Krugman: All the President's Friends

[Gunit_Sangh]

The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. The hapless Michael Brown - who is no longer overseeing relief efforts but still heads the agency - has become a symbol of cronyism.

But what we really should be asking is whether FEMA's decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA's are there?

Unfortunately, it's easy to find other agencies suffering from some version of the FEMA syndrome.

The first example won't surprise you: the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a key role to play in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, but which has seen a major exodus of experienced officials over the past few years. In particular, senior officials have left in protest over what they say is the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce environmental law.

Rest of story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/opinion/12krugman.html?hp

[rodeodance]

1. He should have hit hard on the immorality of these appointments esp

in the area of emergency management.
Bushco putting brown in as Director was a dream come true--as Bushco knew Brown would not ask critical questions!!---he did not know what to ask!! or what an emergency dept should look like.

[Skink]

2. It's more than just cronyism....

they'll stand back behind their mantra and say see Goverment is the problem.

[peacetalksforall]

3. If you have lied, stolen, deluded, testified, fronted for the right wing,

specifically for Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Carlyle, PNAC, Fed Society, etc. you will be rewarded if you remain loyal which means lying stealing deluding testifying defending fronting for them. Should you be a foreign partner you will receive limited loyalty. Should you get into trouble, they will work with you unless they decide you can be a political scapegoat.
Should you get them into trouble or change your mind about your loyalty, you will know the extent of their revenge, especially little Bush who is obsessed with taking revenge.

No author, screenwriter, or caveman storyteller has ever matched the vileness of this group of non-humans.

[papau]

4. FEMA's own "National Response Plan" rules seems forgotton by our

media.

The December 2004 National Response Plan (NRP), the federal Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) most recent plan for coordinated federal response to disasters http://mediamatters.org/rd?http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/... , confirms the Red Cross' status as a "primary agency" http://mediamatters.org/items/200509090002#establishes
that will, under the oversight of FEMA and DHS, coordinate "federal mass care resources" to affected areas. Moreover, in a "catastrophic event," such as what befell New Orleans, the NRP directs FEMA http://mediamatters.org/items/200509090002#directs
to act on its own authority to quickly provide assistance and conduct emergency operations, bypassing state and local authorities if necessary.

And our uniform media responce is to put "some blame" on local and State officials, and on those workers that fled NO rather than stay at Hospitals or on the police watch as their homes were washed away?

When Knight-Rider, Fox, and the Bush Administration are not singing the same tune, let me know. Till then, our media sucks IMHO.