Surprise!

by hilzoy

AP:

"Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president," three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

"The focus has got to be on FEMA, what the people are trying to do down there," Brown told The Associated Press.

His decision was not a surprise. Brown was abruptly recalled to Washington on Friday, a clear vote of no confidence from his superiors at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. Brown had been roundly criticized for FEMA's bearish response to the hurricane, which has caused political problem for Bush and fellow Republicans.

"I'm turning in my resignation today," Brown said. "I think it's in the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president to do that and get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me.""

Comments

[Ugh]

I hope he didn't hurt his sword when he fell on it.

[cleek]

he slipped away, like a turd in the night.

[felixrayman]

Huh, no more Mike Drown to kick around. Who is the #2 guy, a competent non-partisan professional with years of relevant experience, right?

Hahaha.

[DaveL]

I'm sort of wondering if instead of making the Coast Guard part of the Department of Homeland Security, we'd be better off making the Department of Homeland Security part of the Coast Guard. USCG seems to be about the only federal agency that performed really well in this mess, and they have a long track record of accomplishing a lot without much in the way of resources.

[Edward_]

I don't get it...I though he was doing a heck of a job.

[Edward_]

thoughT...I thoughT he was doing a heck of a job...lousyinferiortypingteacher

[Anarch]

Crap, now I owe my friend a drink. Teach me to bet on the Bush Administration.

[Damn good news, though. May the scourging of incompetence continue.]

[Sebastian Holsclaw]

Perhaps "heck of a job" is a bit like the phrase of doom my boss uses with unsatisfactory vendors: "we will give your input all the consideration our relationship with you deserves."

[Katherine]

so THAT's what you have to do to get fired in this administration. A relief to have an answer.

[Ugh]

Katherine -

There is a rating system in the Bush administration. If a bad event is directly traceable to you and Bush's approval rating drops X% within a week as a result, you have dishonored dear leader and must commit seppuku. So far only Brown has met the criteria (I've noted that people have started calling him "Drownie" on the internets).

[rilkefan]

TPM says he was already planning to resign before Katrina.

[Morat]

Too bad it's political cronies with no experience for quiet a ways further down. From what I recall reading, you'd have to fire all of Brown's direct underlings, all of their underlings, and probably THEIR underlings before you started to hit people with experience, education, or competence in relevant fields.

[Jackmormon]

I remember reading that during the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the funding for the Coast Guard was nearly decimated. I'll see if I can nail that down. (I'm sure glad it survived, though: it's one of those institutions that seems to be unproblematically good.)

[Ugh]

Major power outage in Los Angeles.

[CMatt]

Damage control should require getting a well qualified outsider who won't embarass the administration in confirmation hearings. They can't realistically promote another crony. That will be a good thing; even better if he/she insists on bringing along a deputy...

[bob mcmanus]

Credible Replacement Already Named

Fun to be first. They are in a furry to spend 50 billion dollars, and Florida remains a swing state.

[bob mcmanus]

Better Link

Sorry

[bob mcmanus]

"In a furry" hurry. my typing is getting worse

[Urinated State of America]

"I don't get it...I though he was doing a heck of a job."

Me too. I'd have thought he'd have stayed around long enough to fall on his sword after the inevitable investigations. Always have a scapegoat around.

[geoduck]

Maybe he wanted to get out of town while the getting was good..

[Jesurgislac]

I did not see that coming.

Confirming his successor should be interesting. Wonder who else has padded resumes?

Will it be Halliburton or SCI who offers employment to Mike "I did a heck of job!" Brown?

[xanax]

Here's hoping Brown'll sneeze on Rumsfeld on his way out the door.

Maybe it's contagious.

[Phil]

Perhaps "heck of a job" is a bit like the phrase of doom my boss uses with unsatisfactory vendors: "we will give your input all the consideration our relationship with you deserves."

Someone at Reason.com suggested that getting fired from the Bush Administration be heretofore referred to as "Getting your Medal of Freedom."

[liberal japonicus]

from the LATimes

At first, there was a hint of swagger in the attitude of Brown, the FEMA director, toward Hurricane Katrina. The day the storm tore into the Gulf Coast, Brown told a television interviewer: "We were so ready for this…. We've planned for this kind of disaster for many years because we've always known about New Orleans and the situation. We actually did catastrophic disaster planning for this two years ago."

His bravado faded in the days that followed.

[Saiyuk]

I wonder if they would have tried to keep defending him, had it not been for the exposing of the resume-padding.

