FEMA Head: Lawlessness Not Anticipated

[Eugene]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090200686.html

FEMA Head: Lawlessness Not Anticipated

The Associated Press
Friday, September 2, 2005; 8:15 AM

WASHINGTON -- The head of the federal disaster relief agency said
Friday it's "heartbreaking and very, very frustrating" to witness the
virtual anarchy in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans and defended the Bush
administration's response.

Interviewed on several network morning news shows, Michael Brown,
director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, blamed emergency
assistance delivery problems on "the total lack of communications, the
inability to hear and have good intelligence on the ground about what
was actually occurring there."

Brown appeared the morning after the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin,
charged that administration officials "don't have a clue" about what's
going on in the devastated city that long has been among the nation's
premier tourist attractions.

"People are getting the help they need," Brown asserted on NBC's
"Today" show. "This is an ongoing disaster. This disaster didn't just
end when Katrina left."

more...

[wtmusic]

1. Lawlessness follows every natural disaster

and it's up to FEMA to respond to it. I'm not sure I've ever heard a bigger cop-out than that.

[etherealtruth]

6. something like ...

... desperate people do desperate things.

Maybe they should hire me to head FEMA ... I've predicted all of the tragic occurrences and would have quickly brought relief to these people because I anticipate that people NEED food water and shelter!

[wtmusic]

13. Got my vote

Desperation and opportunism too. Brings out the best and the worst.

[etherealtruth]

20. Violent people and criminals were in N.O. prior to Katrina ...

... Makes sense to me that they would be there after as well ... (here's an other reason to vote for me) I think we need to protect the masses from the criminal element (I would have anticipated this and had the National Guard poised to go in immediately , ipon the governor's call)

[zbdent]

2. What? Rummy never consulted him?

Jeez, you invade a country, then write off the looting.

You have riots anywhere - there's looting.

[MADem]

45. When will we hear the remarks, similar to Dumbsfeld's remark

...about the one guy with the vase coming out of the museum??

[KeepItReal]

3. Hey FEMA: Lack of National Guard in 24+ hours not anticipated

Why was the COAST GUARD the only force doing any aerial rescues for the longest time???

[Gormy Cuss]

33. No kidding.

A day out, the vast majority of people were only concerned with staying out of the water. I agree on the air rescue question. I know that Coasties train extensively for their mission and no one does it better but good military helo crews would have been able to drop supplies even if they weren't equipped for rescue efforts,They might have been able to broadcast info or at least give people a sense that help was on the way. They most certainly could have been used to drop troops into the convention center area and start the supply lines much earlier, and for that matter to drop supplies at other areas where smaller groups of survivors were congregating. I don't know why they weren't doing such things by Wednesday morning at the latest.

I'd like the administration to stop blaming the victims and start accepting responsibility for the FUBAR. If the best defense they can come up with is that it wasn't federal responsibility until the governors invited them or other such lame deflections, every single person with a cabinet level rank or above needs to be frog marched out of Washington.

[tanyev]

4. Had they gotten the NG in, food and water in, and the people

out ASAP, there wouldn't have been anywhere near the lawlessness. Idiot. :grr:

[hobbit709]

5. the only thing "not anticipated"

was that their total ineptitude was going to be exposed to the whole world.

[UpInArms]

23. this is the most visionless maladministration in the history

of this country.

I'm not certain they could find their asses with both hands in the dark.

[lumpy]

48. Visionless to the point of criminal.

I think of all previous administrations. All of them have had some redeeming qualities. For Christ's sake Nixon or Reagan would have reacted to this tragedy in a resposible manner. Past time for a litmus test for presidents. We just cannot afford to have incompetent ignoramouses in this most important position of power. A shepherd must be equiped to make the right decisions for his flock.

[nickinSTL]

7. people go several days without food or water

and they don't expect people to go out and TAKE them?

That's stupid.

[kenny blankenship]

8. We need an administration that can anticipate things

not paranoid fantasies like Bush fixates on, but practical dangers.

