Author: Andrew Sullivan

The New York Times weighs in. Brown seemed concerned about p.r. as what he called a “near catastrophic event” occurred:

Brown’s memo told employees that among their duties, they would be expected to “convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public.”

He did that part of the job brilliantly as well, didn’t he? Please send me any other editorials from around the country calling for Brown’s resignation. I’ll link to as many as I can. And keep the “Fire Brown” blog links coming too.

THE SALVATION ARMY: I’ve gotten many emails from gay readers asking how I can send money to a group that discriminates openly against homosexuals. I can only say that I don’t think the victims of this disaster care too much about the employment policies of the people helping them. This is not a time for political correctness, and while I may disagree with some of the SA’s policies, they also do miraculous, good work helping the truly needy. I trust them to do that, and believe that their faith helps them do amazing work. At this time, God bless them; and anyone else trying to help.

If you haven’t donated, please do. I gave to the Salvation Army. But there are plenty others. Glenn Reynolds, to his enormous credit, helped organize the blog drive to help. TruthLaidBear has pitched in. Let’s roll.

“Who knows … if you can persuade the president to finally hold somebody accountable for gross incompetence, maybe then you can lead a campaign that results in Mr. Bush actually vetoing a spending bill. Ok, probably asking for miracles here. Nevermind.”

Trent Lott blasts FEMA incompetence. This really isn’t or shouldn’t be a pro-Bush, anti-Bush, left or right issue. We had a catastrophe and the government was incompetent in response – at all levels. Given the threat still over us since 9/11, it’s simply responsible to ensure we get accountability and reform at the federal level especially before the next disaster. Would you want Michael Brown to be FEMA head if al Qaeda attacked a major city with chemical weapons? This isn’t about politics. It’s about a functional government in wartime. More blogosphere calls for firing Brown here, here, and here.

More support here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Again, this covers the spectrum from left to right, except for the most shameless of the Bush partisans. And again: few of these people are exempting the local authorities for dereliction of duty either. But the feds dropped the ball. Maybe this time – for the first time – this administration will actually show accountability. Update: more Brown resignation calls here and here.

This is becoming a farce. Can anyone put him in touch with reality?

Rich Lowry has more devastating details on Brown’s incompetence.

A round-up of some of the most head-smacking stories of incompetence.

“3:32 P.M. [Monday] Ben Morris, Slidell mayor: We are still hampered by some of the most stupid, idiotic regulations by FEMA. They have turned away generators, we’ve heard that they’ve gone around seizing equipment from our contractors. If they do so, they’d better be armed because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them deprive our citizens. I’m pissed off, and tired of this horseshit.” – from WWL TV.

But the feds were helpless. If you’re not outraged yet, read this story. Money quote: “We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn’t go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai.” But this is the Bush administration, buddy. They still haven’t secured the road to the Baghdad airport, remember? (Hat tip: Alex Whalen.)