Would This Be Tolerated Anywhere Else?

Hell no.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/27/brown.fema/index.html

blueveinedthrobber wrote:

Hell no.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/27/brown.fema/index.html

Anything's possible...it might be tolerated (even pushed for) in a land far far away. What? You've never been to the Delusionary Universe and the planet of Absurdity?

Blanco Goes to D.C. to Answer Brown Charge

Louisiana Gov. Blanco Will Appear Before a Senate Panel Today to Respond to Charges by Ex-FEMA Director

The Associated Press

Sep. 28, 2005 - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco will appear before a Senate panel this morning, but she's already come out swinging against former FEMA head Michael Brown.

Blanco takes strong exception to a charge by Brown that she waited until the eve of the storm to order an evacuation of New Orleans. She says Brown's comment clearly demonstrates what she says is the "appalling degree" to which he's "out of touch with the truth or reality."

During testimony before a special House panel yesterday, Brown defended his handling of Hurricane Katrina. And he laid blame for what went wrong on Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and even the White House.

For his part, Nagin says it's too early to get into "name blame" but he says "a FEMA director in Washington trying to deflect attention is unbelievable."

On Tuesday, a combative Michael Brown blamed the Louisiana governor, the New Orleans mayor and even the Bush White House that appointed him for the dismal response to Hurricane Katrina in a fiery appearance Tuesday before Congress. In response, lawmakers alternately lambasted and mocked the former FEMA director.

House members' scorching treatment of Brown, in a hearing stretching nearly 6 1/2 hours, underscored how he has become an emblem of the deaths, lingering floods and stranded survivors after the Aug. 29 storm. Brown resigned Sept. 12 after being relieved of his onsite command of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response effort three days earlier.

"I'm happy you left," said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. "Because that kind of, you know, look in the lights like a deer tells me that you weren't capable to do the job."

"You get an F-minus in my book," said Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss.

At several points, Brown turned red in the face and slapped the table in front of him.

"So I guess you want me to be the superhero, to step in there and take everyone out of New Orleans," Brown said.

"What I wanted you to do is do your job and coordinate," Shays retorted.

Well aware of President Bush's sunken poll ratings, legislators of both parties tried to distance themselves from the federal preparations for Katrina and the storm's aftermath that together claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Brown acknowledged making mistakes during the storm and subsequent flooding that devastated the Gulf Coast. But he accused New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, both Democrats, of fostering chaos and failing to order a mandatory evacuation more than a day before Katrina hit.

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown told a special panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe. Most Democrats, seeking an independent investigation, stayed away to protest what they called an unfair probe of the Republican administration by GOP lawmakers.

"I very strongly personally regret that I was unable to persuade Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences and work together," Brown said. "I just couldn't pull that off."

Brown also said he warned Bush, White House chief of staff Andrew Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin that "this is going to be a bad one" in e-mails and phone conversations leading up to the storm. Under pointed questioning, he said some needs outlined to the White House, Pentagon and Homeland Security Department were not answered in "the timeline that we requested."

Blanco vehemently denied that she waited until the eve of the storm to order an evacuation of New Orleans. She said her order came on the morning of Aug. 27 two days before the storm resulting in 1.3 million people evacuating the city.

"Such falsehoods and misleading statements, made under oath before Congress, are shocking," Blanco said in a statement.

In New Orleans, Nagin said that "it's too early to get into name-blame and all that stuff" but that "a FEMA director in Washington trying to deflect attention is unbelievable to me."

I thing I will say in Browns defense, FEMA is NOT, Has not and never will be responsible for evacuaction. That is up to the locals and they fell on their feet.

Also, it is embarrassing sometime to hear our elected officials speak.

woiyo wrote:

I thing I will say in Browns defense, FEMA is NOT, Has not and never will be responsible for evacuaction. That is up to the locals and they fell on their feet.

Also, it is embarrassing sometime to hear our elected officials speak.

NO did a great job evacuating. Nice try at a Red Herring though.

Bear, this smells very much like a payoff to Brown to keep his mouth shut with regard to protecting everyone above him in the food chain. Could also be protection against revealing details of his money laundering scheme to funnel FEMA funds in Florida before the last election.

BBB

NO did a great job evacuating.