shreeking if the federal government had stepped in and taken control."
That was the whole point ... Gov Blanco is Demon-crat who acted politically from day one, not WANTING to work with the Bush administration the way other Governors did. to this day, they never gave up 'control' nor instituted martial law, nor federalized the NG, as other governors would have done.
Locals overwhelmed?? No, Monica, it's called "stalling". The "spin" changes this to overwhelmed.
"The most responsive person he could find, Mr. Brown said, was Governor Blanco's husband, Raymond. "He would try to go find stuff out for me," Mr. Brown said.
Governor Blanco's communications director, Mr. Mann, said that she was frustrated that Mr. Brown and others at FEMA wanted itemized requests before acting. "It was like walking into an emergency room bleeding profusely and being expected to instruct the doctors how to treat you," he said."
Ping .......Brown speaks. the Slimes injects doubt, even when the truth hits them in the nose.
And believe you me, we tried our damnedest to get him to.
Some people won't be satisfied until there is no existence beyond the federal government. The response to Katrina, while hampered by Blanco, was just what it should have been. I feel sorry for Brown having to take the kicks to the groin on this.
Nagin should have mobilized the buses to evacuate - that was the plan, after all. Blanco should have mobilized the National Guard and requested help earlier. But all in all, the response to Katrina wasn't that bad considering the massive and widespread destruction.
Basically, FEMA sees itself in a supportive role. Something akin to an outside consultant assisting in a time of crisis. The LA officials saw FEMA/Feds as an "in an emergency break glass" solution. All they had to do was push the emergency button, run around screaming, and someone else would take care of them.
"A spokesman for Ms. Blanco denied Mr. Brown's description of disarray in Louisiana's emergency response operation. "That is just totally inaccurate," Bob Mann, the governor's communications director, said. "Everything that Mr. Brown needed in terms of resources or information from the state, he had those available to him."
Good question.
Thanks for the ping, Starwise.
"The account also suggests that responsibility for the failure may go well beyond Mr. Brown, who has been widely pilloried as an inexperienced manager who previously oversaw horse show judges"
Typical NY Slimes...First they hound this man as an idiot...now they try to suggest it wasn't REALLY his fault, but those higher up , i.e. President Bush..their target all along.
What will become apparent during the investigation was the factor of a total breakdown of communications in the area. I have no doubt Blanco's staff couldnt mount a response becasue the entire communication system in southeastern louisiana went out. It was apparent just watching the news and seeing reporters reporting events and the lag time before anyone in Baton rouge whether state of Feds knew about it. The problem is there is no easy solution to that problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.