It is funny to see a lot of these congressmen and women shuffling for position to either capitalize or distance themselves from this tragedy.

this is absurd and disturbing.

It's so wonderful that everyone places the blame on Brown. It removes the real problems:

1.) Officers weren't mobilized the day before, many reported going home and were not asked to come in the next day. And we've seen how corrupt the police were - watch the video of the innocent guy getting beaten. The story of the British guy who said officers asked some females to show them something before offering help.
2.) The mayor sent these poor people to 'h*ll'. That is what that place was, he had NO plan for their safety and no plan to get them out, where were the city's buses?
3.) The people overseeing money for the levees were being investigated before this, they were supposedly misdirecting funds.
4.) The levees were not built to withstand a cat 4 or 5, everyone knew this for MANY MANY years, long before Bush took office. Apparently the construction went to the lowest bidder, as usual, and subpar materials might have been a slight factor - just don't forget the givernment was warned it would not stand a cat 4 or 5 - even during the Clinton admin.
5.) The governor did not ask the federal government properly for help (this is pathetic, but apparently true, she should have known how to do this though).
6.) FEMA's director is of questionable value, as this article points out. I don't doubt it, but this is just a small piece of the puzzle. I agree these were hand-picked emails to make him look bad - go democrats - since you can't win people's votes maybe you win their apathy!
7.) Bush's appointments are questionable, thats where he gets some legitimate blame.

This is my opinion for what went wrong.

Funny how you claim FEMA isn't supposed to be a first responder. But when that huge hurricane hit Florida prior to the last presidential election, FEMA was there days before it hit. Sounds to me like our governments leaders are only interested in protecting us when they have something to gain from it. Unfortunately they had nothing to gain by coming to the aid of the people in the last couple big hurricanes.

Not "everyone" as you say, places the blame on Brown. What we have seen however is Browns blatant irresponsible behavior clearly outlined in his messages. Sure, the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana are clearly at blame as well, just as the Bush administration for not responding more quickly. Brown was part of the problem just as all of FEMA and Homeland Security were. Bottom line here is that everyone dropped the ball regardless of their politics which you seem to imply had something to do with this. Now, as for "The governor did not ask the federal government 'properly' for help" I am wondering how one properly says that they need help. There is a time during emergencies such as the one with Katrina, an emergency of phenominal tragedy when asking for help 'properly'doesn't apply. What if a 911 emergency operator received a call of questionble origin later to learn that the call was not bogus, but real? Telling her supervisor that the individual calling didn't make a proper request for emergency services would no doubt land that operator a suspension at the very least and possibly termination of employment. With the exception of the point you raise in #5 of your post with regard to "properly" asking for help, your post is dead on and well written.

I am only writing what I have read and was reported. I agree, as I said before, this does sound a bit pathetic to me, but as a governor she should have known what was needed to be done. Just keep in mind though, this is one piece in a huge puzzle of things.

I claim no such thing, its a fact that FEMA is not a first responder. To suggest that our government, at this time, only cares for Republicans is ludicrious at best. There were many people responsible here for the problems, I just get sick and tired of Brown being the 'singled-out' scapegoat for everything that happened.

"just as the Bush administration for not responding more quickly"
The federal government was ready and waiting however they could not enter the state till the governor gave consent. The state has priority over it's own lands and the federal government must abide by that, unless you'd like to give the feds supremem power?

Also, mind you that FEMA IS NO LONGER #1.
HOME LAND SECURITY gets most of there budget plus there own. So therefore, HOMELAND SECURITY in a way gets the blame. Not that they are here to do that kind of work, but they have severly cut into FEMA'S budget since they were born.

This is a case of cherry picked emails meant to tar and feather a person.

The gross incompetence was the local leadership. People who continually expect a federal governemnt to be the be all end all to disasters such as this need look no further than Texas in how to handle situations such as this.

People helping people. Looking inwards towards your community (neighbors, friends) rather than lining up at Uncle Sams door asking what to do next.

Personally, the real issue isnt FEMA. FEMA is no where near the problem. The problem is and will continue to be the expectations that a govt is the answer to all problems a person faces.

In the end, what happened here is a huge block of people put FAR too much trust in a govt (both their state and city), got nailed then turn around and blamed a federal dept to shield the blame from themselves for political reasons.