[Jonathan Burns]

If you see your neighbour stumble
help him with his load
if you see your neighbour stumble
help him with his load
and don't get caught in New Orleans, boy
on the Day of the Lonesome Toad

Well the rich man reaps the harvest
and the poor man reaps the tares
well the rich man reaps the harvest
and the poor man reaps the tares
which won't be any news to all
you good white folks out theres

As the dog turns to its vomit
so the wicked to their sin
as the dog turns to its vomit
so the wicked to their sin
Just take care what you tread in where
the Lonesome Toad has been

Don't read that too deeply. Guilt and weariness
is all it's about. It's not an analytical agenda
or anything. The L.T. is just the guy on the spot
who's let everyone down and knows it.

[bob mcmanus]

Accountability Mark Schmitt explains;must read

There are things they care about, and things that don't in themselves, but matter only as they impact on what they want.

Polls, popularity, press relations do not matter. One Senator freaked by Katrina so as to vote against the estate tax matters, and they will move heaven and earth to get his vote.

Brown wasn't fired, and the President isn't doing this Katrina blitz in order to boost his polls or please the press. Those are small tools in a large tool kit.

I think they are already looking ahead, and trying to see how, beside 60 billion in bribes, they can profit from Katrina.

[socratic_me]

I just want to say that I don't care why they did it, I congratualte Bush on doing the right thing by choosing a good replacement and by forcing Brown out the door. Cynicism be damned, a good action is a good action. If this later gives the administration leverage to do bad things, I will condemn those bad thigns then, but THIS is a good thing.

[CMatt]

This morning's http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/11response.html?ei=5094&hp=&ex=1126411200&partner=homepage&en=cd7ee70e1622076b&pagewanted=all>NYT href> might have helped the decision-making process along. ht http://amygdalagf.blogspot.com/2005/09/theres-only-one-word-for-this-post.html>Gary href>.

The power-sharing arrangement was by design, and as the days wore on, it would prove disastrous. Under the Bush administration, FEMA redefined its role, offering assistance but remaining subordinate to state and local governments. "Our typical role is to work with the state in support of local and state agencies," said David Passey, a FEMA spokesman.

With Hurricane Katrina, that meant the agency most experienced in dealing with disasters and with access to the greatest resources followed, rather than led.

FEMA's deference was frustrating. Rather than initiate relief efforts - buses, food, troops, diesel fuel, rescue boats - the agency waited for specific requests from state and local officials. "When you go to war you don't have time to ask for each round of ammunition that you need," complained Colonel Ebbert, the city's emergency operations director.

Or maybe the base just isn't happy with how continuing news cycles of Katrina screwups affect their priorities - estate tax repeal, USSC pro-lifers, bathtubbing the federal government.

I second McManus' recommendation. Mark Schmitt's article is a must read for anyone who isn't an apologist for this administration.

[hilzoy]

Yep. Mark Schmitt is always great, but this is especially great.

[Katherine]

That's a great article by Schmitt.

Here's a more hopeful way of looking at it:
we can take these powers, and use them for good. I'm serious in all but my phrasing.

Y'all know how little patience I have for the "they fight dirty so we have to fight dirty too" line of thought. But that doesn't mean I don't think we can learn from their techniques.

Take the Swift Boat ads. Some would say: slander works, let's do some of that ourselves. I completely disagree. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to learn from them. Here's another potential lesson: the most important aspect of campaign ads is the way that they drive free media. A relatively inexpensive ad buy dominated the month of August and may have decided the election because of the way it drove free media. How? By lying, yes. But also by making specific, politically damaging, controversial, factual charges.

What if we did that, and made equally specific, politically damaging, controversial factual charges that were true rather than false?

What if we took their idea that polls don't matter unless people vote against you in the end, and you're there to get your policies enacted, not for good approval ratings or favorable reviews from the beltway pundits, and the press will treat the Democrats and Republicans as equally moderate or extreme or correct regardless of the merits--and used it to give the Democrats the courage to actually stand for what they believe in?

[liberal japonicus]

On the lighter side, I got a bit of a chuckle about the WaPo titling a piece about Brown's replacement as
"Paulison Is Skilled at Disasters"

[hrc]

Wonkette says Bush stated he was unaware that Brown resigned/was fired.

Q Can you tell us, have you accepted the resignation of Michael Brown, or have you heard about it?

THE PRESIDENT: I haven't -- no, I have not talked to Michael Brown -- or Mike Chertoff; that's who I'd talk to. As you know, I've been working. And when I get on Air Force One, I will call back to Washington. But I've been on the move.

