MEMO TO BUSH: FIRE MICHAEL BROWN

MichelleMalkin.com ^ | September 4, 2005 | Michelle Malkin

[wildwood]

MEMO TO BUSH: FIRE MICHAEL BROWN

By Michelle Malkin · September 04, 2005 08:17 AM During his visit to Mobile, Ala., on Friday, President Bush singled out Michael D. Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for praise:

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

Really? "Brownie's" job is to direct the federal response to natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Let's review his public statements during the past week:

- He admitted that he didn't act more aggressively because as late as last Sunday he expected Katrina to be a "standard hurricane" even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting "human suffering incredible by modern standards."

- He proved himself utterly clueless about the disaster unfolding in New Orleans. He claimed that the federal relief effort was "going relatively well" and that the security situation in New Orleans was "pretty darn good."

- He blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.

READ MORE!!

[Lawgvr1955]

I counted nearly 275 white (municipal?) buses, over 150 yellow (school?) buses and over a dozen of what appear to be smaller buses or vans in the two photographs. That is nearly 450 vehicles on just two lots.

That does not include who knows how many municipal cars and trucks that could have been pressed into service. Shameful.

[oceanview]

what problems? I've been on the live threads for 3 days now, where all the specifics were itemized in real time. sure, there were some logisitcal problems. but for 24+ hours, alot of rescue efforts were hampered by the security situation - red cross could not enter the city, small rescue boats and choppers taking sniper shots. FEMA is not designed to handle that. new orleans police walking off the job in droves. plus the sheer magnitude of having to evacuate an entire city and find places for all of them to go.

so far, I give FEMA an 8 out of 10 for this overall effort. and a 10 out of 10 for yesterday's evacuation efforts, the airlift to get everyone out of that convention center was magnificent.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

What good will firing him now do? I say use him up, get every ounce of resources out of him, then when things are more stable, throw him out the door on his butt.

Does Michelle propose anyone specific elsewhere to take over for him? If so, I must've missed that that in this article.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Once again, the inimitable Michelle Malkin has excellent research, commentary and links on her blog.

No, once again Michelle Malkin shows herself to be a knee-jerk shrieking backseat-driving harpy.

[ForGod'sSake]

So Michelle has joined the piling on club. Not an unkind word for the primary villian in this Greek Tragedy; the mayor of New Orleans? Maybe she is just caught up in the emotions of the moment???

[kellynla]

I agree! FIRE BROWN!

and let's not forget what political stripe the mayor of N'awlins and the governor of LA belong...

anyone?...anyone??? LOL

starts with a "D"...

[T. Jefferson]

This entire tragedy was by created mother nature, predatory criminals delaying rescue operation procedures a few days, and inept local officials. The feds have done a remarkle job in short notice.

The storm was a category 1 off Florida on friday, on saturday it was a 3 in the Gulf. Sunday it became a 5. Typically there's a 3-5 day advance warning for these situations. Despite the short notice, the bulk of the city evacuated safely. Those who chose to stay are responsible for their own actions, and their peril was self-induced. It takes 72 hours to get the complete recovery operation in place. This was done on schedule by FEMA, who was also there setting up in advance. Considering the size of the organized operation it's a miracle they can even do that. We should be praising their efforts here. Instead, all conversation is the classless, obnoxious media blame game, to which Michelle Malkin has surprising joined in on.

The city had advance knowledge of potential looting, since they released hardcore criminals from jails into the city. When the looting began, they should have quickly set up snipers on rooftops and shot to kill the predatory animals seizing the city. It would have ended quickly, but they chose to let it get out of control. When the NG and feds arrived they had to divert all rescue attention to cleaning up the violent mess the locals left.

They have predicted this storm for 200 years. That's plenty of time to have plans setup for a temporary tent city outside of town somewhere, and use of public transportation would have gotten the poor there.

[scouse]

The Federal Emergency Response Plan is the real culprit. It is such a hodge podge of Government Legalese..Acronyms..Too many Agencies involved..Too many Chiefs and it is over 300 pages long.
It was also written for States that had efficient working governments...Both State and Local.

