Defending FEMA
By Callimachus | Related entries in Blogging, Hurricane KatrinaThere’s more than one way to cover a disaster.
It’s becoming difficult to remember that New Orleans was wrecked by an act of nature.
Americans expect so much of our system, our people, and our government, that we look to blame them for catastrophic failure. As though they could have — and should have — saved everyone and everything. There’s a bit of hubris in that.
Reminds me of the Confederate generals, a pack of men accustomed to brilliant success on the battlefields and tending to think too much of their own genius as the cause of it. After the catastrophic failure at Gettysburg, many of them spent years and years pointing the finger and trying to fix blame for the defeat on one or another of their number.
At one point someone asked George Pickett who he thought was responsible for the Southern defeat at Gettysburg. Pickett’s laconic answer: “I always thought the Yankees had something to do with it.”
Leave aside the knee-jerk defenders of the Bush administration, who would defend anything if it kept the Democrats out of power another year. Is there a legitimate, non-partisan case to be made for how this disaster was handled?
Try this one. I’m a long-time reader and fan of this site. I generally agree with his stuff — which means he’s more “right” than many of you. But he’s not in lock-step with anybody. It’s more an analysis of the perceptions than a recital of dollar figures and dates over who paid to fix which levees and when. But I think his post asks the right questions of the current dominant paradigm of “what went wrong.”
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September 11th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
I’ve been reading the Protein Wisdom site’s coverage since last weekend and it’s been by far the best. No knee jerk reactions, just fact based reporting. I wish there had been more of this type of coverage during this national crisis.
September 11th, 2005 at 6:50 pm
Nagin and Blanco share blame with Bush. Are Bush supporters willing to admit that he acted no better? No, of course not. The goal of the Right is not to share blame, but to place all of it . . . elsewhere.
Brown and Chertoff and Bush did not know facts that every American with a TV set knew. There’s no excusing that. FEMA officials repeatedly refused offers of help. There’s no excusing that. No one at FEMA thought to take simple, practical steps, for example choppering in a few hundred FBI agents to provide a semblence of security at the Superdome and the Convention Center — no state or local approval needed. No one thought to chopper in a handful of FEMA spokesmen with bullhorns to keep evacuees aware of what was happening and thus calm fears. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity for imaginative, decisive leadership.
On 9-11 we had Giuliani. We praise him as a hero. It is illogical to praise someone like Giuliani as a hero, and yet, when no Giulaiani appears, to refuse to question the actions of less heroic, less successful leaders. If one man can do extraordinary things is it wrong to ask why another cannot? Particularly a man with 4 years experience in the presidency and a carefully-nurtured image as a “leader?”
Protein Wisdom is bashing one of the few institutions that worked well: the media. This of course is a necessary element of the Bush defense strategy: blame the locals, blame blacks but leave no fingerprints, commit character assassination wherever possible, derail any inquiry and blame the media. So far we’ve seen everything but the character assassination but never fear, it will be along sooner or later.
September 11th, 2005 at 7:11 pm
Michael -
I don’t think anyone at Protein Wisdom’s site is suggesting that FEMA will not deserve some blame when everything is said and done. From what I have read so far, Jeff at Protein Wisdom’s site is saying the blame FEMA has received so far isn’t specific and in several instances is inaccurate and can be disputed.
For instance, I’ve heard from other sites that relief should’ve been quicker - but then I find out that the Red Cross and Salvation Army were prevented to going to the Superdome and Convention Center to provide helep because the STATE asked them not to because they didn’t want the people that were there to stay there. There isn’t much the feds can do if the State doesn’t allow them the room to move.
I’ve read about Brown’s lack of experience for the position and I find that disturbing, but I haven’t read any specifics as to what he did wrong. I’m sure he did do things wrong, but until I know the specifics as to what exactly he did wrong I’m not going to join the hysterics.
Please take the time to read the Protein Wisdom’s posts. If you have some information that could dispute his information, by all means please share it. I believe most people, including myself, are interested in being fair. I for one will hold my judgement until more facts are presented.
September 11th, 2005 at 7:46 pm
“… blame blacks …”
Where the hell do you see that? Given the onus of racism in this country, anyone who is willing to throw the accusation around like that ought to be ready to back it up and make it stick.
