Clinton's director of FEMA, James Lee Witt, was hired by by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to coordinate disaster response. According to this report from
The Hill, it didn't take long for him to
throw his weight around.
Blanco introduced Witt to President Bush on Monday, according to a source who has spoken with Witt. Bush promised Witt whatever support he needed and said that Mike Brown, FEMA's embattled director, is his man in charge.
Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, called Witt to give him his home phone number and reiterate Bush's support.
According to the source, Witt told Brown, "Mike, you're going to do your job, and I'm going to make you do your job. And I'm going to show you how to do your job."
If anything produces a desperately longed-for sigh of relief, it's the arrival of actual adults who know how to get things done. We live in an era where appointees for positions that impact national security get the same measure of scrutiny as ambassadors to Tuvali (no offense meant to Tuvalans).
But political patronage is not the only culprit. The movement to impose term limits at every level of government has not produced a society of citizen legislators, but one of legislative amateurs. The fact that this concept has taken hold with so many is evidence of the devaluation of experience, competance, and intelligence in our culture. It is that devaluation that allows the acceptance of bumblers like Brown. It is the same mentality that boosts candidates based on whether or not you would like to have a beer with them, as opposed to how intelligent they are. In fact, intelligence is viewed as a liability that represents elitism and prevents the voter from relating to the candidate.
It is good to see that Blanco, at least, is wise enough to value proven skillfullness. Witt should be able to make some progress, especially if he continues to tutor Brown and BushCo so effectively.
And just for good measure, for the first 45 to 60 days, Witt is working on a pro-bono basis for the state of Louisiana.