FEMA in New Orleans

[unixronin]

I won't bother listing all the incidents here.  You've read about them all.  Water shipments turned back by FEMA.  Emergency communication lines cut by FEMA.  The Coast Guard told by FEMA not to unload diesel fuel for Jefferson Parish officials to keep emergency services running in their parish.  Stranded elderly, sick and disabled surviors promised pickups by FEMA, but no-one ever came.  Red Cross and Salvation Army disaster-relief terms ordered by FEMA not to enter the city.  Amtrak offering to run trains in to evacuate people, and FEMA telling them"No."  The Forest Service offering water bombers to fight fires raging on the New Orleans waterfront, and FEMA saying "No."  FEMA's apparent complete ignorance of the actuality of what was happening in New Orleans.

I'll say it clearly, and I'll say it once:

FEMA is not part of the solution in New Orleans.

FEMA is part of the PROBLEM.

Their bumbling incompetence and their bureaucratic obstruction is doing more harm than good, and they don't appear to be accomplishing a damned thing that's actually useful.  The question is, is it just thet they're being completely incompetent -- or are they being ordered to be obstructive and ineffectual, as a scapegoat?

This is the most appalling travesty of responsible government I have ever seen.  The Boy Scouts of America could probably do a better job of rescuing Katrina survivors than FEMA is.

Oh, but wait.  Is rescuing survivors actually any part of FEMA's mandate?  They're not the Federal Emergency RELIEF Agency.  They're the Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT Agency.  You all know what "managing" something means in government-speak.  "Manage" is one of those verbs sorta like "spin".

"Hi.  I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you."

Comments

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

the initial 9/11 report suggested that had the various agencies had better lines of communication things would have gone better.

So they rolled up all the agencies into a huge bureaucratic tar ball to "fix" the problem.

Anyone one who has ever had to deal with committees and groups knows that the bigger the institution the slower it works and the more bogged down it becomes.

Yeah, we "fixed" it alright.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

As jilara said elsewhere, "[when you put] a bunch of incompetent, bureaucratic oafs all under one roof[,] all you get is a REALLY BIG group of incompetent, bureaucratic oafs."

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, "fixed" in the veterinary sense.

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

ohhh golf clap

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Cat 1: "Are you fixed?"
Cat 2: "....I didn't think I was broken."

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnteresting observation.