[M1911A1]

Agreed, and I don't think now is the time for making changes.

However, some of the statements made by Brown and Chertoff have been incomprehensible in light of the situation. Part of the job is dealing with the press and not undermining public confidence, and in this aspect I would give them a much, much lower grade than 8 out of 10.

Perhaps they should be cut some slack due to the lack of communication in the devastated area, but they would have been much wiser to have simply said less.

[Cyropaedia]

Malkin has gone off the deep end here. FEMA can't mount a relief effort in the face of an insurgency amongst some of the local populace, with the local and state government washing their hands of the situation within the first moments after it occurred.

No, she is dead right pal. Why did Brown comment that the security situation in N.O. was "pretty darn good" when every other person in the country could clearly see that it wasn't. He obviously was not cognizant of the situation at all. Bush has proven that he values personal loyalty to him above all else, forget how incompetent the idiot may be.

Having Brown in charge of FEMA was like having that idiot Zig Ziglar in charge of the INS ( before public condemnation forced him out of his job, remember? ).

[Right Brother]

What is it with conservatives? Whatever Michelle thinks, she could remain silent at a time when the Bush-Hating choir doesn't need any more members in the soprano section. It is odd. It's almost as if some consevatives have to 'prove' their fairness and good sportmanship by eating their own. Got some bad news Michelle......It doesn't work.

[inquest]

I'm sorry but this is not a case where lemonade can be made out of lemons, since the lemons in the NO and LA govt were rotten to begin with, but of course to michelle malkin that is Bush's fault.

Reading comprehension isn't much of a strongsuit for you bushbots, is it? First of all, the only thing she blamed Bush for was overlooking Brown's screw-ups. And what she blamed Brown for was:

- He admitted that he didn't act more aggressively because as late as last Sunday he expected Katrina to be a "standard hurricane" even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting "human suffering incredible by modern standards."

- He proved himself utterly clueless about the disaster unfolding in New Orleans. He claimed that the federal relief effort was "going relatively well" and that the security situation in New Orleans was "pretty darn good."

- He blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.

It's absolutely flabbergasting that none of you clowns has ever even bothered to respond to any of the actual points she made. Then again, that would involve thought...

[cgbg]

Look--I think Chertoff did a good job for the Pubbies during the Clinton scandals.

But the DHS post was a mistake.

Chertoff told victims to go to web sites for information. It sounded great in his air-conditioned office, but it lost a little in translation to folks without electricity or cell phone access in the Gulf Coast.

I would have liked to have seen some realistic estimates of when troops would arrive in NO, when food and water would arrive in bulk, etc. as early as Tuesday afternoon. It takes time for those things to happen, but it is Chertoff's job to know how long it really takes and to communicate that reality to the media and (if any could find out) the victims.

[Howlin]

I wasn't impressed with his tv persona.

Well, after all that's what counts; how he LOOKS on TV.

[Just mythoughts]

I don't think NO is the only place with a communications problem.

Think what these liberals would be saying if the Bush administration did what tooo many are demanding he should have done.

Keep trying though.

[Howlin]

FRom what I understand--(will dig up article if I have time)...Brown Called the mayor on Friday/Saturday night (don't quote me on the time) and so did Max Mayfield from NHC and told the mayor: "get the people out of New Orleans".

It was Saturday night.

[bobwoodard]

Exactly, if FEMA is supposed to rely on the local political/governmental infrastructure to coordinate emergency response in the area, is anyone surprised there are unacceptable results when FEMA is getting inaccurate/incomplete info from the ground?

That being said, they'll probably need to have some person sitting in the corner watching the TV to look out for situations that pop up like the convention center, where it now appears that people just showed up based on rumors of supplies/relocation.

[inquest]

It's almost as if some consevatives have to 'prove' their fairness and good sportmanship by eating their own.

LOL! The thought of simply holding public officials accountable for their actions is too advanced for you, apparently.

[Howlin]

Absolutely.

And I note once again, that those doing the carping on this forum are in states where hurricanes never hit.

[MizSterious]

"Keep trying though."

I beg your pardon? Where was I criticizing the President?