Brown: "Thanks for the update. Any specific I need to do or tweak?"

Answer: No, actually...there isnt anything Brown could have done or tweaked. It was a freaking mess from start to finish because of a terrible plan set forth by local govt which is what FEMA relies on to organize a response.

For 4 days, Brown sat on an e-mail offering, I quote, "a 42 ft trailer full of beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, etc. They are wanting to take them where they can be used but need direction."

On Page 3 of the e-mails you'll see how FEMA COO Bob Fenton says on August 31 they requested 450 water and 450 ice per day. And on August 28 they ordered 255 water and 255 ice per day to start. Yet, the FEMA Logistics Response Center did not meet any of those requirements and the response simply was "I don't have a good excuse."

This was on THURSDAY, 3 full days after the Hurricane hit. This was mismanaged from the start and FEMA screwed up big time.

surely you're not that retarded

As a LEADER, you still need to show some leadership. At that point, he seems to be throwing his hands up and giving up. When you are in charge, if someone is telling you how dire the situation is, you ask "how can I helpe make it better" and make some phone calls! It is your responsibility to stay on the parties to get things done, and to use your weight as the FEDERAL DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT to make sure the wheels are in motion and things get done. Sometimes you have to blow through the red tape and deal with it later.

I hear a lot about "local governments did not ask for assistance" and that just baffles my mind. As a leader, I get the things done that need to get done in our "emergencies" and then justify later when people ask questions.

I guarantee no one would be complaining about the local governments not asking for help if trucks of ice and water were coming in droves and helping people out. The fact of the matter is that FEMA failed miserably due to completely inept management. In your job, wherever it may be, you do not hire someone with zero experience in ANY position.

I think the FEMA director is far to important to practice "cronyism" and choose someone who has no experience in the subject matter and was a horse judge in his previous job. And then the endorsement by Bush would have been political suicide with guns coming from the right if it were a democrat in office. Let's at least be honest and admit both sides are vicious.

What is the point of your question/comment? It certainly has nothing to do with the subject matter.

Makes me feel confident in a crisis of Bird Flu or terrorism having such a competent government. Spending more money must be the answer - that's what the talking heads always say - and after all they are the experts. I guess I can take my foil hat off now, no threat there.

> A congressional committee is currently
> investigating the government's handling of
> Katrina and its aftermath. Brown defended his
> actions in testimony that claimed FEMA "is not
> a first responder," saying local and state
> officials should have down more.

"DOWN more"?

You're welcome.

So what's it gonna take to get Bush to be accountable for something, anything that has happened during his tenure? Cripes, we even got the secret jail thread going now too, Iraq (well, okay, I have some special KoolAid for you if you still think it's legitimate what happened over there), Kattyrina, there's just no end to it. Monkey face always comes up lookin' good.

Oh say can you see, something stinks in DC?

"Monkey face"

Intelligent...care to offer up anything of value?

BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY COLON CANCER!

People like to blame the federal government for everything, but that's because they don't understand how the government is structured in this country. If you want some kind of administration that really does have complete power and thus, accountability, try a communist dictator.

I'm really tired of all the Bush-bashing smacktards who don't even know how limited the powers are that the executive branch can exercise. Learn about how our nation works before you go around crying about leaders. I was at a presentation by William Kristol the other day (fantastic one), and a group of rude, immature super left-wing students kept shouting things like "fascist!" The left-wingers are really getting a poor reputation when it comes to respect and knowledge.

When the party that controls the Executive branch also controls the Legislative branch, and soon the Judicial branch, that is a great deal of power they have to yield.

Bush may have Rove pulling his strings, but he's still very much at the center of our government, and he is the one responsible for the future of the United States - that is why he was voted as president. I'm sure you've heard the slogan: with great power comes great responsibility. Well, when people screw up, you better believe there is accountability.

Nobody is blaming the federal government for "everything." People are blaming the federal government for a federal disaster that a federal agency should have prevented, or at least helped deal with.

Why is it that any complaint about the government (from the left or right) turns into "YOU BLAME BUSH FOR EVERYTHING!!" on the right? Questioning your government is actually one of the most patriotic things to do - Thomas Jefferson said that I believe.

The American public does have VALID concerns: how did Brown get this job he was so unqualified for? Why did Bush claim he was doing a great job? Why is Chertoff still paying Brown? Why was FEMA so unprepared and disorganized? These are all questions that need to be answered.

