[Prime Choice]

"Just like our military, FEMA should be immune to this kind of political staffing. It should be run by career emergency response professionals," Maloney added.

So...one question for the NY Daily Spews crew: Who ran FEMA under Clinton? Were they "Clinton cronies" as well?

And cut out this "government sources" bullcrap. Everyone knows you mean congressional Democrats.

[kublia khan]

"disaster professional"
What the He** is a "disaster professional"

Career professionals like Plame? The last thing the Bush administration or any administration needs for that matter is a bunch of hangers on with a ax to grind to obstruct the administrations plans.

[bmwcyle]

I dated one of the government accountants that worked at FIMA (Mt. Weather, VA) during the Clinton administration. She told me about writing checks every time there was a big rain in Arkansas. The would write a check and send it to be signed at the White House. Then it would be sent off to the FOBs.

[Pajamajan]

I'm so fed up with listening to the rats and the press spin this giant lie about FEMA, i.e. are the first responders in an emergency- No one thought this was FEMA's roll until the rats decided they could capitalize on the misery, death, and destruction of hurricane Katrina, by dividing the nation, and blaming president Bush for the storm.

Aren't FEMA the people who show up AFTER the disaster with funding for rebuilding and arrangements for continued shelter exc,?- That's what they did in California, during/after the fires, a couple of years ago.

I hope and pray that the Republican's are NOT going to be chumps, and let the rats contimue with these lies. I hope they(pubbies) aren't going to assist them (rats) in covering up for their own neglect, and incompetence, by keeping silent, and not defending themselves, in the face of rat attacks. . Why would the republican's even think of doing that?

It is not fair to the people who went through all that misery, to cover up for those responsible. They need to know the truth- even if it means they find out that they elected the people who let them down.

[TheCrusader]

" President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent experience coping with catastrophes"

And Sandy Burger, a millionaire lawyer appointed by Bill Clinton to be National Security Advisor had experience dealing with national security issues?

Why didn't they question Clinton's Cabinet, full of political cronies as they were allowing the first WTC attack, the USS Cole to be hit, our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania to be blown up, Flight 800, the Khobar Towers attack?

[msnimje]

I think we need a new law that Presidents can only appoint their enemies to government posts.

[kcvl]

Kenneth Bazinet, a White House correspondent for the New York Daily News, penned a front-page piece on family members of dead GIs who were enraged by Bush's routine.


Team Bush spins the crisis
New York Daily News, NY - Sep 4, 2005
By KENNETH R. BAZINET


Bush's truth decay
New York Daily News, NY - Aug 6, 2005
By KENNETH R. BAZINET


911 Panelist May Quit Over Bush Secrecy
By James Gordon Meek and Kenneth R. Bazinet New York Daily News 2-28-4


January 3rd, 2005 9:29 pm
Bush 2 off to shaky start; 'Worst I've seen it' - official
By Kenneth R. Bazinet / Daily News

[Luker]

Cronnie-ism in any form is an injustice and insult to us taxpayers who expect the best from our government - I don't care if it was Clinton or Bush involved in doing it, it is wrong and we deserve better - I will not jump on this bandwagon for the sake of the party (GOP) - this Brown guy is a baffoon and an embarassment to his 'friend' W. Now Bush (and we) are stuck with him. Also, I once thought Bush calling his buddies (and others) by the little nicknames he has for them cute - calling his pal "Brownie" by that name more than once recently on the tube during this week of disaster was a little too cozy for me....especially when it was obvious Brown is an incompetant and was (is) way in over his head - I don't have any advice for Bush except to say that in the end you are who you surround yourself with.

[Fred Nerks]

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 10:18 p.m. EDT
Louisiana Officials in Flood-Money Scam

Nine months before the Hurricane Katrina disaster, three Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness officials were indicted for obstructing an audit into flood prevention expenditures.

In a November 2004 press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced:

Story Continues Below


"A federal grand jury has returned two separate indictments charging three members of the State Military Department with offenses related to the obstruction of an audit of the use of federal funds for flood mitigation activities throughout Louisiana.
"The two emergency management officials were senior employees of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Both were charged with conspiracy to obstruct a federal audit."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco told Louisiana's News-Star at the time that she was disturbed by the indictments. She said the National Guard is cooperating with the investigation "as I expect them to do."

Reports of rampant corruption among Louisiana's state and local agencies have been cited in recent days to explain why officials were so ill-prepared to deal with the Katrina disaster.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/9/6/222032.shtml

[MNJohnnie]

Just "Professional Journalists" why do you ignoe the billions of Fed Homeland Security Dollars give to the State of Louisiana and the City of NO to prepare their 1st Reponders to meet their reposiblities in just this sort of disaster. If this is all FEMA faulr, why are the MAYOR and the GOVERNOR the ones STILL issuing the orders?

FoxNews.com Mayor, Governor at Odds Over Evacuation Wednesday, September 07, 2005 NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (search) seemed at odds with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (search ) Wednesday, hours after the mayor ordered the mandatory evacuation of the crippled Crescent City by force if necessary. As floodwaters caused by Hurricane Katrina (search) began to slowly recede with the ruined city's first pumps returning to operation, Nagin late Tuesday authorized law enforcement officers to force the evacuation of the estimated 10,000 residents who refuse to heed orders to leave.

[dennisw]

This article seems to be truthful. Cronyism sucks but when it's exposed as thousands die it's lethal. I say that GWBush's administration treated FEMA as a joke and appointed clowns and jokers to run it.

