Katrina fall-out

in article , cjcampbell
at wrote on 9/7/05 7:08 PM:


john smith wrote:
I don't think most people are fooled by the usual idiot media reporting
of federal incompetence. The next local elections in Louisiana may show
a real backlash, if a recall movement or even impeachment proceedings
are not organized before then.

Except that FEMA is proving itself to be lead by incompetent and inept
individuals. The military is proving to be the primary source of
organized relief.

Well, it is easy to say that. But as President Bush said, what have
they done wrong? If the President is going to fire people or ask for
resignations, he is going to need some specifics other than general
allegations of incompetence. Following federal and state regulations is
not generally considered to be incompetence, so it will take some
deeper investigation to see what, if anything, can be done about FEMA.
Personally, I think a lot of the trouble will be found to have started
at Homeland Security. This agency was a bad idea in the first place,
and it has yet to demonstrate an ability to deal with any emergency
competently. I am not sure how anyone could expect FEMA to operate
efficiently with Homeland Security breathing down their necks. "Before
we send in the National Guard, we have to confiscate all the tweezers."
:-)

I actually agree with much of what you say here. On the other hand, it
should be noted that "Brownie", the head of FEMA, needed to be informed by
TV reporters that evacuees were being sent to the New Orleans convention
center. He honestly had no idea what was happening.