So, as is my custom a few times each week, I cruised by Red State this morning and found this crock o'shite:
"Heckuva Job, Nancy", posted by Jeff Emanuel
The Post starts with this breathless lead:
42 people dead; communities iced in and without lifesaving power for heat and cooking; conditions worsening — and FEMA nowhere to be found.
Emanuel continues in that vein, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of New Acting FEMA Director Nancy Ward.
It is of course, all complete and utter horseshit...
First, it should be noted that Nancy Ward has been Acting Director for all of ten days at this point, and had been in the position less than a week when the ice storm hit the mid-west.
Second, apparently, Emanuel does not realize that FEMA has a very limited role unless and until the area is declared a Federal Disaster Area. The Ice Storm hit the Mid-West Tuesday and intensified Wednesday. The response from the Obama Administration:
President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky and Arkansas late Wednesday. By noon Thursday, 50 generators large enough to power hospitals or water treatment plants arrived at Fort Campbell for distribution.
Emanuel cited from a Yahoo news story, which in turn relied on quotes from an AP story. That story was updated 30 minutes ago, deleting all references to FEMA. That story was apparently all he read. This updated
CNN story tells quite a different tale:
Beshear praised the Obama administration's prompt reaction to the storm. Obama declared parts of the state a federal disaster area Wednesday evening.
"They really hit the ground running," he said. "They're working very hard to get all the equipment and supplies here that we need
Beshear is the Governor of Kentucky, and might just be in a better position to assess FEMA's response then the local officials quoted in the now updated Yahoo story.
Of course there is more to this than just the story itself. Emanuel and his companions at Red State continue to deride the need for spending on infrastructure. You know, infrastructure; like the nation's electrical grid. Sure would be a good thing if we had an electrical grid that could withstand these yearly icestorms eh? Of course, if we did that, people wouldn't lose power, and emergency situations like what we are seeing in the Mid-West would be minimized. But what would the Wingnuts at Red State have to whine about then? Don't know, but I'm sure they will think of something.