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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 03:51 PM
Original message
AP --Brown Shifts Blame for Katrina Response


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_brown_hk4;_ylt=AnxYLW3dPDZQfT.uWtDACt6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
Brown Shifts Blame for Katrina Response

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Former FEMA director Michael Brown blamed others for most government failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, especially Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He aggressively defended his own role.

Brown also said that in the days before the storm, he expressed his concerns that "this is going to be a bad one" in phone conversations and e-mails with President Bush, White House chief of staff Andy Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.
......


"I'm happy you left," said Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn. "That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Rep. Gene Taylor (news, bio, voting record), D-Miss., told Brown: "The disconnect was, people thought there was some federal expertise out there. There wasn't. Not from you."......
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 03:53 PM
Response to Original message
1. Chertoff seems to be distancing himself from Brown?



....Michael Chertoff from on-site responsibility. He will remain on the FEMA payroll for two more weeks, advising the agency, said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

"He speaks for himself and he's entitled to his point of view and I don't have anything to add," Chertoff told reporters in Miami. Bush and Blanco both ignored a reporter's shouted question about Brown's assertions as they inspected damage from Hurricane Rita in Lake Charles, La.
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 03:56 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Chertoff is just hoping the slime doesn't rub off on his
own self. But if a thorough independent investigation is done, I'm afraid they'll all come out the other end looking like 'the blob'.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:11 AM
Response to Reply #3
63. Yeah, Chertoff apparently did not approve the 05 budget
that slashed the FEMA funding, as he explained it.

He's doing the SOB excuse (as in Some Other Bastard was responsible for that).
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chelsea0011 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:36 PM
Response to Reply #1
11. Atta boy, Brownie. Take up the administration mantra. Never a mistake.
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zonkra Donating Member (62 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #11
74. He'll take up the Bush mantra, all right--
After all, Karl Rove's still letting him loot FEMA like an upscale WalMart to the tune of $149K. "Brownie" is Joe Allbaugh's ex-roommate and protege. They both went to the Lee Atwater School of Dirty Deeds, majoring in Records Sanitizing. As such, "Brownie" could tell alot about W's TANG desertion, his drug arrest record, the abortion of his fetus, etc. He'll be bought off or shut up one way or the other.
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 03:55 PM
Response to Original message
2. You Didn't Expect Him To Be A Man About It, Did You?
An honest man would take honest work, doing the job because he knows how to do a good job, and improving every day in his expertise, especially in public service.

But Brownie wasn't in public service to serve the public: he was a parasite put in place to rip off the public. As one of our distinguished members put it, "How very Republican of him!"
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Journeyman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:07 PM
Response to Original message
4. I thought Bush stopped all emails when he took office? . . .
something about not wanting to have to sacrifice his privacy in the future (or give them up to a subpoena, I suspect).

So what's Drownie mean, that he sent e-mails to Bush? I call bushit.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:45 PM
Response to Reply #4
15. I think these were for andy card.
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Journeyman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. Probably so. . . I was suspicious of the idea of George Bush reading. . .
so you're probably right.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:05 PM
Response to Reply #18
53. the WH must have picked up the email in Arizona? or TX?
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mbperrin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:19 PM
Response to Original message
5. Can he not be charged with multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter?
Seems to me his proximate negligent acts led directly to a number of deaths....just a thought.
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Tiggeroshii Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:20 PM
Response to Original message
6. Think the NYTimes'll catch on?
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #6
50. not me. thanks
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Tiggeroshii Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 11:10 PM
Response to Reply #50
58. I found it particularly wimpy.
It was particularly soft compared to the Yahoo, LA Times and WPost stories.
Maybe I skimmed over too fast, do you happen to agree?
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AnneD Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
7. What I can't understand
is why this incompetent horse's ass is still on the FEMA payroll as a consultant.
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plasticsundance Donating Member (786 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #7
10. I'm surprised Bush didn't promote him
It seems to be the modus operandi for incompetence in this White House.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #10
16. lots of time for that.
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lakercub Donating Member (509 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:58 PM
Response to Reply #16
24. They have to finish casting his medal n/m
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Mugsy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:29 PM
Response to Original message
8. Link to Bush's Declaration on WhiteHouse.gov.
Edited on Tue Sep-27-05 04:56 PM by Mugsy
Correction: Link not pulled, just bad (via the original post on the DU homepage - missing the "7-1.html").