The Executive Branch wasn't so limited that it couldn't make up WMD's in Iraq and phony purchases of Yellowcake...so it could sell an unjustified war to the world. They should deal with internal natural disasters with half that zeal.

Yea, but pro-Bush or anti-Bush, "Monkey face" is still funny :) Let's not forget that things can always be worse.

Many of us on the left got pretty sick and tired of the bashing from the right during the Clinton administration as well. During this administration the right wingers are getting as poor a reputation as they did during the Clinton administration. Poor reputations seem to go to Libby, Rove and Delay and Brown at this time. Personally I believe that the buck stops with the president. Bush could have taken decisive action or at the very least seen to it that decisive action was taken and he did not do that.

I think this is all pretty hilarious really. Not the disaster, obviously - I feel genuinely bad for those people and did what I could do to help from where I am but....I mean this whole situation we have here with the hubalaloo over what this guy says in his email. I'm not into conspiracy theories and all this; but it seems that whenever Bush's rep comes too close to the fire someone elses indiscretions come to light and BOOM! They are completely to blame and made to look horrible, so, they must resign. It's sad. Whatever happened to accountability?
I feel sorta bad for this guy....he said a few inappropriate things, but I think he was trying to mull over a horrible situation, in his way. I guess this isn't a great idea for someone who's heading an agency which is respobsible for emergency aid, especially while there is a federal emergency, but, oh well. He said some stuff to people he figured wouldn't regard them in a horrible way. He got personal when he thought it was somewhat alright to, and now he's going to/and will forever pay for it. Now these personal emails are under public view....to be viewed by all the self-proclaimed zealots and people who have never, ever made mistakes or said/done the wrong in their entire lives, not even while under pressure.

In any case - the effect is complete, and Bush is no longer in the limelight.

Personally, he is a part of the problem; but the REAL problem stems from higher up. Why did these levees break? Why were they all not at maximum strength, DESPITE the cost? Who is/was responsible for these decisions? She was a bad hurricane, but I think we all agree that the levees breaking are what caused the REAL disaster.
These are the questions that will snuff out the real people to blame.

Feel BAD?!?!?! They live in a ****ING flood plane! They CHOSe to live there, screw them and Floridians for living in the path of a huricane zone. We don't take pity on people when they don't have the sense to get out of harms way.

You're an asshol3. And karma is a b****, I hope that when a natural disaster rips through your community and tears apart your life that you don't expect any pity whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I hope you come up on someone who says EXACTLY what you did. "They CHOSe to live there, screw them and Floridians for living in the path of a huricane zone. We don't take pity on people when they don't have the sense to get out of harms way."
Sometimes I think you say the things you do to provoke people, because all of your posts are obnoxious and arrogant.

By your typically stellar logic, no one would be able to live anywhere. I'm starting to think you're just another 12 year old troll.

And your post is inflammatory and your language is uncalled for. Your language is what provokes people with the language you use in your very first sentence. The other individual may be provoking people, but yours only adds fuel to the fire. I'd suggest that you clean up your own act before you suggest that others do. Set an example, in other words. Your language alone makes me wish your post would be pulled.

Ok now I will agree some of the stuff may have been unappropriate for the times, but it was days into the emergency and I dont care who you are something like that will wear on you. I dont know much beyond these emails so if there is more information I'm missing please dont hold it against me but from these emails he was taking care of personal business with the dog stuff days later between a friend. When you work on such a high alert for so long I'm sure your gonna start making sarcastic comments and such (the attire, quiting, etc.) While it may have been innappropriate I do not believe that many other people would have handled differently. Also I just finished studying NIMS from FEMA and from my understanding there there to coordinate local, state, and federal departments, not to personally respond or solve problems.

Your point is correct - a tough situation can wear on you after a while and unprofessional comments may happen.

But look at the dates of the e-mails. This stuff was going on on the first and second day of the disaster - not a week or 10 days in. This was before FEMA even made its way down to New Orleans and started holding press conferences saying everything was fine.

Look at the second page of the e-mail PDF regarding an offer to help hospitals and provide oxygen. It wasn't even touched by Brown until 4 days later.

