In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thousands are dead, more have lost their homes and people don’t want us to blame? Too bad. I can’t imagine an occasion more appropriate to assign accountability. Some disasters are unforeseen; this wasn’t.
Maybe people actively working on the problem don’t have time to play the blame game. The rest of us send money to the Red Cross and watch CNN. We have time. The voices asking us to shelve any accountability for later might not be sincere. Anyone who knows anything about America knows that we have the political memory of a flea. Later? There is no later. Now is a good time to begin holding people accountable for this, like President Bush who thinks important jobs are resting places for buddies.
The Bush administration didn’t fund the projects that might have stopped this. They cut the budget to FEMA and headed it with an incompetent crony. They took five days to get in there.
The Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana could have done many things differently. A graphic image of dozens of unused school buses parked in a yard comes to mind.
I don’t know to what extent corruption, incompetence and cronyism in Louisiana might have caused this, but it’s a possibility that I hope will be looked into. I know that these things flourish where people don’t rise up and hold their governments accountable. Just one more reason not to be so quite so forgiving of your public officials.
I personally think that the foolish decision to block people from evacuating with their beloved pets cost thousands of lives. This policy did not originate with this Presidential administration, but it needs to stop. If it doesn’t, let’s hold the new director of FEMA accountable for that. Let’s hold state and local officials who espouse this policy responsible. The majority of Americans might be pet owners now. The weather is becoming more and more unstable. Something guaranteed to make the most loving people unwilling to leave their homes during a disaster is inhuman. I don’t see how pets can possibly behave worse than some of the people in the Superdome did.
Article comments
1 - Matt
Truth be told, the Bush administration has increased FEMAs funding each year after it declined each year of the Clinton administration. Get the facts before you apportion blame.
2 - Matt Freelove
what difference does the funding make if they fuck everything up?
3 - DJRadiohead
A problem, as I see it, is a rush to write the history books before an event is finished (Ben Folds has a great quip about this on "Bastards" from his new album).
Cerulean, I agree with you that any time we have a situation like this we should ask ourselves what went right and what went wrong. We should ask the questions under the guise of learning something for future events. There are always errors and mistakes that can be learned from if we choose to investigate and ask the tough questions.
I am concerned that we are letting inflamed passions lead our investigation and that those passions would undermine our findings. I think time and perspective are really important.
The relief efforts may well have gotten there a few days late but this effort will take years. How much of a difference will those days make in the final analysis? We don't know. Maybe we should wait awhile before trying to ask that question.
4 - DJRadiohead
And I like the title of your article, too.
5 - Silas Kain
Blame is not a game but in the eyes of the White House spin machine it's a war. They'll stop at nothing to make everyone else look bad so long as the blame stays away from this Administration.
6 - DJRadiohead
but in the eyes of the White House spin machine it's a war
Sounds like virtually every White House I have been alive to witness.
7 - Silas Kain
But this White House is notorious for its viciousness and retribution.
8 - DJRadiohead
Silas, I just don't see the response from this White House being more vicious to its political opponents than any other White House in the past. It is notorious for viciousness and retribution to those who disagree with it. The Clinton White House seemed to answer their opponents with equal retribution and viciousness. I just do not see where the ante has been upped. I also think it is odd for anybody to wonder why their opponents are mean to them. Like it or not in an adversarial system but that seems to be nature of the beast.
9 - Silas Kain
Respectfully, I must disagree. I suggest you read the writings of Helen Thomas and other veteran White House reporters. There's an awful lot out there about how intimidated they have been by this press office.
10 - The Duke
Silas,
I can imagine you are fairly young. Every administration that I can remember is crooked and that goes back to JFK (when I was very young).
Carter was a genuinly honest person, who bumbled our country through and into some precarious ordeals.
Spin has been around, since government.
What I'm trying to get my arms around is what is a horse trader doing in charge of FEMA. And he was hand selected by the outgoing director of FEMA, who was a Clinton appointee.
You know when the federal government hires a pogue, qualifications count. Except for appointee's to head the agencies. That has got to stop. This a clear case for the cessation of that practice, especially for an agency that has managed to work itself into the national security fiber of DHS.
Bush has often exhibited loyalty to cabinet, and agencies heads (even those NOT appointed by his administration). In front of the camera, he was lauding Jones for doing a fine job. I think he should have been replacing him.
It's also a practice that follows a corporate model, which is what government has become over the last 20 years. Who's got the most experience? The guy who just screwed up. Witness Coca Cola 1, and other business examples. Ineptitude doesn't always get you fired, unless you're in the military. The military shitcans people automatically. The military eats their young. Corporations, federal, state and local government... keep them around.