Corrected Link.
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debbierlus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:31 PM
Response to Original message
9. 'Brownie' LIES UNDER OATH TODAY -

He LIED under Oath - he was questioned on why the President did not include three counties (including ORLEANS which includes New Orleans) in the request for federal disaster relief -

Brownie said that the Governor of Louisana omitted those counties, & that it was up to the Governor to request the President take action.

This was an out & out & out & out LIE.

Here is the link for the request on August 27:

http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf

Outrageous -

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Cookie wookie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:37 PM
Response to Reply #9
12. Yeah, Randi Rhodes is talking about him
lying right now and has the documentation on her website.

Will the corporate media report on his lying?
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bunny planet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:51 PM
Response to Reply #12
17. just wrote her and told her to get all the information to Olbermann.
If anybody will put it on the teevee its KO.
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confludemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
13. Ex-FEMA chief rehired as consultant for partisan smears of local officials
Edited on Tue Sep-27-05 04:45 PM by confludemocrat
What a supreme dick, one for the ages. And the rehiring or retention was probably at the behest of Repubs in the US House.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 04:44 PM
Response to Reply #13
14.  Average (2349 votes) 3.4 stars
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mcg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:46 PM
Response to Reply #14
39. They reset the rating now 3.0 with 2 votes
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Merlot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:20 PM
Response to Original message
19. "this is going to be a bad one"
gee, I coulda told 'em that!
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ktowntennesseedem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:12 PM
Response to Reply #19
27. Yeah, look out, Al Roker!
Super-meteorologist Brownie just might be after your job--at least once this cushy FEMA consulting thing is done!
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Mr_Spock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:40 PM
Response to Original message
20. What a fucking ass hole
lol - "yer doin' a good job. Brownie"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:



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Synnical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:44 PM
Response to Original message
21. Apparently they've updated the article - the opening paragraphs now
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_brown_hk4

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - An angry Michael Brown blamed the Louisiana governor, the New Orleans mayor and even the Bush White House that appointed him for the dismal response to Hurricane Katrina in a fiery appearance Tuesday before Congress. In response, lawmakers alternately lambasted and mocked the former FEMA director.


House members' scathing treatment of Brown, in a hearing stretching nearly six and a half hours, underscored how he has become an emblem of the deaths, lingering floods and stranded survivors after the Aug. 29 storm.


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pinniped Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:44 PM
Response to Original message
22. This wouldn't have anything to do with him totally...
being unqualified, would it?
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Faygo Kid Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 05:45 PM
Response to Original message
23. Rove's fingerprints are all over this
This is one for the base, an "up yours" to the Dems. If Blanco and Nagin were GOP, they would be praised to the hilt. Rove always attacks an opponent's strength. He is diverting attention from Bush's failure by pointing the finger at others. So much for Bush's "I take responsibility" crap.
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LiberalinNC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:08 PM
Response to Original message
25. It's the "Blame Game"...I thought the repugs weren't playing that game!
Edited on Tue Sep-27-05 06:09 PM by LiberalinNC
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #25
34. THAT should be the headline.
Brownie plays the Blame Game.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:05 PM
Response to Reply #25
52. all gloves off after the hearing today. Blame game is on full throttle.
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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:11 PM
Response to Original message
26. Right wing spin - the LA gov and mayor should fight back with venom!
So we need to write to every newspaper, talk on radio and TV. The LA gov and major should fight back! C'mon!
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recidivist Donating Member (963 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:26 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. Blanco and Nagin should resign as well.
I hold no candle for Mike Brown. He wasn't up to the job. He's gone. Good.

That said, it is also true that the city and state messed up big time. People on this board need to be careful about whitewashing them just because Blanco and Nagin are Democrats. There's plenty of blame to go around.

FWIW, one personal experience: I had occasion to sit on on a meeting a couple of days ago with some professional disaster relief folks. A couple of them were fairly recent FEMA retirees and others had worked in and around major disasters for many years in other capacities. In temperment, they were careful bureaucrat types and didn't tip their hands about partisan politics, though as government careerists they would likely lean Democratic.

These folks expressed some concern about FEMA being weakened due to the reshuffling involved during the creation of DHS. However, all of them were livid over the beating FEMA has been taking in the press. And they clearly held Nagin and Blanco in complete contempt. Their basic point is that FEMA, which has only 2,500 total employees, is not a first responder. The police, fire department, emergency services, busses, and medical facilities are all local assets, in this case controlled by the mayor. The second line of defense is the State Police and National Guard, controlled by the governor. FEMA rolls in along about the third wave; it's role is to coordinate the outside support and dump money in for reconstruction.