[yellowcanine]

9. He is head of FEMA - it is HIS job to anticipate what could go wrong.

Resign Now Asshole.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. These excuses are NOT acceptable

This is a broken record. First played in Iraq: We didn't KNOW there would be these problems (no plan, lack of leasership, chaos), and same song different day played from the same broken record by Michael Brown...whine whine whine. FEMA gave up being an independent agency and became part of the New World Order Bush Fuckup in 2003.

THIS WHINING IS TIRESOME AND IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!
Fuck them! Those Shallow Asswipes are in deep shit.

[Go Eagles]

11. he should be in jail

This is coming from the same smack that yesterday had no clue what was happening at the Convention Center and claimed that reporters accounts of the situation were rumors.

[yellowcanine]

16. Or at least Bush should fire him - and hire Clinton as FEMA head.

FEMA needs someone in charge who knows how to get things done. Bush needs to swallow his pride and ask the one person who could take charge and turn this thing around to head FEMA - Bill Clinton.

[AlCzervik]

12. He and FEMA have become useless! The old FEMA did a good job, this is

criminal.

[WildClarySage]

14. This idiot sounds like a 10 yr old...

"But Mom, I didn't know the lamp would break if I threw the football in the house!"

[goforit]

15. FEMA???.......Awe!!!! Been hanging around Pat Robertson a bit???

Lawlessness.....starts with you FEMA!!!

You deal with corruption yo gonna get corruption!!!

[northzax]

17. perhaps you thought people might throw flowers?

hmm?

can we please, for one minute, get someone in the government who's actually seen a disaster? or at least read a book about one? I want to hear what Liddy Dole has to say, actually...

[habitual]

18. Time To Start Priming The Excuse Pump!

Here we go..... we could never have anticipated that those poor black folk who live in shack houses were going to get angry and start looking for any food they could find in the working man's shops. I mean, we told the people to get out of town, wasn't that enough?? I mean, look, most of the white folks were smart enough to get out. We simply could have done more if we weren't afraid of being shot at on those LAWLESS streets. It wasn't our fault, look at the poor black folks, i think they should be ashamed of themselves for taking this natural disaster and trying to get a free TV out of it.

[killbotfactory]

19. Bush will probably give him a medal of freedom

and a raise

[Rose Siding]

31. A promotion, at least!

His performance is so bad, that his future is looking *very* bright.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

21. WTF?!

There's rioting after the NBA Championship. You didn't expect looting and civil unrest in the wake of a natural disaster?

Up until now I was willing to cut Bushco a certain amount of slack in dealing with this -- you can only plan so much for dealing with a major disaster. But this is Bush League at its worst. They didn't plan -- they had no idea how to get 40,000 people out of NOLA and now they don't know where to put them (another thread on the Astrodome). Even though they recognized that a direct hit by a hurricane at NOLA would be a catastrophic event, they did nothing to reinforce the levee system or invest in newer pumps.

I blame them for their lack of preparation, and I blame them for their dim-witted response.

[Parkerfur]

22. The Mayor of NO made a GOOD POINT

He said that drugs tend to flow freely throughout the city of New Orleans. With people who are drug attics who are not getting their "fix" they are becoming hostile and trying to find any means necessary to find drugs, including getting into hospitals. I think that this drug problem was not something that was necessarily something that is thought of when planning for disaster relief and this situation is surly making things more difficult.

[Javaman]

24. Wow...just wow. I'm dumb founded by their either lack of

planning, ignorance or ability to deny the obvious. Or all of the above.

wow...just wow.

[Triana]

25. This guy is an unqualified idiot

He's clueless and useless. He used to be - what?

An Estate Planner!

Puh.

[malaise]

26. Fuck him

everyone knows what happens after disasters. Fuck him.

[Teaser]

27. I have no words...

No words at all.

[MrBenchley]

28. Rumsfeld could have told him....

"Think what's happened in our cities when we've had riots and problems and looting. Stuff happens!"

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030411-010551-6382r

The GOP let military-style assault weapons back in gun stores...and they're surprised there were negative consequences?