And, grinding or not, it seems that taxpayers should be able to expect a bit more professionalism out of someone they are paying $148,000 per year. And, still paying, I might add, to "investigate" the failures during Katrina. Gee...all he has to do is read his own emails. Living here in Oklahoma, from whence he came, we are aware that even his previous employers considered him a laughingstock. They could not imagine him even being considered to head FEMA. No, it was another Bush "cronyism" appointment. Check out the history on his "contacts." We're just glad he's off the Oklahoma taxpayer salary.

Good now all you Bush nay sayers can kiss my ASS!! This was all Fema's fault AND the Governor of LA from DAY 1 !!!!!!!!!!

It's just unfortunate that Mr. Bush can't seem to avoid embarassing himself. I was a supporter, and will always hold respect for the office, but can hardly stand to watch The President on TV anymore.

Bush nomnated the head of FEMA.. So Bush is part of the paper trail... he is still as incompetent as ever. For him It's all about Jobs for his pals. Not for the service of the country.

These are new times then ever before and we're approaching new untraveled territory. We're in the middle of a war and he also has to deal with disasters right here, yes things are gonna get a bit hectic and people may drop the ball. That does not mean Bush is responsible for someone else dropping the ball who otherwise before hand showed little sign of incompetence. If you've ever been in any type of emergency scenerio you'd understand the minuet details that have to all work together flawlessly for no blame to get thrown around.

Bush is an idiot, and an embarrassment to our proud country.

The whole world knows this, and it didn't start nor end with Katrina.

It makes you look bad to stick up for someone who's screwed us so much. Your dollar buys 60% of what it did since he's come to office. How about 3 more years??? Maybe the $$$$ will drop to 1/3rd it's value under Clinton.

How can you blame Bush for problems like this. His hands are tied (as they should be, unless you like dictators) by Congress so problems that arise are not necessarily anyone's fault but the fact our system needs to be somewhat reorganized to be ALOT more efficient.

Its called a vote moron. I didn't say I supported him, I said the nay sayers it wasn't his fault. You can't blame EVERYTHING in this country in Bush. This country is run by Congress, not 1 man. And the majority ruled in favor of putting him in office, so evidently YOU are the one in the minority, dweeb.

That's exactly my point. People that have no clue complain about what a HUGE job it is to be president. I am not saying Bush did nothing wrong, but people need to quit b****ing over every little thing Bush does, that's why he has a staff of people..

"The whole world knows this"

I don't. Me and the other 39% or so that took those approval polls (I dont remeber the exact numbers gimmie a break) don't think he's an idiot. Avoid making statements about "everybody knows" if you want people to value your opinion.

"Your dollar buys 60% of what it did since he's come to office."

Ummm...remember 9/11? Katrina? Rita? Wilma? Ivan? How much money would you have spent on these issues? The $$$ value has little to do with the President regardless...

You might remember that the head of FEMA was a "Bush Appointee." He was not chosen by Congress. Congress makes enough of a mess....this one belongs to the President. And, let's not forget the immortal words of our President..."You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie!"

Being the President of the United States makes you accountable for what your underlings do - that's just the way things work. Bush is the man at the top and the buck stops with him. So people complaining about his performance is indeed warranted.

Plus, as it's been said numerous times, Bush appointed Brown to the FEMA position. So, yes, he should be held accountable in this regard.

so you know exactly how government works? you know everything behind the decisions that bush made? Just because your in a higher level of management doesn't mean it's your fault something happened below you. While the eyes turn to you to fix it, you are not the one responsible. Simple organization of pretty much any corporation or government set up.

I've been trying to understand, but failing miserably. How can you say that it is not Bush's fault for appointing a man who lied on his resume regarding previous disaster management experience, and was let go from his previous job of judging Arabian horses in shows? In any organization, and the government is an organization, when massive failures occur heads will roll from the top. Your logic that you cannot be responsible for people below you is completely illogical, given that Bush would be the ultimate boss of the FEMA director and he himself chose the man for the job.

39% approval is hardly a number to brag about my friend. 39% is a travesty to our nation, and lets not forget that Bush only got 51% of the votes in the first place, and technically lost the popular vote during his first victory. The notion that some right-wingers have that everyone in America has given Bush a free pass to do as he feels, and that all Americans share the same ultra-conservative values as they do astounds me.