Yes, Mike Brown should have intervened more forcefully. But he should not be made the scapegoat for the whole fiasco. The truth is, the mayor and governor went walkabout, and that was where the trouble began.

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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:55 PM
Response to Reply #28
30. FEMA is the lead agency
As the lead agency under its new home DHS FEMA wasn't doing well what it was supposed to do. States' first responders don't have the necessary resources to deal with this kind of disaster. Especially if the levees broke.
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recidivist Donating Member (963 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:20 PM
Response to Reply #30
36. FEMA is not the first responder.
The failure to order a timely evacuation was Nagin's and Blanco's. The failure to use the city's own busses to transport poor folks from the Superdome and the Convention Center BEFORE the storm hit was Nagin's. The failure to evacuate hospitals and nursing homes, and the decision to empty the jails into the streets, were Nagin's. The failure to establish effective command and control at the Superdome and Convention Center BEFORE the storm hit was Nagin's. The inexcusable failure to enter into the multistate emergency response compact BEFORE the storm hit, the insistence to maintain State control over the LA National Guard, and the blocking of federal command and control in the aftermath of the storm were all Blanco's decisions. The order blocking relief convoys from getting food and water to the Superdome and Convention Center for two days after the storm came from the LA Guard, under Blanco's control.

Surely everyone here understands this?

Does this exonerate Mike Brown and FEMA? No, of course not. New Orleans has been a disaster in the making for many years. It should have been a top priority all along. FEMA clearly failed to press the city and State to take their responsibilities seriously. That failure clearly runs back many years so it can't all be laid be blamed on Mike Brown, but just as clearly, Brown did nothing to change an inadequate status quo.

Plenty of blame to go around. But that said, the basic federal failure was to defer too long to State and local authorities who weren't doing their jobs. I gather from the general tenor of the criticism that a lot of people really think Bush should have declared martial law and brushed aside Nagin and Blanco the moment the wind started to blow. No question, things would have run a lot smoother had he done so. (I am crediting the Army here, not Bush.) But that's not the way disaster response is supposed to be run in this country.

The response effort for Katrina seems to have worked pretty well -- not perfectly, but pretty well -- in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. It's only in Lousiana that it fell apart. That speaks volumes.

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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #36
45. FEMA
we know FEMA is not 1st responder but it is the lead agency for all other agencies and it should have been doing a lot more than it did. Most of what you say in your 1st para is a combination of Fox News speak and that the city of NO and the state of LA did not have the necessary resources to deal with this SCALE of disater and did what they were supposed to do in terms of evacuation but the Federal government failed to respond quickly....

Yes FEMA did block relief:

(1)FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e..


(2)FEMA turns away experienced firefighters http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048


(3)FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec..


(4)FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec..


(5)FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm


(6)FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=...


(7)FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826


(8)FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509..


(9)FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale..


(10)FEMA turns away generators http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html


(11)FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond" http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470


there's more
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NYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:02 AM
Response to Reply #45
60. Excellent post.
Thank you.
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CAcyclist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 01:55 PM
Response to Reply #36
76. So the E in FEMA stands for Evaluation, I suppose
and not emergency, as we stupid people had all presumed. :eyes:

Sorry, I 'm not buying your alternate reality . I read personal emails from rescuers(animal-side) in addition to the interviews of Nagin - it was FEMA that screwed up royally.
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FeloniousMonk Donating Member (18 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:14 AM
Response to Reply #30
73. The conservative argument
Edited on Wed Sep-28-05 11:50 AM by FeloniousMonk
recidivist is probably not referring to what happened after Katrina made landfall. An argument that might resemble his, which you will find voiced by "conservatives," is that before Katrina made landfall, Bush had "pleaded" with Nagin to evacuate. Later, it was revealed that there were x buses submerged -- why weren't they used? Then the calculations issue forth: x people per bus, y buses per minute, means z people saved!

In fact, we find recidivist says later such things as,

The failure to use the city's own busses to transport poor folks from the Superdome and the Convention Center BEFORE the storm hit was Nagin's.

