How did FEMA do such a good job on 9-11 and such a mess in NO.

[FloridaPat]

FEMA showed up the night before. Got a nice command center going. Was able to get everything moving.

To watch them now - I have to wonder - did they know 9-11 was going to happen and had all the information ahead of time? This is unbelievable that these people are this incompetent. In 9-11 the gov't had the names of the hyjackers the next day, they had the Patriot Act that week, the plans to invade Afghanistan on *'s desk in just a couple of weeks. How could they be so good at coordination at something know one had any idea would happen, and yet here is something people knew would happen and they haven't a clue?

[LifeDuringWartime]

1. well its not really possible to control a hurricane

very interesting to think about this

[bearfan454]

2. You said

did they know 9-11 was going to happen and had all the information ahead of time?

Fuck yes they knew. Why in the hell would they show up in NYC the night before if they didn't know ?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. FEMA used to be a good, competent agency (under Clinton).

Some remnants of that competency still existed by 9/11, but after that Busholini stuck them under the Ministry of Fatherland Security, underfunded them and appointed that idiot, his unqualified crony Brown, to replace the very competent James Lee Witt. I saw a little of what FEMA did after the Grand Forks, ND floods, and they were great. The agency is basically useless now now because Bush totally gutted it.

[bobbieinok]

17. FEMA bad under Bush I....their failures in FL 92 hurricane helped

take Bush I down

getting FEMA fixed was a major priority for Clinton......under Jamie Lee Witt it did well in OKC bombing

[kikiek]

4. FEMA changed under Bush. Hadn't had time to change it when 9/11

happened. He was on vacation.

[Lindacooks]

15. Yep, you're right. The disaster chimp wrought upon this nation

took a little time.

[Tace]

5. Also, There Are Any Number Of Indications That 9-11 Was Fully Orchestrated

including the aftermath. It's clear that the full 9-11 plot did not come off as planned. But, they were ready for the aftermath, including finding a terrorist passport at Ground Zero a few hours after the attack.

[Teaser]

6. FEMA has been completely reorganized

under Homeland Security. Its bureaucracy has been dismantled and reassembled to work within homeland security, and to focus on terrorist events.

Natural disasters were no longer the primary concern.

[Lifelong Protester]

13. yep...

this is the honest to god's truth, a helluva good agency on its own with James Lee Witt in charge, and totally made incompetent when it was rushed into the homeland security department. Well, this is the price for that, this poorly organized response to a natural disaster, what FEMA used to do best.

But hey, it's all about terrorists, just like in Iraq.
Watch out, there's one behind you.
And one over there..

[TahitiNut]

7. The surrounding infrastructure functioned.

It wasn't hundreds of square miles under water and devastated. Many relief workers could actually go hom to sleep occasionally. Furthemore ... it was good weather.

[Miss Chybil]

8. FEMA used to be a cabinet level department, now it is under

Homeland Security and their budget has been cut. Bush put one of his buddies in charge who had no experience with disaster management. I don't know if the guy in charge now is the same one, or similarly disqualified. This is THE BIGGEST clusterfuck I have ever seen in my life.

[ohio_liberal]

11. When did the restructuring happen?

I wrote a post earlier today about how well FEMA performed here last year. They completely fell apart in a year.

[NNguyenMD]

9. different situation, 9-11 in NYC was better contained, and resources were

aplenty in the Northeast.

[SharonAnn]

14. CLinton totally revamped FEMA after the Hurricane Andrew

disaster and failure to respond adequately (under GHWB). Clinton said "Never aqain" and built it into an absolutely excellent organization.

After Bush was elected, he put his friend Joseph Allbaugh in charge. FEMA hadn't yet been re-organized and gutted when 9-11 happened. Since then, they've been de-funded big-time and placed under Homeland Security.

[Tyranny_R_US]

10. Lets see Upper Manhattan or... New Orleans.... hmmmm

Rich white people or... poor black people... hmmmm

Decisions Decisions Decisions!

[Hamlette]

12. stock brokers and the market vs poor black people? hello? n/t

[Carolab]

16. Because NOLA couldn't be blamed on IRAN. n/t

[leftofthedial]

18. advance knowledge while the bushturds planned 9-11

the gameplan here was to delay to make the disaster worse

[AlCzervik]

19. That was the old FEMA, Bush has gutted it.

[titoresque]

20. Well they had to work fast

during the cover-up after 9/11

[BrotherBuzz]

21. FEMA got sucked into that Homeland Security black hole

[The_Casual_Observer]

22. That was 2 office buildings

This is a whole city.