Q Our understanding is he has resigned, he's made a statement. Would that be appropriate --

THE PRESIDENT: I haven't talked to Mike Chertoff yet, and that's what I intend to do when I get on the plane. You know, I -- you probably -- maybe you know something I don't know, but as you know, we've been working, and I haven't had a chance to get on the phone.

Whooo boy. As Maynard Krebs would say, the preznit is doing WORK?

[bob mcmanus]

"...and used it to give the Democrats the courage to actually stand for what they believe in?" ...Katherine

I like it. :}

However, it seems to me that politicians are like actors, in having an almost irrational fear of having their career snapped like a twig, never to return. No margin wide enough, no war chest big enough. I cannot deny that I saw a lot of horrific surprises in 1980, so they have some grounds.

Rove can make his gambles, but by what processes does he get Congress to go along? I would like to understand that better. As a Texan, I can't tell you that in order for the GOP to increase the number of winnable seats, they had to make each district a little less "safe". Even Delay could conceivably lose. Perhaps they have made the members somewhat more dependent on National support? I would look into that.

Not a homerun like Schmitt, but more on topic, Kleiman discusses patronage vs professionalism.

Bureaucrats and Tourists

[CMatt]

hrc: unlike the common, "spend more time with family" -they actually do, at least for a bit- this is entirely prevarication. Sure, it's possible to parse a way out of Bush's actual statement here. But the whole dog and pony show, here and with Brown's exiting comments, was staged.

Since the only beneficiaries of this tiny (but typical) fraud are Brown's future job prospects and Bush's loyalty cult, it would amuse me to see him called out on his performance.

What's the response? "Sure it was fraudulent, but the nation owes it to Brownie" (and Bush)?

The "working" bit was silly, but not entirely false. Aside from real work potentially being done (you never know), the dog and pony show took a little work.

[Slartibartfast]

I'd suggest that candidates for FEMA leadership be selected from a pool of people with disaster-relief experience at the state level, preferably from Florida, Texas, Louisiana, or North Carolina. Given that Florida seems to attract hurricanes in a nearly 2:1 ratio over its nearest competitors, I'd also suggest that Florida be used as training ground for FEMA folks responding to hurricanes.

The resume-padding bit was grounds for dismissal all by itself. How he got approved for his appointment is probably fertile grounds for further partisan bickering, but there probably need to be some job requirements for this (as well as many other) federal posts before the candidate can make it to the advise-and-consent phase. To be a bit more pointed, even Witt's prior experience should be considered insufficient* for future FEMA heads. Yes, five years experience in Arkansas is FAR better than, say, heading up an association of horse aficionados, but given that the worst Arkansas saw in those five years amounted to bad thunderstorms (one disaster per year, on average) and associated flooding, I think we need a bit more.

Yes, too little and too late. Benefit of hindsight and all that. Noted in advance.

*Not denigrating Witt's performance, simply noting that on paper, at the time of appointment, he didn't look like the guy you'd want supervising Katrina relief in the here and now.

[liberal japonicus]

Not denigrating Witt's performance, simply noting that on paper, at the time of appointment, he didn't look like the guy you'd want supervising Katrina relief in the here and now.

That's a good point, but I wonder if there would be any experience that would really qualify someone for dealing with Katrina. A lot of people suggested Guiliani for reconstruction czar, and here is the perfect example of someone whose generally flawed (Kleiman's line in a related post was that Guilani "had the largest ego and the smallest soul of any man I ever met." Ouch.)
but whose flaws seemed to serve him well, at least at the time. One's greatest strength is often also their greatest weakness, and we can find lots of examples of that in the Katrina story.

I haven't dumped on Brown very much, not only because he simply serves a scapegoat function, but because rather than complaining that he was a total screw-up, I want to understand why he screwed up. Chertoff as well, he was an apparently dogged prosecutor and it was within the realm of possibility that he might have, had he realized the extent of the problems, taken steps to do something.

I suppose this evolves out of the fact that as a kid, one often imagines oneself being a hero. Growing up in the age I did, watching WWII movies, where only flawed characters were cowards and heroism was simply an outward reflection of a good heart. After the tsunami, a lot of my time was spent wondering what I would do, what if my family were there, what steps would I take. But, as one begins to realize, survival is not something you really take responsibility for, it is fortuna rolling the dice and while you can increase your odds, making it out is often simply dumb luck. Now I wonder if the appointment of people suited for the job is also governed more and more by dumb luck.