September 11th, 2005 at 9:30 pm
To make clear: I didn’t accuse the Bush administration of racism. I said that part of their strategy for whitewashing the Bush administration would include blaming blacks and leaving no finngerprints.
I spent the week down in Mississippi listening as I drove to right wing talk radio. (Not a lot of alternatives.) Over the years racists have become more subtle. When I was a kid we got direct threats for having n—– over at our home in the Florida panhandle. Now what you get is code. You get Right-wing radio emphasizing the rather minor roles of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, for example, a theme I heard hammered again and again. You get the sneering “these people. . .” references. You get Barbara Bush’s contemptuous references to the people enjoying the Astrodome.
Something I could present in court? Absolutely not. Something that’s in the air down there and in the right wing house organs of talk radio, in my opinion, yes. And something that by the way is very much present on the ground, in the shelters I visited. I heard it in shelters and hotel lobbies and gas stations. Like I said on my own blog, it’s a subtle bass note you never hear clearly but you feel. I agree entirely that this is vague and subjective, purely an interpretation on my part.
Blame the locals: under way. Delay and derail investigation: under way. Blame the media: under way. Blame blacks: I think southern heart strings are being plucked on this, but it is just a feeling. Assassinate the characters of opponents: haven’t seen it yet, except in the acceptable parameters of normal partisan sniping.
As I recall I wrote that prediction on the 4th, a week ago. Since then I’ve gone from 1 out of 5, to 3 out of 5 being demonstrated. I would argue that the “blame blacks” element is moving into place, but let’s accept your point of view for the sake of argument. I set the time line at six months. If six months minus a week from now I’m wrong, I’ll publicly acknowledge it.
September 11th, 2005 at 9:51 pm
I personally take offense to people such as Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton/et al suggesting that the response or lack there of was due to racism. I consider myself to be a fairly liberal person and I feel like it’s utter nonsense that racism has anything to do with it. It’s insanity like this that pushes me away from the current Dem party. They’re seriously disappointing me with this rhetoric/exploitation.
September 11th, 2005 at 9:55 pm
Monica:
George W. Bush sent Michael Brown to his room without supper a day after Chertoff went down to check out the situation. That speaks volumes about Brown’s efficiency on the job — Bush never disciplines a subordinate.
There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about specific matters: trucks of food turned back, demands that requests to FEMA be sent by email from offices that were submerged, delays in accepting help from NM, promises made and not carried out, and so on.
But let’s for the sake of argument assume that in each case these specific accusations turn out to be exaggerated or false — a situation I very much doubt. But let’s assume it: nevertheless, people were left without help for an unconscionable period of time. Sick old people died in their wheelchairs because they went days without help.
I have an uncompromising view of responsibility. If I can’t care for my family there are no excuses: it’s on me. If I say I’ll do something on a deadline, I have to do it, no excuse. Sometimes I fail. And then I say, “I failed.”
When our government fails they say, “it wasn’t me, there were all these regulations, I didn’t anticipate, blah blah blah,” and then we all sit around and take this nonsense seriously. I’m happy to discuss the hows and whys of failure, and how it can be done better next time, but not when people won’t first admit what is plain: they failed.
We praise men like Giuliani for getting the job done, but when it comes to assessing the actions of others in similar circumstances, we start lawyering. Did the job get done? No. American citizens were left unfed, uninformed, scared and desperate, while vast resources sat idle. I don’t expect my leaders to do the minimum. I don’t expect them to do only what’s in the rule book. I’m not interested in their excuses. I expect them to get the job done.
We’re sitting here parsing rationalizations for failure that we would not accept from a plumber we asked to fix a toilet. I don’t tolerate this level of helplessness and incompetence from people who work for me, why in God’s name should we tolerate it from people who style themselves as our leaders?
All the resources in the world sat idle while thousands of American citizens went thirsty and hungry and abandoned. The people who controlled the resources and had been hired to make those resources available, failed. Failed. Period. They may have wonderful excuses, but they failed. That’s what matters.
September 11th, 2005 at 10:58 pm
Michael -
I agree that there were failures - failures at ALL levels. Who is responsible for the failures and what those failures were still remain to be seen. I for one am waiting to see the facts before I declare anyone completely guilty. It’s the just the way I work. I’d do the same thing regardless of which party was in office. I wish more people would do this - I believe the strength of our country depends on it.
