Month: September 2005

Say that five times really fast.

Jacob Appelbaum follows up on reports of communications jamming in New Orleans.

A new blog – FEMA Failures.

On Hurricane Katrina response/blame, Bush comes out smelling like a rose in the latest CNN/USATODAY/Gallup poll.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 609 adults taken September 5-6 shows:

Blame Game — 13% said George W. Bush is “most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane”; 18% said “federal agencies”; 25% said “state and local officials”; 38% said “no one is to blame”; 6% had no opinion. — 29% said that “top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired”; 63% said they should not; 8% had no opinion.

Government Performance — 10% said George W. Bush has done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 25% said “good”; 21% said “neither good nor bad”; 18% said “bad”; 24% said “terrible”; 2% had no opinion. — 8% said federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 27% said “good”; 20% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 22% said “terrible”; 3% had no opinion. — 7% said state and local officials in Louisiana have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 30% said “good”; 23% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 15% said “terrible”; 5% had no opinion.

 

“I’d rather have ’em here dead, than alive. Ya know, at least they’re not robbing ya, and you don’t have to worry about feeding ’em.”

Theresa Roy, grocery store owner and resident of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, regarding the identification and processing of Hurricane Katrina’s victims. FEMA has set up a temporary morgue in the town, located 70 miles from New Orleans. The dead could end up exceeding St. Gabriel’s population of 6,000. (video)

According to Dan Riehl, the Levee board of New Orleans has had a few problems in the past.

Levee board under federal investigation before Katrina hit

Rampant public corruption was doing big business in New Orleans long before Hurricane Katrina ever hit. What then Congressman, now Senator David Vitter calls “corrupt, good old boy” practices were apparent in the New Orleans Levee Board just one year before the collapse of regional levees, emergency communications and government services brought the Big Easy to the brink of anarchy. In fact, Senator David Vitter requested a federal investigation into improper practices of a number of public utilities, including the New Orleans Levee Board, and a new Task Force was to have been initiated in the Baton Rouge office, beginning in July 2004.

Being a member of the Levee Board does not require an engineering degree, or any type of experience with a levee. Their only purpose is to serve at the Governor’s pleasure.

This will only add fuel to the fire storm calling for the president to fire FEMA chief Michael Brown.

Disaster chief waited to seek volunteers

The government’s disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region – and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to “convey a positive image” about the government’s response for victims.

Knowing what we know now…this is ugly. I can’t help but think what would happen if the U.S. suddenly became a victim of a WMD attack. With Brown as FEMA head, he’d probably start the relief effort by sending out a press release and pre-signing thank you cards.

Quite a few others are calling for a FEMA head-on-a-stick. Jarvis, Malkin, and Sullivan for starters. I’m sure there are more today.

Will Bush do it? It will be awkward given that just days ago he gave Brown a public vote of confidence, but at this point I don’t see any other option but the axe.

                             Rest in peace, little buddy.

Bush points to the source of the problems in New Orleans.

Related: Delusional, Dysfunctional, Divisive, and Defiant

Via NOLA.com / T-P: Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks stepped through the food service entrance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Monday, flipped on the light at the end of his machine gun, and started pointing out bodies.

Jon Christian Ryter has the must read item of the day.

— Blanco’s advisers told her that the remaining 7,000 National Guard troops left in Louisiana were not enough to secure the city of New Orleans, and that it was not in her best political interest to use them until they could be reinforced since they might get hurt, or worse, hurt or kill a civilian they were charged with protecting. Instead, she let Nagin’s 1,500 New Orleans cops fend for themselves in a city that had been tacitly surrendered to looters and thugs.

— From the moment Katrina blew ashore—hours before the 17th Street levee broke—New Orleans mayor Raymond Nagin declared martial law over his city and ordered it evacuated. He tried, in vain, to get Gov. Blanco to turn control of available National Guard troops over to him. She refused. She did, however, drive to New Orleans and “stand beside him” while he ordered the people to evacuate the city. What Nagin should have done was commandeer all of the school buses in New Orleans and place them at strategic intersections in the city’s poorest sections to provide exit transportation for those who did not possess the means to escape the city. However, the buses were not insured for that purpose.

— Blanco who, according to Nagin, was not in constant or at least direct contact with the him as the crisis evolved into catastrophe, appeared to have been preoccupied with her own media photo ops advising people to leave the city, which made it appear that she was aware of the plight that was enveloping her State—and that she was swiftly implementing corrective measures to ward off disaster. Like a school teacher passing out unimportant assignments, she outlined the measures that would take place to secure the city of New Orleans and rescue its people. But nothing happened. Why? Because Blanco never took control of the emergency apparatus of Louisiana—and apparently did not want anyone else doing so, either, until she was ready to act.

Blanco never became the leader the people elected her to be. Go read the whole thing.