Paying the Piper
So I had the opportunity on Wednesday afternoon to participate in a conference call with Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who gave an update on the situation surrounding the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After a brief status report, Vilsack proceeded to tear into FEMA Director Michael Brown like it was nobody's business. Vilsack said that Brown completely fumbled a earlier briefing with Governors and other leaders.More to the point, he said that Brown 'didn't have a clue', 'was in way over his head', and then stated that he had 'no confidence in Brown's ability' to handle this type of situation. Vilsack praised the Governors of the various states as extraordinary leaders, but said that they were 'stymied' in the efforts to help by incompetence at the federal level.
When the inevitable hearings take place, you can expect Governors (of both parties I think) to do everything short of laying the corpses at Brown's doorstep. He is the clear frontrunner in the race to wear the jacket on this one. (But Barbara Bush should get some type of honorable mention for her inane and offensive comments.)
Issues from education to housing to employment are hard enough to deal with already, but now many states are going to find themselves with thousands of new residents with thousands of additional needs. The quick focus is going to be on pouring money into the disaster areas, but attention (and resources) must also be paid to the other states that are stepping up in this time of crisis. We are all in this together.
Was this avoidable? Katrina obviously wasn't. But the aftermath...look at my last post and decide.
posted by Rep. John Fritchey @ 9/08/2005
6 comments
6 Comments:
Katrina taught me this lesson: I'm going to buy a gun in the near future to have on hand if anything crazy happens here.
Don't forget bullets too
I'm a big Vilsack fan from going to school in Iowa--he ran well after I left, but it was still good to see. I've never heard of Vilsack being that upset.
Check out ArchPundit for the most recent ting on Brown's background.
It's important to take the time in the wake of this disaster to point out that the deaths of thousands of Americans due to conservative policies is nothing new. As of 2002 we knew that over 18 thousand Americans were dying of treatable and preventable diseases because they did not have health insurance, and they didn't have insurance because Conservatives consistently blocked all efforts to insure them.
This is the simple truth that Katrina has made undeniable; Conservatives are willing to let innocent Americans die by the thousands, year after year, for the sake of their ideology.
here is the article that proves it http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0522-05.htm
This might become moot. CNN is reporting that Mike Brown is being pulled out of NOLA and will be replaced by Vice Admiral Thad Allen of the USCG.
Of course, having the guy back in Washington might serve to let the real punching begin...
Mr. Galt,
As far as the statement is concerned, in general, I tend to be pretty respectful of a wide spectrum of viewpoints. My view is that I can't expect people to respect my positions if I don't respect theirs. Now obviously, respect doesn't equate with agree with.
With specific reference to the statement, I think that there are ideologues at both ends of the spectrum whose viewpoints cloud wise judgment. Some liberal agendas may have the adverse impact of overly governing society, while some conservative goals have likely thrust us into unwarranted engagements.
I would like to think that no viewpoint would consider our citizens as expendable for the gains of others, but at the same time, I think that history may put that wishful thinking to the test.
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