September 12th, 2005 at 3:20 pm
“Brown and Chertoff and Bush did not know facts that every American with a TV set knew. There’s no excusing that…”
Michael, I don’t know how much experience you have working with government agencies or if you have any experience in emergency plans. I can tell you that the government won’t ‘get their news from the news channel’ they rely on the ‘government officials’ on the ground to give them the pertinate information. Why, because we as adults expect the people that we deal with to be competent people with information that the news may not have…. Since they were basically in charge they should have the information that is needed to be passed on, if they didn’t pass on pertinate information they should be called on it. Do you really think that they should get their information from the news???? What about things that the news doesn’t know about????? Are they supposed to use their crystal ball then????
“No one at FEMA thought to take simple, practical steps, for example choppering in a few hundred FBI agents to provide a semblence of security at the Superdome and the Convention Center â€â€? no state or local approval needed.”
No one in the State Government thought to take simple, practical and rational steps like get the National Guard in there ASAP…. or accept assistance from the surrounding National Guards in a mutual aid compact…. the Governor does have the power to call in the National Guard….. when did she do it???? She also had the power to accept assistance from surrounding National Guards, when did she do it????
As far as your ‘blame blacks’ comments go, I really think that is just unnecessary race baiting… which is despicable. I am really tired of hearing from the Race Prostitutes Jackson/Sharpton, these two are the only ones that profit from the constant race baiting and agitation ginned up….
“But let’s for the sake of argument assume that in each case these specific accusations turn out to be exaggerated or false â€â€? a situation I very much doubt. But let’s assume it: nevertheless, people were left without help for an unconscionable period of time. Sick old people died in their wheelchairs because they went days without help.”
I don’t believe that they are all exaggerated or false - but it is turning out to be that the culprits aren’t FEMA…. at least not the Federal Homeland Security - but the State Homeland Security which is under the Governors control. You can’t possibly expect that a Federal org. would handle the nuts and bolts of an evacuation, and the initial response to a disaster…. it has to be locals, they are the ones that know the layout of the city, the resouces available and where they are located, etc. It is only common sense that the Locals/State governments would be in charge and FEMA is supposed to assist them with their requests, etc. Since they have been there since day one, they know what is needed….
“…American citizens were left unfed, uninformed, scared and desperate, while vast resources sat idle. I don’t expect my leaders to do the minimum. I don’t expect them to do only what’s in the rule book. I’m not interested in their excuses. I expect them to get the job done. ”
I agree that there wasn’t enough information given to public (after they were in the Superdome) by the government…. When it comes to security etc. why wasn’t the state National Guard called in right away to provide security for the Superdome? These are responses that happen as a matter of course in other disasters, they were expected to happen here too but they didn’t.
“All the resources in the world sat idle while thousands of American citizens went thirsty and hungry and abandoned. The people who controlled the resources and had been hired to make those resources available, failed. Failed. Period. They may have wonderful excuses, but they failed. That’s what matters. ”
No, it wasn’t the people that had been hired to make those resouces available, it was the State Homeland Security checkpoint people that turned them away…. they WERE TURNED AWAY!!! How is this a FEMA failure?
The requesting that the people on the ground send in a request by e-mail is ridiculous and should be shown as being ridiculous…. some of the stuff that FEMA is being blamed for were decisions made by the State Homeland Security department not FEMA. i don’t have a problem with FEMA taking responsibility for their own actions, and I want them to, but not take the blame for other agencies shortfalls.
September 12th, 2005 at 4:25 pm
Quote: “Protein Wisdom is bashing one of the few institutions that worked well: the media.”
If you follow the Protein Wisdom threads and comments I think you will find that the bashing has been very specific. The media has been taken to task when its coverage is demonstrably sensationalist, wrong, incomplete, or biased.
In particular Protein Wisdom has fleshed out some of the specifics governing who controls the National Guard, what US military personnel can and cannot do with respect to law enforcement within the confines of the United States, and how long local agencies are expected to fend for themselves before federal relief agencies can ramp up and render assistance. Many of the issues raised by the media coverage of Katrina demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge of these issues.