Shelby Foote points out that in the Civil War, there were numerous examples of officers doing excellent work at one rank, but when promoted, were complete failures. Obviously, Brown wasn't a success anywhere, but these sorts of positions where our health and well-being depend, how can we guarantee we have qualified people. Slart's suggestion of minimum qualifications is good, but I'm thinking this is more of a problem than just the head of FEMA.

That ability to identify ability and find the proper niche for it, to determine what the appropriate level of responsibility and supervision is, is something that seems intricately bound up with leadership. Obviously, I don't think Bush has this, but I also can't think of any person who was a presidential candidate who actually seems to have it, with the possible exception of Clark. Some give the hint that they might have it, but it is something that I don't think we even consider when choosing presidents.

So Brown is out of town, as Dr. Seuss notes, and setting aside his own story, I think whole thing has really ripped aside the curtains on what is a failing in our body politic.

[Slartibartfast]

but I'm thinking this is more of a problem than just the head of FEMA

Yes, of course. But if one looks through the FEMA upper echelons, it's not as if you're seeing widespread cronyism. A great deal of these people are, on paper at least, well qualified for their positions.

Purely my opinion here, but I think FEMA's largest failure was not anticipating the failure of Louisiana state and local authorities to act appropriately in preparation for Katrina. Elsewhere (I forget where) it was noted that FEMA had let some other portion of the country or other get away with some absurdly unworkable evacuation plan, and I think a similar thing probably happened here.

And then there were logistical screwups, but I think it's going to take time to separate out which agency screwed up what. It's certainly true that FEMA dropped some logistical balls, and so did Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin and various local agencies. And I'm almost positive that the lack of a decent plan combined with total breakdown in communications is going to be responsible for quite a lot of misery. First, you have to have a plan. Second, you've got to have contingency plans. Third, your plans must be able to survive the effective death of the command structure. I'm not a logistics weenie nor even a novice tactician, but it seems to me that these concepts (I'm sure the loggies have a whole list of them) have been around for quite some time.

Like you, LJ, I'm interested in what the breakdown was. I'm not so much interested in the near term with the whys as I am with the whats. IOW, what's needed is an insanely, anal-retentively detailed sequence of events, accompanied by text of plans and establishment of authorities.

[Ugh]

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

[cleek]

"To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said

holy crap!

[cleek]

owe me a coke.

[Ugh]

Funny.

[ral]

Slarti, I think giving FEMA the benefit of the doubt as to their "not anticipating the failure of Louisiana state and local authorities" is too generous.

It was obvious from the Hurricane Pam exercise that the plan was that a lot of people were going to die.

[NeoDude]

Why do right-wingers hate America's bureaucracies and infrastructures?

[McDuff]

I see you guys have already seen this, and registered the relevant "Holy Crap!" comments.

No point to this post, then. *posts anyway* Ah, the internet!

[Anarch]

"To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said.

Is this "The Buck Stops Here" responsibility or "Donald Rumsfeld and Abu Ghraib" responsibility-lite?

[Ugh]

Is this "The Buck Stops Here" responsibility or "Donald Rumsfeld and Abu Ghraib" responsibility-lite?

It is the "I take responsibility, but what are you gonna do about it?" type.

[DaveL]

It's a close cousin to the non-denial denial. Call it the "non-admission admission."

[Gromit]

Exactly, DaveL. Actually, I would equate it to the non-apology apology: "I am sorry if anyone was offended by my comments."

Bush only takes responsibility insofar as the Federal government failed. Clearly, the mission going forward will be to make certain that the conventional wisdom is that the failures were primarily on the state and local level.

[cleek]

mabye he knew the Congressional Research Service was about to knock the legs out from under his "it's all their fault" line.

[Slartibartfast]

Would the leg-knocking take the form of the last paragraph in your link?

From the above review of the statutory authorities under the Stafford Act, the letters of Governor Blanco to President Bush requesting first a declaration of emergency and then a major disaster declaration in anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the President's response to those requests in declaring a state of emergency in Louisiana effective August 26, 2005, and continuing, it would appear that the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and disaster declarations for the state of Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane Katrina. In response to the Governor's requests, it appears that the President did take the steps necessary to trigger the availability of Stafford Act emergency assistance and disaster assistance, by declaring first a state of emergency, and later a major disaster, and authorizing specific Stafford Act assistance to be made available to the State of Louisiana to respond to the effects of the Hurricane. We hope that this will be of assistance to you.