Of course to be fair, many of the left-wing liberals feel the same way. The thing that baffles me the most are the die-hard bush supporters that do not have the capability to admit when he makes mistakes. President Clinton was crucified for a lot less while he was in office, especially considering he has not been the only president to fool around in office. And he was impeached, although not booted from office!

Given the new approval numbers of 35%, the Katrina bungling, the Iraq war (wrong or right, 2000 soldier deaths is just ugly), the Rove-Libby-Plame-Wilson scandal, and the Harriet Miers fiasco, it seems that impeachment rumblings would be heard by now.

Both sides play the horrible game, and now congress has decided it is time to mandate the gov't begin leasing space in ANWR to sometime in the next ten years get oil out of one of the last pristine wildlife areas in our country that will only reduce domestic dependency on foreign oil by an estimated 4% for a limited period of time.

This is the same line of arguement that the heads of corrupt companies are using...ummm....remember Enron? The executives don't feel they are responsible because they "didn't know" or that did they "understand the situation". Though it is true upper management may not know about all the specific details of people working for them, the reason they ARE upper management (they get the corner office, big salaries, and great perks) is because they know they should hire people compitent to do each job. There has to be accountability. Also keep in mind that this isn't some peon job that was being filed here. It's not some obscure position that the president filed. The post is for head of FEMA - to handle disasters in this country. Tax payers have poured even more money into this because of 9/11 to prepare the nation in the event of a disaster (natural or manmade). In this case the nation knew in advance about this pending disaster yet the authorities where we have invested tax money did nothing to prepare. How will FEMA react when, god forbid, another unexpected terrorist attack happens? What's the point of having them?

If you read all my posts here you'll see that I specifically said "all I have to go on is these emails" I know nothing more about what happened regarding FEMA then these emails. I never said that Bush was right in his appointing this guy, however if you look through even just this article's comments you notice that anything and everything that goes wrong in the U.S. gets blamed on Bush. He's one man and cannot control the country on his own, he has to use other people who have there own will which in turn use others and so on so forth. So this was a mistake and a terrible one at that, but last I checked you can't see the future either. FEMA was created for this scenerio but this is the first time they really had to get there act together. If the rest of FEMA had been structured properly it shouldnt have mattered if the director dropped the ball there are other paths to go by.

I'm getting real tired of the corporate whine that nobody at the top is responsible. If you "run" the company, or for that matter, the country, you ARE responsible. That's the job! If not, then we don't need to pay CEO's millions of dollars and we certainly don't need to give anyone the power we give the President.

The American voter needs to take on a new attitude; No more excuses! All I hear are excuses from this administration on everything including the war, the economy, emergency response, prescription drugs, indictments, bin Laden, gas prices/oil profits, bad government appointments, hurricanes, etc. Day after day, one excuse after another followed by more and more mistakes.

Even Republicans who still support Bush are having a hard time finding their positive daily talking points. If the job is too tough for the guy, maybe he shouldn't be in the position.

Yes, a war that we were probably lied into. That's another argument, and it doesn't provide for an excuse for failure here on the homefront. You seem to have a complete lack of understanding of accountability, and you sound a bit young and naive. I can understand how living through the last 4-5 years of this poor excuse of a presidency can skew one's understanding of accountability and taking responsibility for one's screw ups. It's not that Brown showed signs of incompetence beforehand, it's that he was not qualified to hold the position in the first place, and neither are many of the other top FEMA staff. Since the head of this agency is appointed by the President, if that person is ill-qualified for the job, then it is the Presidents fault. The President and the Homeland Security Secretary should have been on top of the situation regardless, making sure everthing was going as well as possible. The world watched the fiasco on the news as it unfolded, yet the administration seemed oblivous for days. Moving FEMA into Homeland Security may have also have been a problem. It needs to be a cabinet level department like it used to be.

Again read everything... the federal government had to wait for the governor's consent, As for FEMA yes they screwed up but they are not first responders so they should not be depended on as such. you call me naive yet half the people dont even have an understanding of the constitution which you must have to evaluate this situation. So Bush has made mistakes, no more so then any other president and you probably complain about them all. Maybe you should be president would you be happy then? You expect Bush to please everyone? You critique a government you are not involved with, and you have no idea the details of the situation. Study the constitution, study the current Supreme Court decisions and you will see a small fraction of what the government has to leap over just to get involved.

bottom line know your stuff before you downplay others opinions