Pelosi: Bush, "Oblivious, dangerous"

Oh darling you posted this at just the right time! Nice article in today's New York Times to help reaccquaint you with the failure of Louisiana and New Orleans. Stopping the buck at City Hall----- It is in the New York region/Metro matters section of the paper. (you may need to click on the upper right box to say "skip advertisement", it is how the NYT set up this particular article on the web.)
Few sentences of the article by Joyce Purnick:
There will be multiple investigations of this disaster, but it is already known that Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans ordered people to evacuate but did not provide the means to get out, and failed to get services, even water, to the Superdome after people were directed to seek refuge there.

In an amazingly unbiased article (amazing for the New York Times) the article also lays criticism at the doors of the feds and the State of Louisiana but makes clear that Nagin is a big part of this mess. Karl Rove apparently had nothing to do with it .

So could you call that NYT article "balanced"? Not in the Fox News sense but the real sense of balance in journalism as in laying out all the known facts without them being twisted or an outright pack of lies.

AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday, Brown held a news conference and was asked to respond to calls for his resignation.

REPORTER 1: Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, has called for your resignation, and I'm wondering if you have a response to that?

MICHAEL BROWN: The President's in charge of that, not me.

REPORTER 2: Have you ever offered your resignation?

MICHAEL BROWN: Pardon?

REPORTER 2: Did you offer your resignation at any time?

MICHAEL BROWN: I serve totally at the will of the President of the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: The Bush administration has staunchly defended Michael Brown. Last week while admitting the federal response was not acceptable, Bush lauded Brown, saying, quote, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan became defensive when asked by reporters if Bush had continued confidence in Michael Brown and FEMA.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: This is an attempt by some in this room to engage in finger pointing and blame game, and I'm just not going to do that. I have made it very clear -- I have made it very clear, and the President spoke about him last week. And his comments stand in terms of what he said about the great work that they have been doing around the clock, 24 hours a day, to help people on the ground.

AMY GOODMAN: White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan. In these past few days, information has come calling into question the qualifications of Brown and two of his top deputies. It turns out that none of them had any real experience in emergency management before they joined FEMA. We continue this discussion with Judd Legum of the Center for American Progress. He joins us in Washington, D.C. Welcome, Judd.

JUDD LEGUM: Thanks for having me.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, why don't you go through the list, the list of the top men at the head of FEMA?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, right at the top you have Michael Brown, and as you mentioned, just a while ago, he was the Commissioner of Judges at the International Arabian Horse Association. To give you an idea of what he did there, he spent a year investigating whether a breeder performed liposuction on a horse's rear end. So, I think that clearly that 11 years he spent there probably didn't serve him too well when he transferred over to FEMA.

AMY GOODMAN: Was he fired from his job as heading up the International Arabian Horse Association?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, he was asked to resign, and I think that he was asked to resign, then he offered his resignation. So, whether that's firing or not I guess no one will ever know, but it was a result of a lot of litigation that stemmed from his oversight of the association. And that's essentially what caused him to have to step down.

AMY GOODMAN: Judd, how did he end up as head of FEMA?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, as far as I can tell, his primary qualification seems to be that he was the college roommate of Joe Allbaugh, who was the outgoing FEMA director, because prior to that, besides a short stint in a very small suburb of Oklahoma in the 1970s involved with emergency management, he really has no experience. Besides being a member of this horse association or the Commissioner of Judges of this horse association, he was an estate planning lawyer, a tax lawyer. So, it seems to me that he knew the guy who was leaving, and that's pretty much how he got the job.

AMY GOODMAN: And the number two and three men in the agency in FEMA that's supposedly in charge of dealing with this disaster?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, the number two at FEMA, he was actually head of advance for the Bush-Cheney campaign. So, essentially what he was charge of is planning events. And what's interesting is the FEMA response actually reflects his experience. Because what happened when there were -- you know, when Mike Brown made the request and said finally, you know, we need a thousand members from the Department of Homeland Security to come down and help out, they were really, you know -- they were charged with, you know, representing and putting a good face on the relief efforts. And that was explicitly what Mike Brown asked for.

And then when these firefighters volunteered from all around the country, they were put -- made public relations officers. So I think really the experience of the number two guy there, the chief of staff, and even as you go down the line, the number three really was a media strategist, did work for Maverick Media, which is the company that did campaign ads for the Bush-Cheney campaign. So, if you really look at the operation and how FEMA responded to it, they really responded to it more like a political campaign than a disaster.

AMY GOODMAN: Judd Legum of Center for American Progress, how does this compare to previous administrations, like President Clinton? Are these usually political appointments in FEMA?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, certainly they're political appointments in the sense that the President has to appoint them, and these people have to be confirmed, but they're not generally political jobs or people who have primarily political experience. For instance, James Lee Witt, who was the director of FEMA under Clinton, all of his top deputies had served for at least three years in the FEMA regional office. So, all of the people who were in these spots had extensive emergency management experience within FEMA. And, of course, James Lee Witt, who was really widely respected -- Republicans, Democrats -- for his work during the Clinton administration, he was the Director of Emergency Management for Arkansas. So, there's a really big contrast between what FEMA was in the 1990s and what it is now, which is really especially at the top spots a political dumping ground.