11 - DJRadiohead
Silas, Helen Thomas (while a respected reporter indeed) has written many editorials very critical of this particular White House and has never really had anything particularly nice to say about them. I have a hard time regarding her as an unbiased source to pin the argument that this White House is meaner than others.
Let me emphasize, I do believe this White House is capable of being territorial and such. I just don't think these jerks are any worse than other jerks I have witnessed in my lifetime.
12 - Anne
Attempts to sidestep federal accountability for needless deaths of American citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by calling it "the blame game" and pretending it's politics as usual totally miss the point. Roughly 50 percent of Americans did not vote; however, nearly 100 percent of Americans have seen the photos and crying reporters describing the scores of dead elderly and children on the street. They are outraged, and their outrage grows daily at an administration whose only expeditious action takes place when it's for political reasons, not to save citizens' lives.
Take a look at the Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan (NRP). Then you will understand why accountability is necessary - particularly when lack of same will mean lack of preparation for a terrorist attack without warning.
The NRP, signed by President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Porter Goss, dictates the following:
"ALL PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES UNDER THE STAFFORD ACT ARE CONSIDERED INCIDENTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE."
(NRP, 7)
At such point a disaster or emergency is declared, according to the NRP, the
federal government can and has a duty to supercede protocol when it means preservation of life and assets: "Federal departments and agencies are EXPECTED to provide initial and/or ongoing response, when warranted, under their own authority and funding; alert, notification, pre-positioning and timely delivery of resources; proactive support for catastrophic or potentially catastrophic incidents using protocols for expedited delivery of resources. (NRP, 6)
Further:
Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources."
None of this was followed. Not a bit of it. As of Monday September 6,
Mississippi mayors were calling CNN to state that they'd still received no help from FEMA because FEMA alleged paperwork wasn't turned it. Ludicrous!
Furthermore, the NRP covers responsibility for troop deployment, stating "The Secretary of Defense authorizes Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) for domestic incidents as directed by the President or when consistent with military readiness operations and appropriate under the circumstances and the law."
And authorizes immediate action: " Imminently serious conditions resulting from any civil emergency may require immediate action to save lives, prevent human suffering, or to mitigate property damage."
Finally, the NRP gives the President a fiduciary duty during said times of
crisis:"The President leads the Nation in responding efficiently and ensuring the necessary resources are applied quickly and effectively to all Incidents of National Significance."(NRP, 15)
This is not some archaic law, or theory. This was their written and signed
Plan. What exactly do people not understand about the federal government's Constitutional obligation to promote the general welfare and provide for the common defense?
13 - Cerulean
Thanks for the intelligent discussion, everyone.
"Truth be told, the Bush administration has increased FEMAs funding each year after it declined each year of the Clinton administration. Get the facts before you apportion blame." Matt
O.K. Matt, do you have any figures or sources of quotes to support that? Have you taken into account the widely reported statement that funds earmarked for FEMA were siphoned off to go to Iraq?
"What I'm trying to get my arms around is what is a horse trader doing in charge of FEMA. And he was hand selected by the outgoing director of FEMA, who was a Clinton appointee." Duke
Duke how did you learn this? Is there a place I can see this?
14 - The Duke
Jones was running an Arabian Horse farm prior to his coming aboard FEMA for 2 years.
It's all over the news. Might be a slant, but the correlation is that he isn't versed in any vein of prepardedness, while a Justice head has a legal background, what does FEMA have? There are degrees in operational managment, planning, maybe even Public Administraion (which is not unlike a business degree), but one would think that the head of an emergency response and management agency would have some background in emergency response.
There's plenty of those folks around, why weren't they selected?
15 - kittygogo
why are we not calling ALL govt agencies to the carpet. Why don't we ask all of the people responsible for this to remove themselves from office (Nagin to Bush), as it is obvious that no one on ANY level of govt has been capable of the important leadership decisions there they were meant to oversee.
Also, I would be interested in knowing where all of these dubious facts and statistics that have been posted on this thread. Please provide your facts before extrapolating a bunch of BS.
16 - Cerulean
I was more looking for proof that the head of FEMA was hand-selected by an outgoing Clinton appointee rather than the other stuff about his background with Arabian Horses which I'm not doubting. If the old head of FEMA was competent and experienced, then he should have been left in place. This should not be a political appointment. Don't know if it is, either in fact or by law, but that would be wrong.
17 - Anne
Speaking of getting the fact straight...
Why does Bush deserve accountability? Simple. He signed an order giving himself a fiduciary duty in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist strike.