[Tracer]

29. Oh yes MrBenchley ...

... gee, isn't it a surprise that we haven't seen Rumsferatu bloviating about how the TV networks are showing the "same vase" being looted over and over again?

[MrBenchley]

32. It's worth noting yet another lie

After insisting earlier in the week that Mississippi and Louisiana had all the National Guards personnel they needed, TODAY the DOD is hurriedly mobilizing personnel from all over the country.

[sam sarrha]

54. If their LIPS are moving they are LIEING..!! Republican Party Slagan..!!

[Iceburg]

30. FEMA F%^$head fired from prior job because of incompetence

Who appointed Michael Brown to head FEMA?

Michael Brown, "the man responsible for directing federal relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his emergency management skills as the “Judges and Stewards Commissioner” for the International Arabian Horses Association… a position from which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and financial disarray."

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348

[BiggJawn]

34. Is this guy a "Pioneer" or "Ranger"?

Brown: "Hey, Dub, What do I get for all that work I did for your campaign?"

Il Douche: "Oh, Hell, I dunno, how'd you like to become th' Head of FEMA?"

"FEMA? What do they do?"

"Oh, nuttin' important, tornados, hurricanes, shit laik thet. But don't worry, the States take care of most that shit, so you won't have to do anything 'cept collect yer paycheck..."

"Kewl!"

[chomskysright]

41. I sent this to Olbermann

Item 1: Brown, the head, is an attny in this manner:

www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/ 002458.html

September 01, 2005
My lord, the guy heading FEMA has no qualifications. What was he doing before getting pulled into FEMA by the Bush administration in 2003? He was an estate planning lawyer in Colorado and of counsel for the International Arabian Horse Association Legal Department. And yes, it is the same Michael D. Brown.


Item 2: Brown was fired re: problems with those horses?

FEMA F%^$head fired from prior job because of incompetence Who appointed Michael Brown to head FEMA?

Michael Brown, "the man responsible for directing federal relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his emergency management skills as the “Judges and Stewards Commissioner” for the International Arabian Horses Association… a position from which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and financial disarray."

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348



Item 3:

FEMA Directing Donations To Rev.
Pat Robertson
09/01/05 02:45 PM Eastern

SPLOID EXCLUSIVE: FEMA is directing Katrina donations to none other than the Rev. Pat Robertson …

Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.

FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.

The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.

“It’s an outrage,” said privacy watchdog Bill Scannell, who alerted Sploid to the FEMA / Robertson scam. “Operation f**cking Blessing? And it’s right underneath the Red Cross link!”


http://www.sploid.com/news/2005/09/01/fema-directing-do...


Item 3:
This is an UPDATE:

I just saw this same article posted there too and a response from "Karen" at the Democracy Cell Project.

http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2005/...

On the Robertson thing, Casey called FEMA today and the Robertson listing is old. According to the person she spoke with, it will be gone by tomorrow.

FEMA is, no doubt, underfunded, like every other service agency in this government. The only feds gaining ground seem to be the agencies of subterfuge and profiteering.

And so, we all lose ground...

[Moochy]

64. chomskysright post needs its own thread!

kick! amazing.. I have seen republican pioneeers working their magic in anticipation of future repuke election committee positions. (BTW he was a VP of Safeway Stores) These criminals put idiots like this guy in positions of power and see what happens?


International Arabian Horse Association Legal Department

House of Saud anyone?

Each little potentate that bush appoints also has his own entourage of incompetent toadies at all levels. The government is incompetent by design.

[librechik]

35. I guess he never heard of Iraq.

could these people be any more stooooopid????

[triguy46]

36. "Not Anticipated" the motto of the * administration

Just like the nightmare in irag was "not anticipated." Call it rose colored glasses, call it detached from reality. This is a group that thought there'd be dancing in the streets of Badhdad...We should not be surprised that they were caught asleep, or drunk, or obtunded, or comatose, or whatever.

[RaleighNCDUer]

37. In every disaster movie ever made you see examples of people

doing desperate things to survive, and a few opportunistic criminals taking advantage of the situation (the criminals are alway killed by their own greed before the 5th reel). If it is such a cliche, how could FEMA not anticipate it?

