"Everyone at FEMA should be fired," says New Orleans newspaper
"Everyone at FEMA should be fired," says New Orleans newspaper
#0"Everyone at FEMA should be fired," says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:36am
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.blame/index.html
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#1re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:36amGeorge first
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#2re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:38am
"David Brown especially"?
What was the exact quote W said about him during his press appearance in Mississippi? "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!"
"Brownie!" They're CLOSE!
#3re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:40amMichael Brown is a moron and his appointment was purely nothing more than Bush giving his underqualified, "underintelligenced," "sub-par human" of a friend a cushy job.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
#4re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:41am
FEMA, meanwhile, has refused to release 50 trucks carrying water and ice sitting at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree said.
"They're sitting down there right now because one person from FEMA won't make the call to say, 'Release those trucks,' " he said.
That is just absolutely disgusting.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#5re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:42am
And from the same article, more outrage, I think we're going to have to start making calls on Tuesday demanding that the bill to restore FEMA to it's pre-Bush stature be supported and that Chertoff be fired:
James Lee Witt, a former FEMA director who has been brought in as an advisor by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, agreed that the agency "really needs to be put back as an independent agency."
"Since 9/11, FEMA has been basically dissected and taken apart," he told CNN.
FEMA, meanwhile, has refused to release 50 trucks carrying water and ice sitting at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree said.
"They're sitting down there right now because one person from FEMA won't make the call to say, 'Release those trucks,' " he said.
Two-thirds of the residents of the southern Mississippi city have no power, and that figure was 100 percent for three-and-a-half days, he added.
He said FEMA representatives did not arrive in Hattiesburg -- 95 miles from New Orleans -- until Saturday.
"People from all over America have come in to help us," he said. "But the people who get paid to do this haven't done what I think they should have done."
#6re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:45am
"FEMA, meanwhile, has refused to release 50 trucks carrying water and ice sitting at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree said.
"They're sitting down there right now because one person from FEMA won't make the call to say, 'Release those trucks,' " he said."
Holy f'ing crap. Just - holy crap. And I mean...CRAP.
Cruel_Sandwich
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/30/05
#7re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:47am*le sigh*
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#8re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:48am
Rath,
I'm right behind you with the toilet paper.
ConvinceMe2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/7/05
#9re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:51amEveryone should be fired. The mayor, the governor, the head of FEMA and the President. Get rid of the whole do-nothing lot of them!
#10re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:54am
I'm sorry but I have immense respect for the Mayor.
He did what he could with zero federal help.
And it's not his fault Bush cut the funding for the levees.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#11re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 1:59amAnd somebody's got to be there as a voice for the communities that have now been uprooted and are in the process of being distributed to the far corners of the country. Without local representation you can guarantee that there will be no place rebuilt in New Orleans the people displaced will be able to afford to live. And that's doubtful even with.
Greg-4now
Understudy Joined: 8/23/05
#12re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 2:04am
I'm sorry but I have immense respect for the Mayor.
He did what he could with zero federal help.
And it's not his fault Bush cut the funding for the levees.
SticktoPriest - You're wrong about the Mayor. He didnt do everything. He failed to execute the City's Emergency Management Plan for Hurricane Evacuation and he didn't mobilize one single city school bus to assist in the evacuation...NOT ONE BUS. He didn't do nearly enough.
Updated On: 9/5/05 at 02:04 AM
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#13re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 3:06amAnd Witt would know about this stuff- he's not just any old ex-head of FEMA, he was there during the Clinton Administration, when he helped pull it from being a second-level (and according to many, second-rate) agency to a far better one with Cabinet-level prominence. But oh, how quickly our favorite cowboy undid all that good work. He seems to do that a lot, actually.
amasis
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/7/04
#14re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 4:13am
More from the New York Times:
When Wal-Mart sent three trailer trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away, he said. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish's emergency communications line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA, Mr. Broussard said."
...
Ms. Bottcher was one of several officials yesterday who said she believed FEMA had interfered with the delivery of aid, including offers from the mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, and the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson.
...
Dr. Ross Judice, chief medical officer for a large ambulance company, recounted how on Tuesday, unable to find out when helicopters would land to pick up critically ill patients at the Superdome, he walked outside and discovered that two helicopters, donated by an oil services company, had been waiting in the parking lot.
Full Article Here
#15re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:02am
ONce again, I'm reminded, when people begin to blame Nagin and Blanco, that there is an interesting little clause in disaster management legalese that states the Federal Government is in charge.
Say all you want about the lack of evacuation procedures, the blame right now and moving forward from the moment those levees broke is centered solely on the Federal government, which is in charge of situations like this.
To presume that Nagin or Blanco has ANY power in this beyond a voice (and, given Bush's history, that's a TINY voice at best) is foolish.
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#16re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:10amI have not read the entire thread, but FEMA Director Brown should be fired for incompetence, but also for spinning this disaster rather than recognizing the enormity of this disaster.
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#17re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:45am
My heart is broken over this.
