The Washington Post is reporting that "Tens of thousands of people spent a fifth day awaiting evacuation from this ruined city, as Bush administration officials blamed state and local authorities,for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management."
The failure of the Bush administration to ever take responsibility for anything that goes wrong is appalling. The fact that the Bush administration appointed GOP activist Mike Brown, who was fired from his last job as the head of a pony show because of complaints of mismanagement, to lead FEMA is an absolute outrage.
FEMA's inability to mobilize and go to the disaster area to establish command and control quickly is directly related with the loss of further life after the hurricane subsided. Furthmore, FEMA knew for days that the hurricane was coming. Yes, there were failures at many levels of government but, in a post 9/11 America, FEMA's response should have been nothing short of amazing.
The Post goes on to quote New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas and how he "acknowledged that the city was surprised by the number of refugees left behind, but he said FEMA should have been prepared to assist.
"Everybody shares the blame here," said Thomas. "But when you talk about the mightiest government in the world, that's a ludicrous and lame excuse. You're FEMA, and you're the big dog. And you weren't prepared either."
When will the White House stop shifting the blame?
The WaPo article can be found here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680_pf.html