Free Republic

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has had a busy month, signing 38 bills into law in March. Ranging from giant wine bottles to homeless encampment bans to ending squatting in Florida, all the signed laws represent a multitude of issues residents have been bringing to light.

One legitimate measurement of the readiness and capability of a candidate to be president is how he or she responds to a crisis. In a moment of crisis, the core of human beings is on display. Some people wither; others shine. Either way, it is always a peek into the foundation of the person — his or her value system. We had two examples of this recently, as both President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had the opportunity to respond to crises, in the wake of the devastating fire on Maui and Hurricane Idalia, respectively. How did they do?...

In Nuclear Crisis, Crippling Mistrust By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER Published: June 12, 2011 TOKYO — On the evening of March 12, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s oldest reactor had suffered a hydrogen explosion and risked a complete meltdown. Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked aides to weigh the risks of injecting seawater into the reactor to cool it down. /snip At the drama’s heart was an outsider prime minister who saw the need for quick action but whose well-founded mistrust of a system of alliances between powerful plant operators, compliant bureaucrats and sympathetic politicians deprived him of resources he...

Japanese Plant Had Barebones Risk Plan By PHRED DVORAK And PETER LANDERS TOKYO—Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s disaster plans greatly underestimated the scope of a potential accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, calling for only one stretcher, one satellite phone and 50 protective suits in case of emergencies. Disaster-response documents for Fukushima Daiichi, examined by The Wall Street Journal, also contain few guidelines for obtaining outside help, providing insight into why Japan struggled to cope with a nuclear crisis after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the facility. The disaster plans, approved by Japanese regulators, offer guidelines for responding to smaller...

Fate has provided an opportunity to compare President Obama's crisis management skills with those of another democratically elected president. Obama and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera each faced a major crisis recently, and their leadership styles have been put on public display for all to judge. Obama faced the unprecedented blowout of BP's deep-water Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico; Piñera faced the rescue of 33 miners trapped deep underground in a gold and copper mine. Ultimately, both situations were brought under control. The Macondo well stopped flowing after BP's "static kill" operation succeeded, and the Chilean miners were...

A new U.S. Senate bill would grant the president far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of or even shut down portions of the Internet. The legislation announced Thursday says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines, or software firms that the government selects "shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.

Political prognosticators – usually journalists and pundits, occasionally historians – are prone to label trivial events as ‘historic’. But every so often, the ‘historic’ label is truly deserved. Such, we believe, is the case with Gov. Palin’s statement, released yesterday via Facebook, on the BP oil spill disaster, and President Obama’s handling of it. As the nation reels in horror from the scope of the calamity, there is a growing sense that President Obama is responsible for an incompetent Federal response. And now, many are beginning to ask, wouldn’t Gov. Palin have handled this better? Of course, many well-meaning commentators,...

From Jon Martin's blog: Obama, on the trail in New Mexico, had this to say of McCain: "And today he accused me of not supporting what the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank did with AIG despite no evidence whatsoever that that’s what I had said." To recap, when I wrote earlier today that Obama supported the bailout, I quickly was instructed by his staff that this was not the case. He just didn't oppose it, I was told. Now he's so adamant about not opposing the Fed's move that he's complaining about McCain's portrayal. Where, I wonder, is the...

Excerpt - NEW YORK: InfoUSA has hired Sloane & Company to provide strategic and crisis communications support, as the company counters negative press coverage and activist hedge funds challenging senior leadership. ~ snip ~ "Ultimately, we're going to support infoUSA's branding and reputation in the marketplace," said Sloane CEO Elliot Sloane. "We're going to talk to the long-term strength of the business, the 40-year track record of this company. We're going to promote the depth and strength of management." He would not name the activist hedge funds that are challenging infoUSA's management. The value of the contract is undisclosed.

Anyone who objectively looks at the Hurricane Katrina relief effort has to admit the endeavor was fraught with problems. As stories of violence and looting filled the airwaves along with images of senior citizens and infants suffering from lack of food, even President Bush had to admit that the government response to this crisis was “unacceptable.” Crisis management is an often overlooked skill of effective leaders. For example, when 9/11 hit, President Bush demonstrated true leadership. And even in the debacle that followed Katrina I believe that one can find lessons relating to effective leadership…or what I like to...