Here’s an emailer taking issue with me and many others:
The criticism against FEMA and Brown are misplaced and, actually, quite silly. FEMA is not and never was intended to be a first responder. It has only a couple of thousand employees and most are paper pushers. FEMA’s main job is not to prevent disasters in the making but rather to come in after a disaster and coordinate relief efforts (i.e., dispense pork, er, excuse me, “relief funds” to various groups) and make bureaucratic reports to Congress. That’s the way Congress set it up. An ex-head of FEMA was on TV this morning and said he used to regularly tell members of Congress that if D.C. ever got in trouble, they would be saved by the local fire or police officers, not FEMA. This is another instance of Congress trying to pass the buck, when, in fact, things worked exactly the way they set them up.
As to Brown, much has been made of his lack of “experience.” This is bunk. Almost all appointment jobs (esp. below the cabinet level) are bureaucratic jobs that are filled by politically-connected people who are usually pretty bright and ambitious. Sometime they work out, and sometimes not, but very few of them have directly relevant experience, and I defy anyone to show me a connection between “experience” and how they actually perform. Many of our best Presidents (Lincoln, Truman) and Cabinet officers (Bobby Kennedy (a purely political appointment if ever I saw one), Paul Nitze (an investment banker by trade) had much in the way of directly relevant experience when they took their gov’t jobs, but did just fine. Besides, given what FEMA was set up to do, a lawyer is actually perfect for the job. Again, this is just a diversion.
I’ve no doubt that there may in fact be some real criticism to be leveled against the Bush administration. But I haven’t seen it yet.
I guess I should just quote the email again. FEMA’s job is to “come in after a disaster and coordinate relief efforts.” Does anyone in their right mind think that has been done competently? If at all?
The Dish 