Posted on 09/28/2005 1:00:53 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
Republican members of Congress haven't yet done enough to get to the bottom of problems surrounding the response to Hurricane Katrina. Only an independent inquiry can do that. But at least they recognize a fool when they see one.
Michael Brown, who quit as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Katrina, was back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, defending his response to the hurricane that killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands more trapped in the floods, cesspools and crime that followed.
He blamed everyone in sight except, of course, himself. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The "hysteric" news media.
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown said in a display of arrogance and denial in Tuesday's House committee hearing that was nothing short of weird.
There are plenty of people to blame, including those at the state and local level, for the poor response. And Hurricane Katrina was an immense force of nature against which human efforts were bound to fall short.
But Brown and consequently his agency froze in the crisis. His biggest mistake -- aside from taking the job at FEMA in the first place -- was failing to lead the agency he was appointed to lead. That was certainly the case in the days immediately before the hurricane, during the storm and afterward. It was also true in the years before the storm, when FEMA's role was marginalized with little or no effective opposition from Brown.
To their credit, Republicans leading the hearing had no stomach for Brown's performance, either.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."
Shays spoke for the nation.
My congresscritter doesn't speak for me either, although my governor, Jeb is pretty OK. Jeb understands hurricanes too, but that's lost on the MSM.
People like Shays are the reason why the Republican Congress hasn't done jack. Has he been with the Republicans on ANYTHING?
Agree! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him for a job well done and hopefully let him know we appreciate him more than he'll ever know. It is ridiculous the way he is being treated.
Shays might have spoken for the rest of the nation, but he sure as hell didn't speak for me!!!!!
>>> To their credit, Republicans leading the hearing had no stomach for Brown's performance, either. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job." <<<
Since when is Shays a republican? Shays claim to fame is he is a media hound, which means he has a history of liberal activism.
For the record, the republican leading the hearing treated Brown respectfully, as did the other republicans. The two demon-crats -- the corrupt William Jefferson of LA, and the Schumer-of-the-South, Gene Taylor -- and the leftist Shays were disrespectful to Brown, as expected.
Nothing new here. Move along.
Strange how he did such a poor job, but there were no complaint during the numerous other disasters he oversaw, like Ivan, and Katrina in Mississippi and Alabama. The problem is only in New Orleans. Somehow, though, it is Bush's fault.
Google tells me that CT has less than 5000 square miles of land area.
Heck, if we had the MSM in WWII, we would be speaking Japanese!
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