Dr. DigiPol

Reports from a wide range of the news media have identified serious problems with FEMA under the Bush Administration. From FEMA head Michael Brown’s startling admission four days after Katrina hit New Orleans that he only just learned there were more than 10,000 people stranded in the Convention Center, to reports that Brown sent a memo to Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff five hours after the storm hit politely asking for 1,000 Homeland Security personnel to make their way down to the Gulf coast over the next two days to FEMA turning away donations of water from Wal-Mart before the storm hit, FEMA’s gross negligence and incompetence is now common knowledge.

But the problem runs much deeper than the eight feet of toxic soup sitting in the streets of New Orleans. The top three officials at FEMA have no prior experience in disaster management. In fact, the FEMA under W. has been pushed steadily towards taking a back seat role to state and local authorities for on-the-ground disaster relief, preferring to work as a PR team that is charged with putting a happy face on a crisis.

I see two problems here, at least. First, if Louisiana were supposed to take the lead on disaster relief in New Orleans, it would have been nice if its National Guard had its amphibious vehicles available and a full complement of troops. Unfortunately, all of its amphibious vehicles, 30 percent of its troops, and 50 percent of its equipment are in Iraq. So W. wants the state to take charge while he has taken away its ability to do so.

Second, crises like Katrina need hands-on disaster relief not PR. But what can you expect from an agency headed by political marketing and PR professionals. The President put FEMA into the hands of men incapable of doing the job needed; men trained to run political PR campaigns.

Aside from Michael Brown, who was forced to resign as Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association (note, Brown’s job with the IAHA is not mentioned in his official bio), FEMA Chief of Staff Patrick James Rhode, “served as deputy director of National Advance Operations for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign, in Austin, Texas. His other professional credits include serving in communications and public affairs roles in the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, and Entergy Corporation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Rhode was an anchor/reporter with network affiliated television stations in Alabama and Arkansas. FEMA Deputy Chief of Staff, Scott Morris, “Earlier in his career, Mr. Morris worked in the Washington, D.C. area as the director of political communications for a private communications firm; he managed grassroots activities and media strategies for the Dole for President campaign, and assisted the executive director of the Republican National Committee.”

“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,” the President said to Brown a couple days ago. Right!

Add to this Secretary Chertoff’s comments that he did not mobilize personnel to get to the Gulf within 24 hours because that is only done in cases of extreme emergencies.

Add to this that FEMA sent 1,000 firefighters to Atlanta to train for community relations instead of sending them to provide disaster relief in the Gulf.

Add to this that last year, just as the Republican National Convention was ending and Hurricane Frances was threatening Florida, FEMA mobilized disaster relief IN ADVANCE of the storm to Miami-Dade County to the tune of $31 million, which was affected by that storm. Further, email exchanges with Governor Jeb Bush indicated that the reason for this FEMA mobilization was to avoid damage to the President’s re-election campaign.

So, rapper Kanye West’s comment on live TV that President Bush doesn’t care about black people might be correct. More specifically, though, the President doesn’t seem to care about people he doesn’t need for votes. It may be just a coincidence that they are black. In any event, it seems that this Administration is much more concerned with helping those that can help the Administration than those who actually need help. Shameful, at best; murderous, at worst.

Add to this that Bush’s first head of FEMA, Joe Allbaugh, is profiting from the disaster. Allbaugh, who was Michael Brown’s college roommate, has been working as a lobbyist and consultant since leaving FEMA. He represents Halliburton’s KBR division, which just won a contract to rebuild the military bases torn apart by Katrina. Allbaugh beat Brown down to the Gulf coast last week, working hard to get his clients business in the storm’s aftermath, a skill he has been perfecting for his clients in Iraq since leaving FEMA. Ironically, Allbaugh predicted that a strong hurricane would wipe out New Orleans in 2001. Allbaugh was also a top staffer in the 2000 Bush campaign.

Every day we learn something new and despicable about how the Bush Administration dropped the ball. From the President going golfing the day after he visited New Orleans to his comments that he doesn’t think anything has gone wrong with the federal government’s response to the disaster, the lack of sincere concern backed with action turns my stomach.

In any event, if this is how FEMA and Homeland Security respond to an emergency four years after 9/11, we must ask, “What the hell have they been doing?” Why didn’t they prepare to use Katrina as a training opportunity for a terrorist attack (say a terrorist attack against the levies in New Orleans)?

On the positive side, I think Katrina offers a great opportunity to boost National Guard recruitment. If the National Guard offered new recruits a guarantee that for the next year or two the ONLY out of state assignment they would get would be to go help rebuild the ravaged Gulf coast, recruitment would soar. Will this happen? Time will tell.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2005 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Rants, Raves, Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.