FEMA Director being sent back to DC - being replaced on the ground.

[watersnowdirt]

Finally.

FEMA director Michael Brown being sent back to Washington; Homeland Security Director Chertoff to announce new leader for on-the-ground Katrina relief efforts, senior administration official tells CNN. Details soon.

http://www.cnn.com/

[Tippster]

How DO you spell "fallguy?"

[cj001f]

How DO you spell "fallguy?"

I hear it sounds like Arabian Horse

[Lurch]

The guy's entire resume is one big lie. It should be interesting to see how the administration explains why they put him in the office.

[stump832]

I hear it sounds like Arabian Horse

No arabian horses were harmed in katrina were they? Mr El Blame-o.

[mr_gyptian]

good. I assume both the Mayor and Governor will fall on their swords in short order.

[mrryde]

good riddance!

[Spats]

My apologies for the length of this post, but it delves into a law question. If you don't want to read it all, here's the summary:

The law, as written, does not require either the governor or the mayor to sign or approve anything. (And mr_gyptian is, as usual, lying to you in order to push his extremist political views.)

---Begin cut and paste. I did not write this---

Another bit of info that might be handy: I got tired of all the people saying that the poor President's hands were tied since the governor didn't request help. No one making these assertions seemed familiar with the actual law, so I decided to read it. Here is the full version of the National Response Plan, if you are a glutton for punishment:

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interwe...P_FullText.pdf

From the preface:

----------8<----------

The NRP is built on the template of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides a
consistent doctrinal framework for incident management at all jurisdictional levels, regardless of the cause, size, or
complexity of the incident. The activation of the NRP and its coordinating structures and protocols--either
partially or fully--for specific Incidents of National Significance provides mechanisms for the coordination and
implementation of a wide variety of incident management and emergency assistance activities. Included in these
activities are Federal support to State, local, and tribal authorities; interaction with nongovernmental, private donor,
and private-sector organizations; and the coordinated, direct exercise of Federal authorities, when appropriate.

----------8<----------

While not specific, even the preface states that there is a place for "direct exercise of Federal authorities".

From my reading, the direct exercise of Federal authorities is appropriate during a catastrophic incident.

Here is the definition of a Catastrophic Incident:

----------8<----------

Any natural or manmade
incident, including terrorism, that results in
extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or
disruption severely affecting the population,
infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale,
and/or government functions. A catastrophic event
could result in sustained national impacts over a
prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds
resources normally available to State, local, tribal, and
private-sector authorities in the impacted area; and
significantly interrupts governmental operations and
emergency services to such an extent that national
security could be threatened. All catastrophic events are
Incidents of National Significance.

----------8<----------

Here are the guiding principles for Federal response to a catastrophic event:

----------8<----------

Guiding principles for proactive Federal response
include the following:

The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical
infrastructure, property, and the environment;
contain the event; and preserve national security.

Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance
may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances,
suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of
catastrophic magnitude.

Identified Federal response resources will deploy and
begin necessary operations as required to commence
life-safety activities.

Notification and full coordination with States will occur,
but the coordination process must not delay or impede
the rapid deployment and use of critical resources.
States are urged to notify and coordinate with local
governments regarding a proactive Federal response.

State and local governments are encouraged to
conduct collaborative planning with the Federal
Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness
for catastrophic incidents.

----------8<----------

So the question is this: was Hurricane Katrina a catastrophic event as defined by the NRP? If so, and I can't see how you can argue that it wasn't, then the following applies:

Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance
may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances,
suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of
catastrophic magnitude.

and

Notification and full coordination with States will occur,
but the coordination process must not delay or impede
the rapid deployment and use of critical resources.
States are urged to notify and coordinate with local
governments regarding a proactive Federal response.

As far as I can tell, this translates to "Get your ass in there and help".

I've quoted the NRP a couple of times in conversations in other venues. I've asked for someone to explain to me how my reading of the NRP is incorrect, or how Katrina did not constitute a catastrophic incident. I've never gotten anything but silence in response.

[iceman]

-insert ad hominem attack on spats from Mr.-G below this post-

[grrrr]

Tippster, The FEMA chief is not a fall guy. He is a political appointee who has no business being in emergency management, certainly not running FEMA. His inability to cope with this disaster is nothing compared to the long term damage he has already done to our country's emergency management apparatus.

[grrrr]

Soory, Ice. Mr. G can go next.

[cj001f]

He is a political appointee who has no business being in emergency management, certainly not running FEMA. His inability to cope with this disaster is nothing compared to the long term damage he has already done to our country's emergency management apparatus.

That's not what makes him the fallguy. The fallguy aspect is going after his supposedly exaggerated resume, not the assbags who put him in that job.

[dbp]

Actually, I have read that the next people down in the FEMA chain of command aren't any more qualified. Note to future presidential administrations: when you give appointments to unqualified political friends, make sure their incompetence can't result in shit like this.

cro·ny·ism -noun
Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications, as in political appointments to office.

[Greydon Clark]

What kind of fundraising has this dude done for the GOP and Bush? Is he a “Ranger”? I heart cronyism.

If you're interested in lurking on the arabian horses message board

[Gebster]

Just saw this bit of info in a story on MSNBC about that fuckup Brown. Sounds totally like The Office TV show and the character Dwight. Way too funny!

