(no subject)

[xiphias]

Is it possible that FEMA was under orders to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution? Or, at least, set up deliberately so that it could ONLY be part of the problem? I mean, FEMA used to help people, under a Democratic administration.

More to the point, I'd personally like to see people starting talking about how the Department of Homeland Security turned back trucks, refused aid, and kept people from evacuating the city, rather than FEMA. 'Cause FEMA, right now, is part of DHS, so I like to think of this as the Department of Homeland Security, not FEMA. When FEMA was its own agency, it didn't act like this. Therefore, this is DHS.

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

My semi-paranoid conspiracy-theory opinion is that they want to dismantle FEMA entirely, so they saddled it with a figurehead idiot for a director, slashed its budget, mired it in bureaucracy by forcing it to "report" to DHS, and did everything they could to cripple it. Now they'll point to this "colossal failure" as proof that FEMA is dead, and incorporate its functions into DHS [in the same half-assed incompetent fashion] while destroying the original agency.

It's DHS, all right.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

I am of the current opinion that the US is well on its way down the primrose path and is unlikely to be coming back anytime soon. This really tears it.

Whether it's conspiracy or just monumental incompetence or some of each, I think the things that I used to consider American ideals are all either dead or dying, and there seems to be no real impetus to bring them back even among the democratic minority.

I've been reading articles with comments from former ambassadors to third-world countries along the lines of the Bush administration reminding them of those other governments. I don't know how we're going to get out of this this time.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

FEMA is part of DHS, yes. But it has its own bureaucracy and operates largely independently of the higher DHS bureaucracy. If FEMA is doing these things, it would not be inaccurate to say that DHS is doing them, but it would not be specific.

Think about it this way: If the FBI does something, do you expect the media to report that the Department of Justice did it? If the IRS does something, do you expect the media to report that the Treasury Department did it?

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

In case it wasn't clear, I do realize what your point was. But the chief reason why FEMA didn't act like that before it was part of DHS is not so much, I think, that it's now part of DHS, but rather that it's being run by a clueless incompetent moron who's following a script laid out by the administration rather than thinking at all for himself.

[bandraoi.livejournal.com]

I did see an article last week where former FEMA higher-ups were basically saying that the people running what FEMA has become (scaled down, with one of their traditional three response teams cut out completely, and with three of every four dollars they get earmarked specifically for terrorism threats and not the natural disasters which were their raison d'etre) have absolutely NO idea what they're doing.

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

If you aren't reading him already, I highly recommend taking a peek at jrittenhouse's journal; he's doing a good job of keeping up with data and timelines.

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

I also have a semi-paranoid conspiracy-theory opinion. Most of the people who were trapped because of botched evacuation plans were poor, black, disenfranchised. Was this an opportunity taken by the Bush administration to wage a class war in an underhanded way? If we continue down this "primrose path", I fear a class war is on the horizon. It's time to take care of all our residents equally and fairly. It's time to share the abundant resources of this country (yes - we do still have abundant resources compared to many other countries in the world) among all our citizens. It's time that the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights apply to everyone. I don't care what our founding fathers meant in their documents. I want equality, rights, life and liberty for all - not the privileged few. And I want it now! (steps off her soap-box)

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Afaik, FEMA did an adequate job under previous Republican administrations, too.

I don't know know what's going on. It could be a fundamental frivolousness--a belief that nothing outside the Beltway matters, so why *not* just give the directorship to a random buddy?

On the other hand, nothing human that I can think of can explain the way they're obstructing help now.

ruling class

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

We have a president who is only interested and involved with a wealthy ruling class. The head of FEMA was a judge of Arabian horses? Everyone below this class is not worth taking care of - unless it is right before an election. I don't think the purpose of FEMA is even on Bushes radar screen or his cronies. Let heads roll!!

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

when FEMA was its own agency under republican administrations pre-clinton it was also rather lackluster. only under clinton, who actually appointed somebody familiar with emergency aid issues, did FEMA perform well.

please, no conspiracy theories. i know it's hard to resist, but these people are not that competent. they really are not. FEMA got neglected (gutted) because of the (insane) focus on terrorism; you don't really need to look any further than that.

[temima.livejournal.com]

Wow. I remember when conspiracy theorists thought that FEMA would be the Trojan horse into a totalitarian Dark Age. OTOH, I am going to see this mess as a convergence of near-anarcho-capitalist thinking (the drastic cutting of funding, and hey, let's eliminate the estate tax!) and nepotism.

[bimmer1200.livejournal.com]

You realize that the DHS which ordered supplies turned around was the Louisiana DHS, a state agency answerable to the governor, right? The Democratic Governor?

whose spin?

[rebmommy.livejournal.com]

thank you for sending the links to radioblogger and newshounds. I have read both, and am still not clear about what happened and why. I think the dates of the events are important to understand fully how things unfolded. the interview with Major Garrett was unclear about when the Red Cross was held up by the Louisiana officials. I checked the official website of the Red Cross (Disaster FAQs - Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?) and got a different idea of what happened:

"The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives."

I couldn't find a date for the above quote on the website. if state officials were trying to evacuate people quickly before the hurricane hit, then it would make sense to hold up the supplies and bring them to wherever people would be taken outside the city. but once people were being sent to the Superdome, why couldn't the Red Cross get the supplies to the Superdome? I think that knowing the date or when the Red Cross was kept away in relation to when Hurricane Katrina hit would tell us a lot about the thinking behind the decision.