Sunday, September 11, 2005
Carl Hiaasen has a few thoughts on FEMA
From The Miami Herald:
As New Orleans slowly drains and the search for survivors continues, many are asking: Could President Bush possibly have picked anyone less qualified than Michael D. Brown to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency?And:
Sure, he could.
Courtney Love or Mike Tyson would have been worse choices, although both of them have more disaster experience than Brown.
Next Brown appeared on all the morning shows to brag about what a crackerjob job FEMA was doing in the disaster zone, a performance spoiled by the stunning admission that he wasn't aware of the 20,000 sick and miserable souls awaiting rescue at the New Orleans convention center. The whole nation had been watching that agonizing sight on TV for 24 hours, but somehow the man in charge of the relief effort missed it. Maybe there was a horse show on ESPN.It must have been terribly hard work working his way up that one last rung of the ladder.
Under fire from Democrats and Republicans, Brown went on the defensive last week. He reminded critics that he joined FEMA in 2001, and said he worked his way up to the top position.
Like Allbaugh, Brown carried out the wishes of Bush and the leaders of Congress, who slashed FEMA's authority for the sake of making the federal government smaller.
It was so small that thousands of Americans along the Gulf Coast couldn't find it after the hurricane, and many died trying.
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