# Bush Admin & FEMA start shifting blame to locals - Crass ass covering or justified? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065 "2005-09-04T17:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/241 "2005-09-13T21:53:42Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Maybe we can at least wait until we know how many people died before pronouncing judgement. > > Or not. Whatever floats your boat. And the difference between waiting and not waiting is…? What’s the practical difference? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/242 "2005-09-13T23:12:52Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > What’s the practical difference? That way [Laura Bush can get her licks in first:](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050913/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_laura_bush) > [@](#): > > Mrs. Bush said Tuesday that much more human good than bad has come from the disaster, despite what people see on TV. It’s a not-disaster disaster! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/243 "2005-09-13T23:24:42Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > “We’ve seen terrible, terrible things and we’ve seen unbelievably unselfish acts of giving as well by communities all across the United States and, of course, many more unselfish acts of giving than bad things,” she said in a speech Tuesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation. “Maybe the media hasn’t shown us that much, but we’ve read about it and we do know about it.” Or maybe the media made the effort to go places you didn’t? Or maybe you “read” all these things the same place you read how New Orleans [“dodged a bullet”.](http://www.wonkette.com/politics/chertoffs-reading-habits-123841.php) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/244 "2005-09-13T23:34:12Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > [This](http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf) makes interesting reading. From the Congressional Research Service dated yesterday:Maybe I’m misreading, but this does seem to put the ball in the administration’s court. Blanco did what she was expected to do procedurally, and whatever follow-through (or failure of same) appears to be on the federal level. This, of course, does not address whatever issues (bureaucratic, corruption, lack of foresight, etc.) that may have plagued the state and Blanco’s execution of duties in general leading up to Katrina, but it does seem to answer those who claim that her timeliness and/or failure to follow protocol were in the wrong. Procedurally, that was correct. In real world terms, once you’ve sent the magic letter, do you sit on your ass or do you behave in a proactive fashion, particularly since you’re supposed to have your own State Action Plan? Yes, the Federal response was flawed. The mechanism and degree of that will hopefully be determined such that it isn’t repeated. Beyond that, the Mayor and Governor screwed the pooch. They had buses at their disposal, could have gotten people out, and they failed to do so. It’s all well and good for me to ask county dispatch to strike a second alarm on the assignment, but I’m still obligated to fight the fire with my first alarm companies. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/245 "2005-09-13T23:55:06Z")
Related to the OP: [Conyers Releases Non-Partisan Congressional Research Service Report on Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Report Confirms that Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely Steps](http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53236) > [@](#): > > Pursuant to a September 7 request by Representative John Conyers to review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action in response to Hurricane Katrina, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report today about whether the Governor of Louisiana took the necessary and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the federal government. The report unequivocally concludes that she did. > > Congressman Conyers issued the following statement: > > “This report closes the book on the Bush Administration’s attempts to evade accountability by shifting the blame to the Governor of Louisiana for the Administration’s tragically sluggish response to Katrina. It confirms that **the Governor did everything she could to secure relief for the people of Louisiana** and the Bush Administration was caught napping at a critical time.” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/246 "2005-09-14T04:18:32Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Related to the OP: [Conyers Releases Non-Partisan Congressional Research Service Report on Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Report Confirms that Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely Steps](http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53236) [Here’s the PDF (2.7 Mb) of the report itself](http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/247 "2005-09-14T12:19:11Z")
Come now. We all know that the only truly valid report will be the one chaired by Dubya with Brown and Chertoff as the co-writers. Anything else is just a librul circle-jerk. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/248 "2005-09-14T12:39:53Z")
They actually had a FEMA official on NPR this morning defending the fact that FEMA refused to send medical supplies to emergency hospitals – EMERGENCY HOSPITALS, mind you – because the right forms weren’t filled out. The doctors had complained that FEMA refused to send them supplies because they didn’t send the forms in, BECAUSE THE HOSPITALS DIDN’T HAVE FAXES!!! “Those doctors are used to just snapping their fingers and getting whatever supplies they want,” said the official. "“But this is the federal government and we have to have our procedures followed.” Un-fucking-believable. I begin to see the extent of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/249 "2005-09-14T12:40:58Z")
