Math is hard.

How Bush Blew It

Longish Newsweek article - interesting. A (supposed) behind-the-scenes look at how Bush and his aids did and did not handle the crisis.

President Bush knew the storm and its consequences had been bad; but he didn't quite realize how bad.

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

Yep. That's my question. How could the POTUS know less than the average citizen?

Foreign papers have also been commenting on Bush's apparent lack of any human feeling, and his inability to even fake caring. Among other things they've been commenting on.

I have a friend who's simply refusing to talk about it or think about it, at all, because it's too upsetting. As opposed to me - I can't stop thinking about it, and I'm sure that a number of people wish I'd shut up about it.

Here is a thing.

Yep. That's my question. How could the POTUS know less than the average citizen?

He seemingly knew less than I did, and I am news avoidant. I don't know if I watched a full hour of coverage over the course of that week. I don't get the daily papers any more. That's scary. And what's scarier, is that given that he doesn't keep up with the news himself, that his staff didn't make it more obvious to him on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Gus, I'm not getting the wiki. I'm getting an ad for webhosting. Do you have the URL right?

Also, here is a thing for you: [link]

I think the biggest single cause of fuckup was simply that the Bush Adminstration redirected FEMA after 9/11 so that it was not in charge of an emergency situation, but there to serve local administrators basically doing what they asked.

Which is totally fucked up.

You want disaster experts organizing a mass of resources rather than having them try to round up buses for evacuation (for two days) after the local authorities know to ask for them.

Everybody expected the federal government to lead the relief efforts (as they had always done), whereas they had been completely restructured to assist local authorities.

But, of course, local authorities especially in a state as poor as Louisiana, especially after being hit by a massive hurricane, were not in a position to lead the relief effort. Nor were they disaster experts.

So FEMA was restructured along the Bush Admin's anti-Federalist, anti-Big Government philosophies and consequently lots and lots of dead people.

Holy shit. Joseph Heller could've have written this...

*****

The heart-rending pictures broadcast from the Gulf Coast drew offers of every possible kind of help. But FEMA found itself accused repeatedly of putting bureaucratic niceties ahead of getting aid to those who desperately needed it.

Hundreds of firefighters, who responded to a nationwide call for help in the disaster, were held by the federal agency in Atlanta for days of training on community relations and sexual harassment before being sent on to the devastated area. The delay, some volunteers complained, meant lives were being lost in New Orleans.

"On the news every night you hear, 'How come everybody forgot us?' " said Joseph Manning, a firefighter from Washington, Pa., told The Dallas Morning News. "We didn't forget. We're stuck in Atlanta drinking beer."

Ms. Rule, the FEMA spokeswoman, said there was no urgency for the firefighters to arrive because they were primarily going to do community relations work, not rescue.

William D. Vines, a former mayor of Fort Smith, Ark., helped deliver food and water to areas hit by the hurricane. But he said FEMA halted two trailer trucks carrying thousands of bottles of water to Camp Beauregard, near Alexandria, La., a staging area for the distribution of supplies.

"FEMA would not let the trucks unload," Mr. Vines said in an interview. "The drivers were stuck for several days on the side of the road about 10 miles from Camp Beauregard. FEMA said we had to have a 'tasker number.' What in the world is a tasker number? I have no idea. It's just paperwork, and it's ridiculous."

Hec, I think you're right.

Edited to add, "Community relations"?? WTF? You don't send in firefighters to do community relations! God. Just when I think I can't get more pissed off. And my doctor wonders why my blood pressure is high.

I think the biggest single cause of fuckup was simply that the Bush Adminstration redirected FEMA after 9/11 so that it was not in charge of an emergency situation, but there to serve local administrators basically doing what they asked.

That, and that the qualifications for FEMA and Homeland jobs seem to place patronage above experience and ability. Look at the current regional directors of FEMA and their qualifications: [link]