Here we are, living in the greastest country in the world, and the government can't seem to do anything but invade other countries and try to force "Democracy" on people around the world. But when it comes to helping out our own, our government has failed. In so many ways.
It is really time to look at how we can change things for the better.
I'm tired of the BS excuses we are always getting from the current administration.
I'm mad because I work like a dog at my job(s) and still have a hard time making ends meet, while officials (Bush) manage to get a years worth of vacation, and all the while he's doing a crappy job. Anyone else would be fired.
EVEYTHING WITHIN OUR POWER should have been done to help the victims of Katrina, but, instead we are faced with the fact that our leaders would all rather spend time blaming other folks for their lack of effort.
WHY are there still people yelling for help, a WEEK after this happened?
WHY were there hundrerds of school buses sitting in flood waters when they should have been getting people out of NO?
WHY ARE THERE STILL DEAD BODIES FLOATING EVERYWHERE? My heart is bleeding for those bodies that are laying out for photographers to take pictures of, but no one is doing anything to treat them with respect (Except for covering them with trash bags).
I'm ranting at this point, I know. But I have no other choice. One of my best friends in the world had just moved back to New Orleans less than three weeks ago to be with his mother. I haven't heard from him. And we talked almost everyday. I have no idea what happened to him or his mother. Every one of the people that I met while I was there still haven't called me back. I'm sitting here, trying to go on with things and find it very difficult. If I knew where they were all at, I would hire a helecopter to fly them out.
At this point, I'm ready to go out and punch some folks in the head.
It's now 6:30 in the morning. Sleep has escaped me. I feel as bent and broken as one of the trees you see in NO.
Sorry, I rambling at this point. I just needed to get it out.
#18re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:51amMichael Brown should be immediately fired , his gross incompetence has only continued to make things worse. But then he was never qualified for the job. Bush hired him because he was a friend. But then Bush is also grossly incompetent and has basically screwwed this country for the last 5 years.
dededarlin
Chorus Member Joined: 10/15/03
#19re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:53amtheatrediva, if it makes you feel any better...no phones with 504 (new orleans) or 985(suburbs) area codes have been working since the storm...so it's very possible that your friends are fine, but just can't call.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#20re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:56am
From Paul Krugman's column in today's Times:
"Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the hook, but federal officials had access to resources that could have made all the difference, but were never mobilized.
Here's one of many examples: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S.S. Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients.
Experts say that the first 72 hours after a natural disaster are the crucial window during which prompt action can save many lives. Yet action after Katrina was anything but prompt. Newsweek reports that a "strange paralysis" set in among Bush administration officials, who debated lines of authority while thousands died.
What caused that paralysis? President Bush certainly failed his test. After 9/11, all the country really needed from him was a speech. This time it needed action - and he didn't deliver.
But the federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?
____________________________________________________________
For one thing, the undermining of FEMA began as soon as President Bush took office. Instead of choosing a professional with expertise in responses to disaster to head the agency, Mr. Bush appointed Joseph Allbaugh, a close political confidant. Mr. Allbaugh quickly began trying to scale back some of FEMA's preparedness programs.
You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility to emergency preparedness after 9/11 - after all, emergency management is as important in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as it is following a natural disaster. As many people have noticed, the failed response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a terrorist attack today than we were four years ago.
But the downgrading of FEMA continued, with the appointment of Michael Brown as Mr. Allbaugh's successor.
Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr. Allbaugh's college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown became the agency's director. The raw cronyism of that appointment showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only imagine the effects on staff morale.
That contempt, as I've said, reflects a general hostility to the role of government as a force for good. And Americans living along the Gulf Coast have now reaped the consequences of that hostility.
The administration has always tried to treat 9/11 purely as a lesson about good versus evil. But disasters must be coped with, even if they aren't caused by evildoers. Now we have another deadly lesson in why we need an effective government, and why dedicated public servants deserve our respect. Will we listen?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html
#21re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 9:58amOnce again, Krugman proves himself to be the voice of reason.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#22re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 10:17amI mean for chrissakes, at the very least why on earth weren't all of those patients at the nursing homes and at that Charity hospital who were stranded and couldn't be evacuated until Friday or later transported to the USS Bataan? Just HOW MANY needless deaths have there been? How much blood does this government have on its hands?
sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#23re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 11:12amAs a bitter and cynical woman I find myself wondering if that wasn't the point? Get all those Medicare/Aid Soc Sec folks of the roles for good & all. And when the contracts go out for rebuilding watch them go to white Republicans.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#24re: 'Everyone at FEMA should be fired,' says New Orleans newspaper
Posted: 9/5/05 at 11:22am
Oh, Margo, thanks so much for posting that. The paragraph that most leaps out to me is what I have been thinking about since last Tuesday night. And it bears repeating, boldly:
You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility to emergency preparedness after 9/11 - after all, emergency management is as important in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as it is following a natural disaster. As many people have noticed, the failed response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a terrorist attack today than we were four years ago.
Anything happens, you're on your own.
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