In other words, nothing we didn't already know, and certainly nothing leg-knocking.

[Jesurgislac]

Gromit: Bush only takes responsibility insofar as the Federal government failed. Clearly, the mission going forward will be to make certain that the conventional wisdom is that the failures were primarily on the state and local level.

I agree - especially given that the investigation Bush wants shows no signs of being either independent or bipartisan. I see this as a lead-in to the investigation discovering that, in fact, the federal government did do its job right - it was actually a failure at state and city level that led to those embarrassing pictures Bush saw on the DVD.

[liberal japonicus]

It's certainly true that FEMA dropped some logistical balls, and so did Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin and various local agencies. [snip]

Like you, LJ, I'm interested in what the breakdown was. I'm not so much interested in the near term with the whys as I am with the whats.

I've been trying to think why I feel that this is less local and more federal is that I try to imagine which job I could have done better at. Nagin, no, too overwhelming. Blanco, perhaps. Brown, definitely. Sure, that might be more a process of my political biases, especially in the case of Blanco, but for Nagin, I'm almost positive that I could have ended up doing exactly the same things he did. Maybe I might have gotten out and tried to calm people personally, but I would have probably ended up looking like Kevin Bacon in Animal House.

I haven't seen anyone note the fact that Blanco won the governorship over Bobby Jindal in a race that had a very interesting dynamic. Jindal (who was later appointed by Bush to fill a vacant House seat) was a boy wonder whose ethnic background (his parents were Indian immigrants and he was raised Hindi, but converted to Catholicism in high school) had Republicans heralding him as the new face of the Republican party. It looked as if he was going to win the governorship, but (and obviously there are multiple opinions on this) it is quite possible that some hesitancy was involved in voting for a minority candidate rather than a white candidate. This is not to say that the Dems consciously exploited this (Blanco was Lt. Gov and Jindal's emergence from the Republican primary was a bit of a shock) but I remember thinking (worrying?) at the time that questions of race go deeper than party affiliation. Blanco supporters touted her 'deliberative nature', which I thought for some was an assurance that things would not change too quickly. Unfortunately, Katrina changed everything.

[liberal japonicus]

Some grist for the 'it's all about oil' crowd (and a little bit for the 'it's all about approval ratings')
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.
That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across the South.

"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.

"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.

"They did it in 16 hours, and I consider the effort unprecedented."

Katrina slammed into South Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana on Aug. 29, causing widespread devastation and plunging most of the area - including regional medical centers and rural hospitals - into darkness.

The storm also knocked out two power substations in Collins, just north of Hattiesburg. The substations were crucial to Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline, which moves gasoline and diesel fuel from Texas, through Louisiana and Mississippi and up to the Northeast.

"We were led to believe a national emergency was created when the pipelines were shut down," Compton said.

White House call

Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.

Jordan dated the first call the night of Aug. 30 and the second call the morning of Aug. 31. Southern Pines supplies electricity to the substation that powers the Colonial pipeline.

Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Mike Callahan said the U.S. Department of Energy called him on Aug. 31. Callahan said department officials said opening the fuel line was a national priority.

Cheney's office referred calls about the pipeline to the Department of Homeland Security. Calls there were referred to Kirk Whitworth, who would not take a telephone message and required questions in the form of an e-mail.

Susan Castiglione, senior manager of corporate and public affairs with Colonial Pipeline, did not return phone calls.

Compton said workers who were trying to restore substations that power two rural hospitals - Stone County Hospital in Wiggins and George County Hospital in Lucedale - worked instead on the Colonial Pipeline project.

The move caused power to be restored at least 24 hours later than planned.
[snip]

Callahan said energy officials told him gasoline and diesel fuel needed to flow through the pipeline to avert a national crisis from the inability to meet fuel needs in the Northeast.
[snip]

A good bit of the work took place at night.

Line foreman Matt Ready was in charge of one of the teams that worked to power the substations and the pipeline. Ready's shift started at 6 a.m. Sept. 1; he received word about the job four hours later and saw it to completion.

"We were told to stay with it until we got power restored," Ready said. "We had real safety issues because there were fires in the trees on the lines and broken power poles."

Ready described working on the lines in the dark like attempting to clear fallen trees out of a yard with a flashlight and a chain saw.

"Everything was dangerous," he said.

Ready said the crew members did not learn they were restoring power to pipelines until after the job was done.

How did they feel about that?