The hospitals did have faxes of course. Couldn’t use them because their fax lines were down. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/250 "2005-09-14T12:56:10Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > And the difference between waiting and not waiting is…? What’s the practical difference? > > -Joe Do you really think there is no “practical difference” between discussing FEMAs performance before you know the death toll and after you know the death toll? Or are going to just judge them based on how good they looked? We all know they don’t look good, but before I crucify them, I want to know what harm came from their incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/251 "2005-09-14T18:53:29Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Do you really think there is no “practical difference” between discussing FEMAs performance before you know the death toll and after you know the death toll? Or are going to just judge them based on how good they looked? > > We all know they don’t look good, but before I crucify them, I want to know what harm came from their incompetence. Again, what’s the practical difference? If the death toll is 800 will that mean they get 800 Blame Units? Is there a scale where it’ll jump to 1.5BUs per death if it passes 1,000? The fuckup was huge and it resulted in deaths through bureaucratic wrangling. There were those whose mission in life was supposedly to make sure this didn’t happen. There were people who made their living (allegedly) because they had a job to make sure those screwups didn’t happen. Hospitals went without medicine. Does it matter whether the death toll at that hospital was 10 or 100? Memories are short, and there are too many people looking to take advantage of that. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/252 "2005-09-15T04:24:54Z")
Latest reports says that the death rate from the Cherbobyl Oopsy is not nearly as high as originally dreaded. From this we can derive that the reactor was better designed than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/253 "2005-09-15T12:56:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Latest reports says that the death rate from the Cherbobyl Oopsy is not nearly as high as originally dreaded. From this we can derive that the reactor was better designed than we thought. Well, really, it’s too early to judge. We can’t know anything until several half-lifes have passed, now can we? Let’s give it a couple hundred thousand years. Don’t want to rush to judgement until all the radiation and birth defects have quite worked their way out of the gene pool. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/254 "2005-09-15T13:40:25Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > They actually had a FEMA official on NPR this morning defending the fact that FEMA refused to send medical supplies to emergency hospitals – EMERGENCY HOSPITALS, mind you – because the right forms weren’t filled out. The doctors had complained that FEMA refused to send them supplies because they didn’t send the forms in, BECAUSE THE HOSPITALS DIDN’T HAVE FAXES!!! > > “Those doctors are used to just snapping their fingers and getting whatever supplies they want,” said the official. "“But this is the federal government and we have to have our procedures followed.” > > Un-fucking-believable. I begin to see the extent of the problem. Do you have a cite for this? I can’t find anything on Google news re: FEMA and fax machines. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/255 "2005-09-15T14:01:06Z")
And in the meantime, has anyone heard a single word of contrition or admission of failure from any of the state and local officials? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/256 "2005-09-15T14:14:11Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > And in the meantime, has anyone heard a single word of contrition or admission of failure from any of the state and local officials? Have we heard any word of contrition or admission of failure from any federal officials? We have now heard statements of accountability from federal, state and local officials, but I don’t know anyone who has expressed anything like what you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/257 "2005-09-15T14:50:46Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > And in the meantime, has anyone heard a single word of contrition or admission of failure from any of the state and local officials? well, last night I saw a news clip of the governor saying “the buck stops here”. odd that you hadn’t heard of it, I know you always want to accurately portray the opposition. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/258 "2005-09-15T14:57:50Z")
[cite](http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/14/katrina.gov.blanco/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/259 "2005-09-15T16:35:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Governor Blanco said Wednesday that she took responsibility for failures and missteps in the immediate response to the hurricane and pledged a united effort to rebuild areas ravaged by the storm, adding, “at the state level, we must take a careful look at what went wrong and make sure it never happens again.” [Cite](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/nationalspecial/15brown.html?ei=5090&en=5a22b2aef8b6b7f0&ex=1284436800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/260 "2005-09-15T20:11:16Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > [Cite](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/nationalspecial/15brown.html?ei=5090&en=5a22b2aef8b6b7f0&ex=1284436800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print) Irrelevent even so. What’s your logic here, **Sam**? Bush has no need to apologize until everyone else does? Isn’t he supposed to take a leadership role? I know - culpability starts at the bottom and works its way up, is that it? In that case, I’m sure Nagin can just wait until every last no-show bus driver has apologized. Does that make sense to you? Keep flailing, though. It’s entertaining. -Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065.md?page=14)