If Bill Clinton did it too then it never got exposed due to smaller disasters and more competent hacks being appointed

[kcvl]

Jane Bullock was chief of staff for the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Clinton administration under the leadership of Director James Lee Witt. In an interview with CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras, Bullock placed the blame for the slow, stumbling federal response squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration.


The department has been marginalized," said Jane Bullock, a former FEMA chief of staff who left in 2000.



Jane Bullock, professor of risk management at George Washington University



http://www.wcdm.org/bullock.jpg



Jane Bullock is serving as a Research Scientist and an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Crises, Disaster and Risk Management at George Washington University. She is also a Principal in the Washington-based disaster management consulting firm of Bullock & Haddow LLC.

She is the former Chief of Staff to James Lee Witt, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

During her 22 year career at FEMA, Ms. Bullock worked in nearly all of FEMA’s principal disaster programs and served as an Agency spokesperson representing FEMA on all the major networks.

With George Haddow, she is the co-author of two textbooks, "Introduction to Emergency Management" and "Introduction to Homeland Security".


******


The following are Senior FEMA Officials during the Clinton Administration.



* James Lee Witt, FEMA Director; April 1993 - January 2001
* Michael J. Armstrong, Associate Director of Mitigation
* Carrye Burley Brown, US Fire Administration Administrator
* Jo Ann Howard, Administrator, Federal Insurance Administration
* John Copenhaver, Region IV Director, Atlanta, GA
* Martha Braddock, Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
* Jane Bullock, Chief of Staff
* Michell Burkett, Director of Policy and Regional Operations
* Rita Calvan, Region III Director
* Lynn Canton, Region II Director
* David L deCourcy, Region X Director
* Gary Johnson, Chief Financial Officer
* Pauline Campbell, Director of Office of Equal Rights
* Buddy Young, Region VI Director


Link to photos below...


http://tinyurl.com/9334j


******


Buddy Young, the former chief of Governor Clinton's security detail and now the regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the south-central United States.




http://www.nando.net/nt/images/okcity/ntp1c.jpeg

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Buddy Young of FEMA
look at photographs of rescue efforts from the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City
on Sunday, April 23, 1995.


******


Raymond Lloyd (Buddy) Young
Regional Director, Region VI
1993 - January 2001

Raymond Lloyd "Buddy" Young was appointed Director, Region VI by President Clinton in 1993. As Regional Director, he coordinated FEMA mitigation, preparedness and disaster response and recovery activities in: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In 1997, he served as Acting Deputy Director for the agency.

Mr. Young is a veteran of 26 years of service for the Arkansas State Police. He joined FEMA after serving as director of security for then-Governor Bill Clinton, a post he had held since 1983. During the 1992 presidential campaign, Mr. Young coordinated state security matters for the governor's office, working with federal law officers responsible for protecting presidential candidates. As Director of Security for the Office of the Governor, Mr. Young formed a close professional relationship with President Clinton and FEMA Director James Lee Witt, serving as a vital link to the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services and the state's emergency management community.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Young served in the Highway Patrol and Criminal Investigation Division of the Arkansas State Police, where he was Commander of the Organized Crime Unit.

A native of Dardanelle, Arkansas, Mr. Young holds a Certificate in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas and has trained in police work at various federal and state law enforcement academies. He is a graduate of the National FBI Academy, Quantico, VA, and a graduate of the Keeler Polygraph Institute, Chicago, IL. He is active in local civic work and has served on the advisory board of the Capital City Business College Security and Law Enforcement School. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the School of Public Administration and Emergency Management at the University of North Texas. From 1965 to 1971, he served as a member of the Arkansas National Guard.


******


There are a steady stream of threats during the Clinton years, such as those allegedly relayed to two state troopers by a Democratic official in 1993 that they would be "destroyed" if they spoke to the press, and the phone call from Clinton's ex-security chief Buddy Young warning them not to reveal anything.


Buddy Young -

during Paula Jones vs. Clinton testified to procuring women for Governor Clinton

[mewzilla]

Zuckerman, what the heck are you doing publishing this drivel? Is your readership really that stupid?

[.cnI redruM]

Well who in the f--cking f--k did they expect GWB to appoint to positions in his administration? Only the short list of people who most frequently pissed in his Cheerios? Your friends are pretty much who you appoint for those jobs when you win a big election. Duh!!!!!!!!!!

[calmseas]

FEMA should be abolished. I have only seen them get in the way and cost lives in New Orleans. Leave relief efforts to private agencies.

[infocats]

bttt

[infocats]

The NY Daily News, unlike many valid criticisims of the NYT's leftist slant, can't be accused of similar failings. It tends to be blue collar conservative in its orientation.

[liberallarry]

From what I hear there's a lot of truth to this article.

But it still doesn't get to the heart of the matter. An agency can be staffed by professionals and still be lousy...if the professionals are lousy. I was in emergency rescue work for 31 years and saw that clearly. As far as I know there's no sure method of finding good people. Nobody knew Giuliani would perform so well until he was tested.

[George W. Bush]

FEMA also is hampered by several midlevel and regional director's jobs currently held by acting directors.

I commented on this the other day. On FEMA's website, it is surprising how many top staff like Director of Operations and most of the Regional Directors all are listed as 'Acting'.

Makes you wonder what happened to the rest of the staff of an agency that has been around since the Seventies.

[theDentist]

While patronage is common on both sides of the aisle, some things should be based solely upon experience. Intelligence, Military, FEMA, etc should be those where experience is the most important factor.

It does sound like Bush blew it with these appointments.