Personally, I am of the everybody-deserves-a-little-blame category -- you know, the wishy-washies!
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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #73
79. Cons have been sent here
the Repugs have been ordered to hit all lib BBs to spin 'blame it on the Mayor' An indepedent enquiry (free of politics) would figure out what went wrong. It seem to me from what state governors are saying throughout the country that thwy do not have the resources to deal with anything so horrific as Katrina and beyond!
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chalky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Sep-29-05 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #73
80. Again with the "They didn't use the buses" line? THE BUSES WERE USED.
From the http://www.safesearching.com/billmaher/print/transcripts.shtml">Sept 9 Bill Maher interview with Walter Maestri (Director of Emergency Management for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana):

MAHER: But why do we see these pictures of all these buses underwater? Buses that were obviously never used.

MAESTRI: Well, the buses – the buses were used and then brought back to get another load of folks. The problem is that a number of people, particularly in the city of New Orleans, didn't have the resources themselves to be able to leave. And so, at the last hours, we were trying to get as many out as we possibly could, using the public transit system.

MAHER: But if you knew that – and you seem – from everything I've read, you seem like the guy who had been screaming about this longer than everybody. You're sort of the Richard Clarke of hurricane disasters. You knew about this. You were, like, on the deck of the Titanic, saying, “There's an iceberg coming!”

MAESTRI: That's right.

MAHER: Okay, so how come there wasn't this plan where, you know, okay, if there's a disaster, everybody who doesn't have a car meet at the corner of “Streetcar” and “Desire” or—{laughter}—whatever the streets are. I don't know, I'm not that familiar with – but why wasn't there that plan?

MAESTRI: Well, that was part of the plan, and the buses were used to get as many people out as we possibly could. You know, you've got to remember that a lot of people here in New Orleans – and that's part of the problem – believed that they could actually ride this storm out, or any storm out. We've got about three generations of New Orleanians who have never faced a storm like this. They don't really know what we're talking about. And a lot of people saw those of us who talked about it and tried to share it as prophets of doom and gloom.

MAHER: I know the plan was that you would hold out for 48 hours, at most 60 hours, and then the cavalry would come.

MAESTRI: Right.





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Synnical Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:19 PM
Response to Reply #28
35. Your points are valid, kinda
Though I don't agree that Nagin and Blanco should resign. Nagin is a Dem in name only, so I don't think there's any whitewashing going on here in regards to him. I think both he and Gov. Blanco are truly distressed about what has happened in their state.

However true it may be that FEMA was weakened due to the "reshuffling" during the creation of DHS, the fact remains that this happened under Republican control. And DHS is, or should be, a First Responder. I mean, that's why FEMA was put under its control, yes?

And I won't even comment on the National Guard comments 'cause it would be redundant to point out . . . the obvious
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recidivist Donating Member (963 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #35
37. I disagree that DHS and/or FEMA should be a first responder.
Forget about Katrina for a moment. The fact is, there are scores of emergency situations around the country every day. Tens of thousands actually, if you include fires, crimes, etc. Most are small, some middlin', and a few large. Most are handled by local response assets without any further ado. Once and awhile, the State gets involved. Direct federal involvement in field operations is fairly rare. Mostly the feds are asked to step in with money after the fact.

IOW, most of the emergency response assets are local to begin with, and that remains the case when a big incident blows up. Do you really think the feds should duplicate the enormous police, fire, and emergency response infrastructure that already exists around the country? Or do you really think that, at the first sign of trouble, the feds should nationalize all the local assets? What kind of enormous standing federal bureaucracy do you think would be required to do that? And do you really think it would work very well?

To reduce it to a sharp point: do you really think George Bush should have taken over as military dictator of Louisiana the moment the rain started to fall?

I don't.

But the logic of my position is that Nagin and Blanco need to be held responsible for their dereliction of duty. They are the primary culprits here. I do not fault Mike Brown in the slightest for pointing that out. He is not blameless, but he IS being hung out to dry as everybody's scapegoat. While that is great fun, one needs to understand that some of the people doing the finger pointing are covering their own backsides.

BTW, I was very glad to see Mike Brown stick up for his worker bee folks at FEMA. They did their jobs. Had the Lousiana people done theirs as well, this fiasco would not have happened.
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randomelement Donating Member (92 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:13 PM
Response to Reply #37
42. Dereliction of Duty?
While I agree with most of your points, to suggest that Blanco and Nagin were derelict is a gross oversimplification. When the majority of their first responders (the LA National Guard) and associated equipment (high water vehicles) are stationed elsewhere "spreading democracy", exactly how are Blanco and Nagin supposed to handle this adequately when their resources are missing? Yes, there were many things they should have done better, but this is analogous to fighting with both hands tied behind your back ......

