September 6, 2005
The good news from New Orleans.
Here. Ordinary people, I assume, will eagerly consume the good news. Are you absorbed in political finger-pointing? I'm not — and I was last week when I felt that people were suffering and dying because of bad decisions. That's not to say I don't think there should be studies of what went wrong. I do. But I'm interested in things that are oriented to solving problems, and I'm very mistrustful of people who are providing analysis as a means to advance one political interest or another.
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14 comments:
Ann - I appreciate your point.
However, offering positive criticism (even if it's calling for hearings into "what went wrong") is actually consistent with "solving problems". Moreover, if it were not for "political finger-pointing", it is entirely probable that we would not be seeing the little progress that is being made in New Orleans today...
It's true that the fear of getting pointed at is an incentive. I'm mostly expressing my own lack of interest in this sort of thing now and my sense that ordinary people will feel the same.
The hearings will just be partisan grandstanding. The battle lines have already been drawn, and the facts already tossed out.
It is unfortunate.
Brando: Further proof I'm just passing along Republican talking points!
Finding e.Coli is good news?
Sloan, if you keep saying the facts are irrelevant then whatever facts point to fault with people you support will be irrelevant. That's a handy strategy.
Last week, it was crucial to point fingers, shout, scream, and get attention. That fingerpointing went in all directions, as needed. I've been dismayed that the looting footage, looped and looped over days, painted the picture of New Orleans as a lawless, barbaric anarchic town, but those pictures got some response. Now, with the most critical evacuations done, the worst of the crime shut down, and the levee plugged (yay!), the cycle naturally changes to more subtle reporting, and more differentiated stories. That's as it should be.
And there will be hearings. They should result in changes to policies, accountability on all levels of government and in city, state and federal agencies, and a shaping of the coherant story, facts and all. That's later. There are still people, and animals, to save, water to drain, disease to fight, economic adaptations to be made.
I'm waiting for permission to enter the city and deal with my home. I'll be happy to report what news I observe for myself, good and bad, once I do.
More good news (not necessarily directly from New Orleans).
And the whole family is at Fenway Park tonight for the Red Sox game, under clear blue skies and low 70s temperatures. Nice way to get one's mind off of last week!
Gene: I'm not saying I'm sorry. I don't regret it at all. When people were actually dying, it was important to create pressure and let them know it was unacceptable.
Thank you, Anne. There's nothing to concede here, no apology to make.
Larry: Funny, but I actually do think politicians have staff members who monitor the blogs a bit and try to get out in front of the criticism. Why shouldn't they? But whether it has any effect or not, I wanted to say what I said.
Larry,
Here's tonight's update on some FEMA actions:
" 9:28 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region – and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims."
And sadly, ulike your quote, the following isn't satire:
" 7:02 P.M. - ATLANTA (AP): Hundreds of firefighters have been sitting in Atlanta, playing cards and taking FEMA history classes, instead of doing what they came to do: help hurricane victims.
The volunteers traveled south and west from around the country, leaving their homes in places like Washington state, Pennsylvania and Michigan. They came after FEMA put out a call for two-thousand firefighters to help with community service.
Firefighters arrived, as told, with lifesaving equipment and sleeping bags.
But one of the waiting volunteers says it might have been better if they'd brought paper and cell phones. That's because some of the emergency responders are being told they will go to South Carolina, to do paperwork.
Others don't know where they'll be put in action.
The FEMA director in charge of firefighters says he's trying to get the volunteers deployed ASAP, but wants to make sure they go to the right place.
One firefighter points to nightly reports of hurricane victims asking how they were forgotten. He says, "we didn't forget, we're stuck in Atlanta drinking beer." "
I don't think critically examining the performance of all actors, including FEMA, is solely a means to advance political goals. I think these are facts, and what they add up to needs to be examined, coldly and without kneejerk accusations from the left or the right.
Meanwhile, this crisis is nowhere near ended, nor even under control, and I think it's fair to demand that Brown step aside or be replaced, and someone else be given his responsibilities. He's not up to the job, and there are yet many problems to be solved.
Larry, the firefighters quoted seem to be unhappy with sitting and drinking beer in Atlanta. They have their equipment, and are ready to work. I'll take their word over the Brown's.
I'm probably more inclined to ask for accountability now, because I'm invested in a way that others may not be. The list of "we don't knows" you offer, while mostly reasonable, is more tentative than I believe we can afford to be, or need to be. It doesn't take days to get 1000 people from Atlanta to New Orleans. These guys got to Atlanta quickly, apparently on their own, with their equipment in hand. I disagree that these are mere anecdotes, but instead, a building list of characteristic failures. I'd much rather see us look to people with military or business experience, perhaps non-profit agency experience, than folks who are friends to whatever administration is in power, as seems to be the case in the top FEMA positions right now. We do have bases for comparison, in past FEMA actions, in other types of mobilizations (military and recovery).
As for judging Brown, that AP story on his memo to Chertoff likely had to come from within, from a leak. That tells us something, doesn't it? We ought not to keep him in charge if he's floundering. It's unfair to the people who need competent leadership to do their jobs, and to the people they are trained to help.
And thanks for your kind words, Larry; they are helpful. While I'm following pretty much every news source and many blogs, this blog is my main refuge, because it is driven by generally thoughtful and reasoned discourse. I appreciate that we can disagree while still expressing concern and respect.
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