Wednesday, September 7, 2005
FEMA under George W. Bush continues to outrage
Posted by John Spragens on Wed, Sep 7, 2005 at 11:28 AM
No time to credit all the blogs that pointed me to the following links, but here goes:
Outrage #1. As Katrina's devastation unfolded, FEMA brought over 1,000 ready-to-work firefighters to Atlanta for public relations training. Their mission: to hand out fliers. Their first assignment: to accompany President Bush as he toured disaster areas. Their response: to take off their FEMA t-shirts in protest.
Outrage #2. Bush's FEMA is refusing to allow reporters to photograph the thousands of dead bodies that will be recovered in the wake of the Katrina disaster—much like Bush's Pentagon refused to allow reporters to photograph flag-draped caskets coming home from Iraq.
Outrage #3. Bush's top man at FEMA is not only totally inexperienced with disaster relief—he was in charge of an arabian horse association—but so were the second and third in command appointed by Bush. They were political cronies who had helped him get elected.
Meanwhile, the administration evades, stonewalls and backpedals while DC journalists—some of whom saw the gulf coast desperation firsthand—ask increasingly difficult questions (C-SPAN has press conference videos) and politicians of both parties condemn the United States government's massive failure to protect its citizens in a time of crisis. It all turns the stomach.
UPDATE: Here is a timeline of events, with sources, that clearly deliniates the federal government's systematic failure to deal with Katrina.
Outrage #1. As Katrina's devastation unfolded, FEMA brought over 1,000 ready-to-work firefighters to Atlanta for public relations training. Their mission: to hand out fliers. Their first assignment: to accompany President Bush as he toured disaster areas. Their response: to take off their FEMA t-shirts in protest.
Outrage #2. Bush's FEMA is refusing to allow reporters to photograph the thousands of dead bodies that will be recovered in the wake of the Katrina disaster—much like Bush's Pentagon refused to allow reporters to photograph flag-draped caskets coming home from Iraq.
Outrage #3. Bush's top man at FEMA is not only totally inexperienced with disaster relief—he was in charge of an arabian horse association—but so were the second and third in command appointed by Bush. They were political cronies who had helped him get elected.
Meanwhile, the administration evades, stonewalls and backpedals while DC journalists—some of whom saw the gulf coast desperation firsthand—ask increasingly difficult questions (C-SPAN has press conference videos) and politicians of both parties condemn the United States government's massive failure to protect its citizens in a time of crisis. It all turns the stomach.
UPDATE: Here is a timeline of events, with sources, that clearly deliniates the federal government's systematic failure to deal with Katrina.
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