So, let me ask a rhetorical question --

Who's to blame? Blanco, Nagin, Brown or Bush?

I think we can all agree that things would have turned out much better had the National Guard not been dismantled by this administration.
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carpe diem Donating Member (769 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:32 PM
Response to Reply #37
43. What should the federal response be when most of the local emergency...
...response assets and infrastructure are underwater? I understand that there were failures and mistakes before the hurricane hit, but 80-85% of a major American city did get evacuated in a relatively short period of time and I don't believe that that has ever been accomplished anywhere in the country before,or needed to be. But, by Tuesday, when the levees broke, it should have been clear to the whole country, and esp. the Feds, that the city of New Orleans was wiped out. That means buses, ambulances, police, paramedics, fire dept., the people who make up the local government, were basically underwater themselves.

Richard Clarke made this observation on Nightline last week, that the local gov't was responsible for first response, but that DHS apparently had no plan for what to do when there was no local gov't infrastructure left...when the city itself was wiped out. Four years after 9-11 and hundreds of billions of dollars later, this wasn't even considered as a possiblity? That the city itself could be so devastated, that what would normally be the responsibility of the locals, simply could not be accomplished? There was no plan for what to do when the city was gone.

I think dereliction of duty maybe overstating the failures at the local and state level. They are not without blame, but there were aspects of this catastrophe that were simply beyond their control. We're all brilliant with 20/20 hindsight, but a little bit of slack is in order, IMHO.
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #43
49. FEMA should have had the knowwithall to take up the slack but this
did not happen.
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Tiberius Donating Member (798 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 10:42 AM
Response to Reply #43
69. Thank you!
After seeing the comments above about how the state and local governments should have been the first responders, I was waiting for sometone to point out the obvious-- that firetrucks, police cars, the entire infrastructure was underwater! How does a city plan for being destroyed!?!?!?

I'm sure FEMA was gutted by Bush, but what I don't get is why they seemed to GET IN THE WAY of the efforts. Makes me almost think it was a "FEMALIHOP" to gain them more autonomy and funding, to say "see! FEMA's been gutted!!!! Look how we couldn't respond! Free us from the Department of Fatherland Security and let us do our jobs!"
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Wrinkle_In_Time Donating Member (664 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #37
44. *Golf Clap* Nice work. Have a medal!
You are quite good at your job. Well done!

I will take this opportunity to amuse myself (after all, that's what we all want) with some snarky jabs at your post...

Forget about Katrina for a moment.

No, let's stick to the topic.

The fact is, there are scores of emergency situations around the country every day. Tens of thousands actually, if you include fires, crimes, etc.

Those aren't FEMA's responsibility. They are irrelevant. Moving on...

To reduce it to a sharp point: do you really think George Bush should have taken over as military dictator of Louisiana the moment the rain started to fall?

No, even though he tried to force the Governor to turn over control of what's left of the LA National Guard to him. Posse Commitatus anyone?

But the logic of my position...

Why claim logic? Shouldn't your argument be strong enough by itself?

While that is great fun, one needs to understand that some of the people doing the finger pointing are covering their own backsides.

I totally agree! I just think that the "some of the people" you picture are different than the ones in my mind.
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KAZ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #44
47. Well done! Nice reply.
It's swinging at pitches in the dirt, but nicely laid out.
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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #37
46. God help us then if we have a terrorist attack?
if the state 1st repsonders are down and wiped then do we rely on our Feds to step in no doubt they will be busy having cocktails? Amazing how easy it is for the right to distort the real truth on what actually happened?
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area51 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #28
48. "... as government careerists they would likely lean Democratic."
Why would that be?
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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #28
51. I am leary of the mayor Nagin. I can not quite pin why--just a gut

feeling. He comes across as an opportunist at times.

....That said, it is also true that the city and state messed up big time. People on this board need to be careful about whitewashing them just because Blanco and Nagin are Democrats. There's plenty of blame to go around.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #51
64. Perhaps because he used to be a Republican?
He was a bigwig with Cox Communications, and switched parties to run for mayor as a Dem...
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Dr Fate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:44 PM
Response to Reply #28
56. Perhpas they would not get re-elected anyway? Who knows? n/t
n/t
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TankLV Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:57 AM
Response to Reply #28
66. That is repuke bullshit, and WE know it!
The massive screw-up and CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE is soley FEMA's and this CRIMINAL AWOL bush* misadministration!