"Is this on the record?" Ready asked. "Well, then, we are all glad we were able to help out."

Compton said he was happy to support the national effort. But he said it was a difficult decision to make because of the potential impact in the region had the plan not worked and the area's power restoration was set back days.

"It was my decision to balance what was most important to people in South Mississippi with this all-of-a-sudden national crisis of not enough gas or diesel fuel," Compton said.

link

[DaveC]

So my company finally decide to match donations to the Red Cross. Yay! Out of my Sept 19 paycheck. Please evreyone think about giving a little bit every week or two between now and the Christmas charity onslaught. We are not so much in crisis mode now like last week, but please continue to give here or there for the next 3 months. My ultra-liberal wife gives me the "What the hell are you doing - We NEED that money" business, but I have sneaked around with this work stuff and she wont see the PayPal contributions on the next credit card bill.

I'll reserve the rest of my snarkiness for some other, preferably dead, thread.

[liberal japonicus]

Appropriate to the title of the post if not the content. CNN is reporting that insurance companies are not covering the bulk of the damage to houses on the Mississippi Gulf Coast because they argue that the damage caused by the storm surge can only be covered by flood insurance, not by hurricane insurance. Given that the Coast is not in a flood zone, very few people have flood insurance. No word yet on Trent Lott's porch, however. This Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) op-ed has more details and this MSN Money article suggests that Allstate stock is a buy

[Dantheman]

lj,

"that the damage caused by the storm surge can only be covered by flood insurance, not by hurricane insurance."

This was my unfortunate experience when our house was flooded last year, as well. The good news is that flood insurance is cheap if you do not live in a flood plain. The bad news is that if you do not live in a flood plain, you tend not to buy it, no matter how cheap.

Our damage was repaired through a loan from FEMA, and I suspect that will happen here, too.

[liberal japonicus]

Thanks for the info. I have to wonder how many of those people are going to be able to have the financial wherewithal to last until they get the loan from FEMA. A lot of middle class folks have probably maxed out their credit cards and are not going to make it. Prediction: Trent Lott leads a charge to have the bankruptcy bill be revamped.

btw I predicted that two airlines would go bankrupt (I think) and here you go (however, this fails to raise my batting average over the Mendoza line.)

[cleek]

Would the leg-knocking take the form of the last paragraph in your link?

yep:

it would appear that the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and disaster declarations for the state of Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane Katrina.

note how that's the opposite of "it's all the Dem's fault"

[Slartibartfast]

note how that's the opposite of "it's all the Dem's fault"

What's that got to do with Bush? And what has anything at all in that report have to do with condemning or exonerating Blanco or Bush's actions outside of the paperwork involved in declaring disasters and/or emergencies?

Nothing, I say. But maybe you read a different version of it than I did.

[Dantheman]

"I have to wonder how many of those people are going to be able to have the financial wherewithal to last until they get the loan from FEMA."

We were pretty solvent, and lived for a while at my parents, so it was less of a problem for us than many. However, FEMA did give a small amount (around $5,000) as an outright grant, not a loan, immediately to deal with this problem.

[cleek]

What's that got to do with Bush?

as the primary beneficiary of "it's all the Dem's fault", nothing, i suppose.

And what has anything at all in that report have to do with condemning or exonerating Blanco or Bush's actions outside of the paperwork involved in declaring disasters and/or emergencies?

because once you clear up the legal paperwork and procedural stuff, which this helps do, all we're left with is foot-stomping, chest-beating and finger-pointing.

[Slartibartfast]

as the primary beneficiary of "it's all the Dem's fault", nothing, i suppose

So is your point that Bush is claiming that it's all the Dem's fault, or is it that he is, even though a bystander to the alleged discussion, somehow to blame for it?

because once you clear up the legal paperwork and procedural stuff, which this helps do, all we're left with is foot-stomping, chest-beating and finger-pointing.

Wrong; this is by no means an exhaustion of possible responses to the emergency. Even suggesting that it might be is...well, an excercise in sloppiness.

[cleek]

Even suggesting that it might be is

where did i suggest such a thing ?

[Slartibartfast]

cleek, if you didn't intend to say that that report placed a veritable papal blessing on Governor Blanco's post-Katrina performance, why say anything at all resembling your initial (and subsequent) statements?

And why not simply retract them, instead of attempting to point out the pointless?

[cleek]

you're wasting an awful lot of straw on this.

[Slartibartfast]

Expecting you to make any sort of consistent argument has turned out to be at least a minor waste of time.