Bio controversy
Brown's biography on the FEMA Web site says he had once served as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight," and a White House news release in 2001 said Brown had worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., in the 1970s "overseeing the emergency-services division."

However, a city spokeswoman told Time magazine that Brown had actually worked as "an assistant to the city manager."

"The assistant is more like an intern," Claudia Deakins told the magazine. "Department heads did not report to him." Time posted the article on its Web site late on Thursday.

A former mayor of Edmond, Randel Shadid, confirmed that Friday. Shadid told The Associated Press that Brown had been an assistant to the city manager, and never assistant city manager.

[grrrr]

Actually, I have read that the next people down in the FEMA chain of command aren't any more qualified.

Very true. The depth of incompetence in that organization is astounding - not least due to the flight of anyone competent to escape the doom from above. On the other hand, the turnover allowed a lot of borderline janitor types to make it to mid-management positions.

I was not very popular last time I was hanging around the FEMA types. I'm not one for molly-coddling people who have no clue.

[mr_gyptian]

-insert ad hominem attack on spats from Mr.-G below this post-

To placate Iceman...

"To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established.

While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges.

But just as important to the administration were worries about the message that would have been sent by a president ousting a Southern governor of another party from command of her National Guard, according to administration, Pentagon and Justice Department officials.

“Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?” asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.

Officials in Louisiana agree that the governor would not have given up control over National Guard troops in her state as would have been required to send large numbers of active-duty soldiers into the area. But they also say they were desperate and would have welcomed assistance by active-duty soldiers."

[Monique]

Actually, I have read that the next people down in the FEMA chain of command aren't any more qualified. Note to future presidential administrations: when you give appointments to unqualified political friends, make sure their incompetence can't result in shit like this.

cro·ny·ism -noun
Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications, as in political appointments to office.

I dunno why everyone keeps saying the FEMA leadership team lacks experience with disasters. They've all worked in Republican politics and on Dubya's campaigns--two of our nation's worst disasters.

[Lurch]

I dunno why everyone keeps saying the FEMA leadership team lacks experience with disasters. They've all worked in Republican politics and on Dubya's campaigns--two of our nation's worst disasters.

They were disasters for the country but they got the man elected.

[Tippster]

GRRRR:

He is the sacrificial lamb so that higher (and bigger) heads can survive.... one of these is the President of the United States. Plausible deniability, baby. It's got nothing (or everything) to do witht his dude's lack of competence. What they banked on was that he'd be merely a cog in the machine once FEMA became part of the Dept. of Homeland Security. That's when he got the job, when it was no longer a cabinet level post. His qualification? He was the college roommate of his predecessor!

Those higher than him reap the benefits of a job well done, but he's the point where the lizard tail gets thrown and sacrificed to the predator when the shit hits the fan. He's like the cotter pin of this section of DHS. So what if he breaks, the important parts of the machine remain intact (I predict his boss, Michael Chertoff - the head of DHS - will eventually, and most mournfully, jump on the fingerpointing bandwagon.)

This administration has guys like this in every branch of government.

[grrrr]

I can agree with that assessment.

[Lurch]

GRRRR:

He is the sacrificial lamb so that higher (and bigger) heads can survive.... one of these is the President of the United States. Plausible deniability, baby. It's got nothing (or everything) to do witht his dude's lack of competence. What they banked on was that he'd be merely a cog in the machine once FEMA became part of the Dept. of Homeland Security. That's when he got the job, when it was no longer a cabinet level post. His qualification? He was the college roommate of his predecessor!

Those higher than him reap the benefits of a job well done, but he's the point where the lizard tail gets thrown and sacrificed to the predator when the shit hits the fan. He's like the cotter pin of this section of DHS. So what if he breaks, the important parts of the machine remain intact (I predict his boss, Michael Chertoff - the head of DHS - will eventually, and most mournfully, jump on the fingerpointing bandwagon.)

This administration has guys like this in every branch of government.

They are still going to need to explain why they gave him the job and didn't verify his experience. I know this is nothing when compared to the other bull shit this administration has shoved out the door but it’s pilling up pretty high and the majority of people are know seeing it for what it is.

[Grange]

Just saw this bit of info in a story on MSNBC about that fuckup Brown. Sounds totally like The Office TV show and the character Dwight. Way too funny!

That is exactly what I first thougt too. or should it be

[Grange]

My apologies for the length of this post, but it delves into a law question. If you don't want to read it all, here's the summary:

The law, as written, does not require either the governor or the mayor to sign or approve anything. (And mr_gyptian is, as usual, lying to you in order to push his extremist political views.)

What I don't get is how people can say that the Federal Gov't couldn't go in because they didn't have a request from the State Gov't? The Louisiana Governor wrote a letter dated August 28, 2005 specifically requesting help from the federal government. The letter states:

I request that you declare an expidited major disaster for the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina, a Category V Hurricane approaches our coast south of New Orleans; beginning on August 28, 2005 and continuing.

The letter goes on to state that she excuted the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005 in accordance with section 401 of the Stafford Act.

Assuming this letter is accurate why would President Bush even have to "invoke the Insurrection Act" as mr_gyptian states?

Here's a link to the actual letter if one hasn't already been posted:
Louisiana Governor's letter to President Bush

[iceman]

Well that letter looks very damn specific and very damning to Administration claims that help was never requested.

Now let's sit back and see how Mr._G attempts to spin this one, it should be interesting to watch.