September 10, 2005
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“The blame game is just spin words,” as Chris Mathews stated on MSNBC Saturday morning, referencing the verbal criticisms from the general public & media in response to the late-arriving aid for hurricane Katrina victims. However, I see what the current Administration says about terrorism along the same light… spin words, or as I like to call them, ‘buzz words, invoking emotional responses among those who hear them.’
I agree totally with his assay of the removal of Michael Brown from the Katrina disaster relief with FEMA. He stated that VP Cheney showed up in the region just Wednesday & Friday, Brown was removed. Politically correct? Sure. More so, I believe, because of the ineffectiveness of his command in this disaster. It was also highlighted that Brown had no real experience in disaster aid, as reported in a recent Washington Post article. He had worked as the assistant to the City Manager in Edmond, Oklahoma. Some other past jobs include, as quoted in the 09 Sep 05 article, are:
“… a rocky tenure as commissioner of a horse sporting group by former FEMA director Joe M. Allbaugh, the 2000 Bush campaign manager and a college friend of Brown’s.” [I think there's a misprint of Brown's name at the end of this quote. I believe they meant "Rhode's" or even "Bush's" since the way it's written in the complete paragraph (which is about Brown) that he'd then be a friend of himself. While being one's own friend is always good, it's ineffectual in this instance.]
An MSNBC article states this:
“A former mayor of Edmond, Randel Shadid, confirmed Friday that Brown was an assistant to the city manager. Shadid told The Associated Press that Brown had never been an assistant city manager, though.”
Read that paragraph c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y. An assistant to the city manager is someone who’s basically a go-fer, sort of like a secretary. An assistant city manager is one who performs the functions of the city manager in case the city manager is unavailable (illness, vacation, etc) or more than one function is taking place at the same time. A prime example of the latter is in the case of a local disaster & there are multiple sites needing the direction of a high city representative with adequate skills in that position.
Brown had none of that experience. What is his profession? A L-A-W-Y-E-R! Basically, a ‘paper-pusher’ with verbiage as his skill. NOT emergency services. If you paid close attention to what his jobs had been just prior to FEMA, you’d see that he’s a Bush crony… one who’s rubbed elbows with the Commander in Chief for years.
What I found enlightening is the mention in one of the 2 above listed articles that several upper management positions have recently been vacated. The allusion in the article is that the cause may have been due to the ineffectiveness of those above them. A scenario I’m VERY familiar with. One which I myself have taken when I could no longer do my job well because those I directly reported to refused to follow local, state or Federal laws, at the expense of people I worked with or the health & well being of consumers. As I’ve stated many times… inept keep the jobs while either firing or forcing the adept into quitting. A scenario played out in way too many government & corporate workplaces.
Basically, what I’m seeing is that a supposedly Democratic society, which is supposed to provide equal opportunity to its citizens, is far from doing so. True opportunity only exists for those of means. There are few genuine & legitimate reasons why our country should have failed to respond adequately & in a timely manner to this latest disaster. We’re so technologically advanced that this should never have become as bad as it has on the human level.
What’s most shocking to me, & I do give Bush credit here (as much as I dislike the man & his principles), is that Bush declared the states of Louisiana & Mississippi disaster areas 2 days BEFORE Katrina hit our coastline, opening the doors to FEMA & other agencies to go in to assist victims. Obviously, there was a serious breakdown between Bush’s proclamation & getting the assistance there in a timely manner & providing necessary aid to the victims. I think alot has to do with the added bureaucracy of the Administration having moved FEMA away from autonomy to the umbrella organization of Homeland Security. It might have worked well if they had allowed FEMA to act as it was set up to… the disaster relief agency, instead of forcing them to focus on terrorism response. They shirked the hurricane scenario that was presented to them just this year, scoffing at what the program had sited as a possible situation. Ironically, “Hurricane Pam,” as it was called, was nearly identical to what hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast. The ‘powers that be,’ laughed at it, saying it’d never happen.
How wrong they were!
Remember this, friends (& enemies
), “There, but by the grace of God, am I.”