Check it out: The Department of Homeland Security National Response Plan (NRP) of 2004.
Essentially, it states that the government has an overriding duty to expedite relief to victims, above and beyond any agreement with the state and local government, when a situation is beyond the scope and control of same.
Key points:
"The President leads the Nation in responding efficiently and ensuring the
necessary resources are applied quickly and effectively to all Incidents of
National Significance."(NRP, 15)"
Protocol of the National Response Plan under DHS also calls for expedient action on behalf of the federal government:
"Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination
process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical
resources."
Further:
"Federal departments and agencies are EXPECTED to provide initial and/or ongoing response, when warranted, under their own authority and funding; alert, notification, pre-positioning and timely delivery of resources; proactive support for catastrophic or potentially catastrophic incidents using protocols for expedited delivery of resources. (NRP, 6)
Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination
process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical
resources."
Was any of this followed by either the President or his FEMA appointees, even though it was signed by him, Rumsfeld, and Porter Goss among others?
No. Not one bit.
It's not about politics; it's about accountability and reckoning, so that in the event of a sudden terror attack, more Americans aren't left to starve and die in the streets.
What good is a 155 page National Response Plan when it's not followed, and after the fact, in order to avoid accountability, it's treated as nonexistent?
Go to the Department of Homeland Security Website to learn more. Arm yourself with the truth. Complaining about the state and local officials evacuation plan is much like locking the barn door after the horse takes off.
If it's a terror attack next time, there will be no evacuation plans to blame after the fact. There will just be starving people dying on the streets if we do not fix these problems.
Personally, that doesn't make me feel safer.
18 - Cerulean
Great Story from USA Today, Sept. 8 2005
"Exposed By Katrina, FEMA's Flaws Were Years In Making
. . . But a deeper review of the agency's history, the records of its top managers and internal memoranda reveal far deeper problems than a momentary burst of poor decisions. Over the past four years, the Bush administration has replaced competent leaders with people long on political connections but short on disaster management expertise. At the same time, the war on terrorism has drained the agency's resources and reduced its effectiveness.
. . .His [FEMA director Michael Brown's] failure should not have been a surprise. He had almost no experience in disaster work before he was appointed in 2003 by President Bush, and confirmed by the Senate, to lead the agency. Before joining FEMA as its counsel in 2001, Brown, a friend of the FEMA director who hired him, worked for nine years as a commissioner at an Arabian horse association.
FEMA's history
1979: President Carter creates the Federal Emergency Management Agency . . .
1992: Hurricane Andrew ravages Florida and Louisiana. Criticism of the agency hurts President George H.W. Bush's re-election efforts.
1993-94: President Clinton appoints James Lee Witt as the first career specialist in disasters to head FEMA. With the Cold War over, Witt reorganizes the agency to focus on natural disasters. FEMA's response to the Mississippi River flooding and the earthquake in Northridge, Calif., wins praise.
2001: Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's 2000 campaign chairman, is made FEMA director. . . .
2005: Hurricane Katrina slams the Gulf Coast; FEMA's response is criticized.
. . . Brown's top deputy, Patrick Rhode, is equally inexperienced, according to his résumé. Rhode worked for Bush's 2000 campaign and for the White House doing advance operations. Another senior FEMA manager, Daniel Craig, had been a lobbyist for electric cooperatives.
In addition, FEMA has seen an exodus of experienced officials over the past four years. . . ."
I'll put a link below so you can see the whole article. They're busted!
19 - Cerulean
Link to USA today article.
It's also accessible through Yahoo News right now.
20 - Silas Kain
I can imagine you are fairly young. Every administration that I can remember is crooked and that goes back to JFK (when I was very young).
May I remind you that in order to understand how the mind of G.W. Bush operates one need look no further than his mother? I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I have a lot of respect for Barbara Bush especially for her ruthlessness when it comes to her kids. That being said, the President has the same streak of meanness when he's crossed and these days that's not a good thing.I remember JFK. I remember the afternoon press conferences he used to have. I was 8 when he died and I think any kid instantly grew up on Nov 22, 1963. I agree that every White House has its spin; however, the Bush Press Machine is relentless unlike any other. The facts are out there. Many reporters have discussed it. Patricia Goldsmith writes an inspiring op-ed piece where she says:
21 - Dave Nalle
>>I'll put a link below so you can see the whole article. They're busted!<<
Yep, busted for having new appointees, just like every agency has periodically over the years. It's a scandal I tell you - bureaucrats should be appointed for life!
Dave
22 - Silas Kain
Dave? Are you a closet monarchist?