[arwalden]

38. They Are Admitting INCOMPETENCE ...

... how could they NOT anticipate such a thing? This ranks right up there with Condi's admission that they never dreamed that jets could be used as missiles.

Such statements are piss-poor attempts to cover their collective asses and put the blame someplace else OTHER than where it belongs.

[NNN0LHI]

39. Haven't I heard this somewhere before? Iraq maybe? n/t

[Boo Boo]

40. This guy has no clue what he's doing. He's totally

unqualified for the job. From what I've been able to gather he has zero experience in this area, and now he's the head of FEMA.

[sam sarrha]

55. that is right.. NO EXPERIENCE AT ALL..but he did bankrupt the horse group

[Moochy]

65. Sounds like perfect qualifications

... if you are in bizzarro world bushland, but seriously do you think they give a fuck if some agency is run into the ground? Remember Bush is God's agent on earth, preparing the way for the ChristianDominionistExtremeJesusRealityTV that is planned for 2007 rollout.

[daleo]

42. The same excuses as they used for Iraq:

"Lawlessness Not Anticipated"
"lack of communications"
"inability to hear and have good intelligence on the ground about what
was actually occurring there."

[aquart]

43. They didn't anticipate it in Iraq, either.

I guess it never happened in those John Wayne movies.

[JackDragna]

44. This is no justification..

..but anyone familiar with New Orleans knows just how deep the poverty flows in the city. The people there feel abandoned by the rest of the people in the city and state. The poor (mostly black) feel like they're little more than useful labor, fit enough only to be the subject of jokes and ridicule. And you know what? Their fears were validated. They're being left to die by our government. With such disregard by the American people, is it any wonder the city became a tinderbox?

[Inland]

46. "Nobody could EVER have predicted [insert widely predicted event here]

From planes into buildings to looting to Iraq to levees breaking to lawlessness during disaster---

Why do you think they deploy ARMED NATIONAL GUARDSMEN DURING DISASTERS?

[JaneGat]

47. WHAT?

He never even read Lord of the Flies? Does anyone think anymore? :banghead:

[lumpy]

49. Kinda nuts isn't it to blame the

neglect of our citizens on lawlessness. When you think of the soldiers in Iraq facing lawlessness every day of their lives....

[Bridget Burke]

50. The NG always goes in early to stop looting

As well as help with rescues. The plan is to set up patrols so things don't get out of hand. I've been in or close to a fair number of situations caused by tropical weather & heard the news reports.

But there was no early security and damn little help with rescues or caring for survivors. Things got out of hand. Sure, some people were stealing to survive. But there are always a few assholes with guns.

[VegasWolf]

51. I smell a Medal of Freedom for the FEMA head!! nt

[NoQuarter]

52. Why is anyone even paying attention to this fuckkwad?

He, like nearly every * appointee, is utterly incompetent for the reward-jobs bestowed upon them. How many times are we going to hear "the dog ate my homework?"

There is a special place in hell for this bunch.

[sam sarrha]

53. Bu$h Appointed a man to FEMA with NO/ZIP/NADA emergency experience

Fascism at its best.....

[0007]

56. Duh!! When was there never no looting in a major catastrophe?

Where in the living fuck did this asshole come from, Mars?

[Dr Fate]

57. You man-children in DC will not lie your way out of this one.

n/t

[samsingh]

58. these people do not anticiplate reality

but they do imagine things like WMD - like true pychopaths.

[rodeodance]

59. but he can always spoot off how ready meals have been sent.

[electron_blue]

60. criminy, there was lawlessness before the disaster

In what freakin scenario do they plan for where all citizens become law abiding instantly following a major disaster.

[depakid]

61. Gee, who'd have thought

That thirsty, starving people who've lost everything would become lawless in the 90 degree New Orleans heat?

[kskiska]

62. How come in Iraq the looters were just "letting off steam,"

according to Rummy. "Democracy isn't always tidy."

[Brent Turbeaux]

63. We could use Snake Plissken right about now... n/t