Anyone ask him why things are doing better in Alabama and Miss.?

Anyone ask for the resignation of the city and state officials of LA?

Because there isn't standing water preventing supplies from reaching the region. Sheesh....

Cycloptichorn

"... shrill."

Sometimes, only "shrill" gets heard.

Separated at birth?

What a sad, sad state of affairs this has all come down to.....

BEFORE & DURING THE EVENT (incompetent)
Severe cutbacks to the New Orleans flood defence budgets for a well known (but diversionary reason).
Levee defences sinking...warnings of catastrophic consequences given well over a year ago....disaster happens....President very slow to demonstrate leadership....his senior management either continue with vacation or are stupid enough to go shoe shopping.....he himself takes the dumb decision to actually be photographed, being presented with a guitar at some concert, while people are fighting for their lives....apparent stupidity and bureaucracy hold ups by FEMA, an organisation that is packed at the top by Bush cronies that have no valid reason to be there, and no qualifications to be competent in such a role.....then the cynical manipulation of the press, by inappropriate photo calls, even getting firefighter volunteers to hand out flyers....the sneaky introduction of a familiar tactic to head off criticism, "this is not the time to point any fingers, this is a time to get things sorted" aka "you are either with us, or against us", hoping that memories will be too short, and things will die down. SHAMEFUL TACTICS....and at such a time.

A proper COMPETENT President would have not cut the budgets in the first place, after studying the facts about the real danger that was likely to happen, and the obvious catastrophic consequences.
He would also have ensured that vital organisations, such as FEMA, would be staffed with Senior Managers that had the relevant qualifications and experience.

AFTER THE EVENT (Competent)
A COMPETENT President would immediately SHOW to the nation that he cared. A very public recall of all his senior management. The immediate and very public mobilisation of EVERY form of help that he could muster, the cancellation of all flippant engagements, in order to demonstrate that he was working EVERY waking hour on the problem.

Now...I dont know if this strategy would have saved many more lives, but at least the American people would have felt a sense of pride in their "pulling together", with their tireless leader at the helm, and George would have gained a lot of admiration around the world for the same reasons.

Instead...he has demonstrated beyond doubt, to the majority of his citizens AND the rest of the world, that he is ONE DUMB S.O.B, who had no foresight BEFORE the disaster, and only jumped when there was the slightest risk to his image. A self server of the highest order.

He will be deposed because of this...and yes, I think deposed IS the correct word relating to George.

A lot of good may come of this in the USA, as it may be just the catalyst required, to start the drive to get COMPETENT people running the country, as opposed to the self serving Siths that are presently in office.

I hope it happens soon, as Blair is taking notes, and following the lead...as all good Poodles should.

Well...not really...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/29/hurricane.katrina/

"Blanco said she had ordered state police to block re-entry routes to all but emergency workers.

After topping levees in New Orleans, Katrina inundated the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts with a 20-foot storm surge.

In Mobile, Alabama, the storm pushed Mobile Bay into downtown, submerging large sections of the city, and officials imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

An oil drilling platform broke away from its moorings and lodged under a bridge that carries U.S. Highway 98 over the Mobile River.

The Alabama National Guard activated 450 troops to secure Mobile. Two other Alabama battalions, or about 800 troops, were activated to assist in Mississippi. "

From a clearly objective perspective, one might come to the conclusion that the States of Alabama and Mississippi had better Local Govt coordination that also helped the Federal effort run more smoothly as compared to the fiasco in certain part of Louisiana, especially New Orleans.

Yet, some of you are just to quick to BLAME BUSH for everything.

For some it appears to be something of a hobby.

....shriller

You sure you wanna mess with me?

Closet case, if I ever saw one.

Everybody's a closet case to you.

I don't blame Bush for everything . . .



. . . it's not his fault that he's a congenital idiot.


(In the early hours of one A2K morning, Tico's "Ah-nold" avatar briefly disappeared, and it was replaced by the poorly-focused photo of a young man who appeared to be in a dance club. I have since had that image in mind when seeing Tico's post, and find the entire "Ah-nold" shtick pathetically absurd.)

I never understood attacking avatars.

I haven't attacked the avatar, but rather his attempt to exploit it. Do you claim to understand posting the Ah-nold at the beach picture? Is that relevant?

I understand it perfectly. You don't?

It is 12:20AM where I live. That is a full 20 minutes past the time I will be purposefully unpleasant.

I think if one were in good spirits, they would find Tico's post in good humor. I got a chuckle.

I am almost certain Tico isn't trying to lull us into believing that he is Arnold's twin. Maybe, if you have large quantities of tequila...?