The head of FEMA needs to be ex-military...

[TomInTib]

someone who understands establishing a chain of command and how to manage the bureaucracy and manage a crisis (i.e.battle) situation and come up with creative solutions in the moment.

A dude who was fired from organizing Arabian Horse shows is in way over his head, and he - unfortunately for him and all concerned - has a disaster on his hands that he cannot even begin to imagine how to handle. More than blaming him, I blame the ones who put him in charge.

[Pirate Smile]

1. Was James Witt ex-military? Because he was excellent.

Hiring him was one damn smart move by the Governor.

[tulsakatz]

2. absolutely!!

I blame Bush first because he's the one who had the brilliant idea to put these assholes in charge, Chertoff and Brown in administrative positions when he knew they had no qualifications for that kind of position! In fact neither one of them have ever had any kind of disaster management experience whatsoever!!

Imagine putting a guy into a management position and his last job, he was fired due to mismanagement (Brown)!!! Exactly what qualifications did he have for this job? Considering his history, we should probably be relieved it didn't turn out worse than it did!!!

[TomInTib]

5. Qualification - he was the college room-mate of the last FEMA

director, Joseph Allbaugh, a Bush crony - who held the postion before him. See Paul Krugman's column in the NYT "Killed by Contempt" today.

[Maple]

3. The problem with ex-military types

is that they are no longer in the military...and snapping out orders to a civilian bureaucracy doesn't work.

In fact, it can lead to the exact opposite of what you want...because people resent being treated like that.

[Vickers]

16. I'm afraid you don't understand the qualities of an EFFECTIVE military

leader, just the caricature of one.

[babylonsister]

4. FEMA needs to be divorced from Homeland Security and

that budget. This administration-THE BLIVET ET AL, THE EVIL CABAL, THE BFEE, fucked up and combined everything, selecting people not adequate for the job of FEMA.
Fer shit's sake, if this had been a terrorist attack, do you think our government would have been better prepared?
Not even...
However! :think: They would have had someone to blame it on. There is no one but themselves this time.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Wyoming's "largest pile of un-used homeland security money"...

Is a great tourist attraction for all to see, but considering that it could've been used to save peoples' lives... well you get the idea.

[neweurope]

6. What you're saying is that civilians cannot organize.

The world knows that "Brownie" cannot handle a smoking frying pan in his momma's kitchen. But don't be led to the conclusion that's because he's civilian!

Why don't you for a change look at how other countries handle natural catastrophes? Cuba and the Netherlands come to mind. Somebody here posted - I wish I had bookmarked it - that not one person died in the last flood in the Netherlands, all evacuated got three meals a day, the animals were evacuated, also, among them 100.000 cows!

AND EVERY COW GOT MILKED.

Why not inquire how they handled that instead of calling for the military?

Why are Americans so preoccupied with the military? I'm afraid you're going to get your full of military in your country before it's all over :cry:

------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[TomInTib]

8. What I meant was that we need someone who can manage

the various institutions and agencies available to us...in this county there is not a civilian agency that can handle this because they are not an influential part of the system. The Netherlands may have their stuff together in a constructive way, but the world's last superpower does not, so we need to go the the people that know how to work the existing system.

We have what we have, and this ain't Europe. This is not the land of "the greater purpose" and "take care of our own - each an devery one - and our future". This is greater greed and screw the mofo's that didn't get theirs, because we have ours. And we live on higher ground.

I am just asking for someone who can manage our messed-up system, and I think that only military can handle that. They have the discipline, the ear, and the ability to make a decision in a time of crisis.

[neweurope]

9. I understand better now. But one more question: Don't you

have anything like a civilian corps of engineers that handles catastrophes - set up similarly as the Red Cross? And if you do: Who gives the orders?

---------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[TomInTib]

11. Under Clinton, it was FEMA, under Bush, it is a guy who was

fired from organizing horse shows. We are so fucked!

[caligirl]

10. We were military. Your wishing up the wrong tree. Think Najaf.

We knew all to well the reason for the screw up there. A certain Marine Colonel in charge(Brig Gen select) went in and fucked it all up. He was the reason Najaf went to hell. He never pinned on Brig General. He retired after they removed him shortly after the fuck up. We knew him as lieutenants and captains and knew what an incompetent asshole he was and his nose was as brown as could be and a bad temper. No surprise he went into Najaf and turned the place into utter hell.
Sweet justice, he never got to pin on those generals stars he kissed ass for 2 decades to get. What goes around comes around.

I would prefer a civilian thank you.

[shance]

7. I would tend to agree, especially in a climate such as now. A woman

I think would be wonderful as well.

[tabasco]

12. I think it would help. But not absolutely necessary.

Obviously, we have nowhere to go but up after hiring a failed horse-show organizer.

A civilian with broad knowledge of the military would be ok as well.

[OneGrassRoot]

14. Repub talking point yesterday is to privatize FEMA..........

why, and what are the implications?

Sure would explain why they're allowing it to be a miserable failure currently.

[underpants]

15. Yep-they started that on Friday (that I heard)

ON Rush's show the fill in was spewing the "We told you government can't do anything right" and I heard the whackjob Col.Hunt on Fox criticizing DC's respsone (I wondered if there was something going on on Fox) and then yesterday some blonde pollster (she was on Mahr two weeks ago) screamed out "PRIVATIZE IT" as they were going away from a discussion.

They rolled it all together in one long weekend. The machine in action.