I'm quickly losing the last bits of respect for Powell
I don't know, he makes some good points
I have a lot of respect for him. He made a mistake, then owned up to it and resigned.
Powell has three absolutely truthful points.
First, leadership was a failure at all three levels. The fact that Mike Brown from FEMA was fired today...ought to be recognized as a admission of that. Brown really didn't have the creditionals to perform in management of emergency action...and there are probably five or six other individuals under him who are in the same bucket. They were all hired because of university background or business experience or whatever...but these folks shouldn't have been at the top end of a emgerency action organization. In a desperate military situation, you want real military leaders...not some politicans from Iowa telling you to reestablish your front. In Brown's case, he was out of his league.
And as for the Mayor and Govenor...both also are out of their league but they were voted becaused they talked pretty and had the image of a good politican. Neither performed up to standards and I doubt if anyone will argue over that. Both deserve to be dumped at the next election.
And finally...lets be realistic here. New Orleans may be one of the top 10 cities in the US...it may have a fantastic business structure set up....it may have one of the top medical facilities in the south...it may have billions rolling in each year from tourism...and the French Quarter is legendary. But beneath that...if you drive around the entire town and really look at who lives in the city limits...this is the most dirt poor town in the US for its size. The number of people on welfare, and the number making the just enough to be within range of poverty...is greater per capita than just about every other town in the US of its size. LA and Houston are absolutely rich which you use the same comparisions...and both have a high density of blacks. Orleans was different. People there settled for less...decade after decade. The fed's didn't need to tell them to get ahead...it wouldn't have mattered. Every president over the last 100 years could have told them to get ahead...but they just didn't get it. This is a town with a attitude problem...and this hurricane probably helped displace enough of them...permanently...that they will see a better light in Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, and other towns. These are people who needed a kick in the seat of the pants, and a new start to get back on track.
Powell tells the truth...it just aint' pretty.