Posted on 09/09/2005 7:08:45 AM PDT by Millee
Rep. Tom Tancredo on Thursday became one of the first congressional Republicans to call for the ouster of embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown.
Echoing criticism leveled by numerous Democrats this week, the Littleton congressman said he had lost confidence in Brown, a former Colorado lawyer who has been under fire for his agency's response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Tancredo has been harshly critical of state and local officials in Louisiana, too, saying they deserve 90 percent of the blame for the mismanaged relief efforts.
But he said the FEMA director should be removed from his post "as part of what I would hope would be a thorough housecleaning from this whole event. I certainly believe he has demonstrated a lack of leadership to the extent I think a replacement is necessary.
"But believe me," Tancredo added, "it's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in terms of the sort of personnel shifting that needs to go on."
Democrats, including Sen. Ken Salazar, of Denver, Rep. Mark Udall, of Eldorado Springs, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, from California, already have called on President Bush to remove Brown.
Until now, the White House has rebuffed the requests and Brown has said he's continuing to do his job despite the criticism.
"It really hasn't surprised me that we've gotten into the blame game," Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said Wednesday. "I don't think this is the time to fire people. I think it's the time we need to help people."
Earlier this week, Tancredo harshly criticized Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, both Democrats, saying they had "demonstrated mind- boggling incompetence," and urged Congress not to give emergency relief funds directly to their agencies without strict federal oversight.
Tancredo now questions whether Brown has the confidence to remain on the job overseeing the federal disaster response.
"I don't know how much trust there is in him, and I think at this point in time you desperately need people leading the effort here who are deemed to be capable and have the trust of the people who work for them," Tancredo said.
There really should be a,
going off in the cavity between your ears.
Uh that the only way tancredo gets attention is when he bashes fellow Conservatives and Republicans.
Why stop there? Let's fire the whole government!
That might be part of the explanation, but I do think there will have to be an explanation.
This probably won't change your mind but give it fair consideration.
Tancredo was talking about the standoff between Russia and the USA being one of mutually assured destruction. Meaning, the USSR and USA would think twice before launching nukes. With Al Qaeda and radical Muslims there is no threat to make them think twice about before nuking someplace in the US or killing millions of our citizens.
Tancredo's point is to make these radicals think twice before attacking us. Because of the money and support from Saudi Arabia, Iran or other places in the Middle East, Tancredo was proposing our letting them know that if we can link any country to a future nuclear attack on the US, then any drastic response we might make will be considered.
The media took the nuking Mecca aspect and ran with it, missing the intended point Tancredo was making.
What a surprise. /sarcam
Good point.
Have there been ANY Republicans that have called for the resignation of Blanco/Nagin?
Of course not. They're too worried about political correctness; about being portrayed as anti-woman/anti-black.
The white guy is an easy target.
I agree with that. But even today the meme thriving in the public is thatteh Feds denied permission for the Red Cross to enter NOLA, and that the Feds generally are in control of the National Guard.
No doubt, Blanco won't explain the facts, because they work against her.
Oh, I get the old lightbulb going off lots of times. But, I've learned to try not jumping to conclusions over much of what I read from the MSM.
The Democrats are doing a pretty good at criticizing FEMA director Brown. There is no need for a Republican Congressman to join the opposition choir.
For some reason, when I try word association, the following words pop up after Tancredo:
backstabber
grandstanding
opportunist
clown
That boy has enough hair spray to survive a category 5 hurricane!
Sorry for misspelling. GOVENOR Blanco deserves to be impeached etc etc. If women (I being one) want to play in the Major Leagues, they better be ready to accept the heat. Or are we suppose to be nice to the little woman keeping house in Baton Rouge. GEEEZZZZ, this stuff makes me want to puke.
#108 That's why there must be a complete investigation. The GOP never comes off well when the only investigation is conducted by the liberal media. There needs to be a complete unbiased investigation, and that means NO POLITICIANS OR POLITICAL STAFFERS INVOLVED! And if there is a complete investigation, then Bush is going to have to explain why there was a 4 day delay between the time the hurricane hit and the time the Guard came in with significant force. That's just part of the investigation.
But I think in the end, the Report will pin the bulk of the blame on Nagin and Blanco, with Bush taking only a sliver of the blame.
I don't have enough information to assess Brown's performance. That will come later.
However, I believe that the main case against him is media driven. The blame for the agony shown at the SuperDome and NO convention center was heaped on FEMA and Brown. And now we find that the Red Cross and Salvation Army were prepared to provide thoae people relief and they were stopped by the state of Louisiana.
Had that relief been allowed, we would be hearing of just a few screw-ups by FEMA, screw-ups like those that always happen in a large disaster.
erotically ????
Bad Spell Check Bad.
Supposed to be ironically.
Brown handled prior disasters well. He may not have been qualified compared to others when he was hired, but he seems to have done just fine in all other instances except Louisiana. I don't hear Mississippi or Alabama residents complaining, probably because they have functioning and non-corrupt state governments.
Newbies are easy to spot. They usually make the same common errors. You haven't made any of them. Often there is a good reason for changing the name under which one posts, but most FReepers usually let people know the reason so it doesn't look like there is any deception.
No, he could have kept his mouth shut. But he found out what happens when you get to be the media's target of the week, didn't he?
You are correct he could have(towards the MSM witch hunt on Delay), but he didn't, and again tancredo on cue joins the neveau(french lingo) MSM witch hunt towards Brown.
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