I sat thru it all. We have the documents.

What you spew is REPUKE BULLSHIT!

The facts prove otherwise.
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zonkra Donating Member (62 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #28
78. But he's not gone...
That's the thing. He's still earning $149K per year as a "consultant" to FEMA for at least the next month. His mentor, Joe Allbaugh, is now working at Halliburton. Want to guess where "Brownie" is going to end up as a highly paid "consultant" after he leaves FEMA? "The ultimate goal of fascism is to merge the corporation and the State"-- Benito Mussolini. If Benito'd had access to our technology, we'd all be speaking German. Bush might like that, though. His grandpa was Hitler's agent in America handling the proceeds from slave labor mining in the Ruhr Valley for Hitler's fave Amerikan Korporation, Brown Brothers Harriman.
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sarcasmo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:29 PM
Response to Original message
29. No federal expertise, great response from Gene Taylor.
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Singular73 Donating Member (999 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
31. The media is tearing him up
A lamb left to slaughter by Rove.

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Catchawave Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. So are republicans....
I should know, I'm married to one :) And he's definitely looking at the BushCo with open eyes now, as political payback appointments to serious jobs, Uh, FEMA Director, are NOT in the best interest for protecting our country! Bush should be held responsible too! There's hope for our country, sadly, it's taken many more innocent deaths to come around for Mr. Catch :(
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mcg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:54 PM
Response to Reply #33
40. Bush is corrupt and inept, not conservative.

The weird thing is, domestic discretionary spending has skyrocketing under Bush, while at the same time poverty has increased and the levee improvement funding was blocked.

I don't agree with conservatives on most issues, but Bush makes the the real conservatives look good, in comparision that is.



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rodeodance Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:07 PM
Response to Reply #31
54. Rove prob. hoisted the spindle?
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sofa king Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
32. Oh, so THAT's why he's still on the payroll.
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obxhead Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 07:42 PM
Response to Original message
38. $148,600.00 a year
I heard on CNN earlier that is what "Brownie" is still being paid by FEMA for his consultation services.
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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 08:08 PM
Response to Original message
41. Sheez
These neocon types can't take responsibility for anything.

I've love the line "I've overseen over 150 presidentially declared disasters."

Yeah Browny. You stood there and looked them over.

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Tight_rope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:11 AM
Response to Reply #41
72. My same thoughts! n/t
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Dr Fate Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:42 PM
Response to Original message
55. Somthing smells about all this. Why are the Repubs letting this happen?
First they rehire him- then they get all self righteous on TV calling the guy names? Somthing is fishy about all of this.
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NYC Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:07 AM
Response to Reply #55
62. The buck stops with Brown.
They don't want it moving up to Chertoff and Bush.

That's why Brown is still on payroll, and the Republicans are "allowing" this questioning.
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lovuian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 10:45 PM
Response to Original message
57. I loved how the Democrats voted the investigation and let the
Republicans take the blame!!!
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WannaJumpMyScooter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Sep-27-05 11:22 PM
Response to Original message
59. And this suprises me....
how?
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cliss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:07 AM
Response to Original message
61. Oh, I do so enjoy these public airings.
of their dirty laundry. I love watching try to get out of this mess, as his Cronies leave him to twist in the wind.

After all, Michael "Brown-nose" Brownie was responsible for many deaths in the Gulf.

No tears from me.

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Endangered Specie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 12:44 AM
Response to Original message
65. Sounds like hes been taking notes from Baghdad Bob!
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FifthColumn Donating Member (2 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 06:41 AM
Response to Reply #65
67. Baghdad Bob?
You mean Rumsfeld?
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Endangered Specie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:18 AM
Response to Reply #67
75. see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Bob
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tainowarrior Donating Member (425 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 06:43 AM
Response to Original message
68. Thank god for Shays and Taylor
Told that horse-ass inspecting bastard how it is.

He and Chertoff should BOTH be out.
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FeloniousMonk Donating Member (18 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:05 AM
Response to Original message
70. Giuliani envy
Is Shays the one who said something like, "I have a feeling that if Rudy Giuliani had been in your shoes, we'd all be having a party now"? I thought that was lame.
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tom_paine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 11:07 AM
Response to Original message
71. The ONLY things Busheviks excel at: lying and shifting blame
"Heckuva job, Brownie!"
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Ensalada Donating Member (42 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-28-05 02:08 PM
Response to Reply #71
77. he's only a pawn in their game.
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