Cronyism before qualifications = corruption

[sigma7]

The Washington Post reported on Friday that five of eight top FEMA officials had come to their jobs with virtually no experience in handling disasters. The agency's top three leaders, including Brown, had ties to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign or the White House advance operation.

You know, I can't even act surprised anymore. Obviously I was applying in all the wrong places.

Also, a call to arms for photobloggers from Andrew Sullivan (!).

'[O]n Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take pictures of the dead. In an e-mail explaining the decision, a FEMA spokeswoman wrote: "The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media."'

The press should ignore those requests, get boats themselves and show the world what has actually happened. (Hey, much of the media was ahead of FEMA during the worst of it. Why not again now?) That goes for any intrepid bloggers with camera-phones or anyone else who can slip through the censorship net. If necessary, faces can be blurred to protect the dignity of the dead. But it matters that we see the full consequences of government delinquency. That's what the press is for. Ignore FEMA. Photobloggers, here's an opportunity for important and necessary work.

Also NBC's Brian Williams on Wednesday: While we were attempting to take pictures of the National Guard (a unit from Oklahoma) taking up positions outside a Brooks Brothers on the edge of the Quarter, the sergeant ordered us to the other side of the boulevard. The short version is: there won't be any pictures of this particular group of Guard soldiers on our newscast tonight. Rules (or I suspect in this case an order on a whim) like those do not HELP the palpable feeling that this area is somehow separate from the United States.

Also also wik: a purported first-hand account of the relief efforts. Yeesh.

Unrelated but still relevant: Campbell Brown is my new hero.

Comments

[beeform]

"Photobloggers, here's an opportunity for important and necessary work."

Hmm. Not entirely sure I agree with that. America (and the world) KNOWS there are dead from this disaster. Do we *really* need images splashed over the internet to drive the point home?

It's hard enough (for me, at least) to see footage of living, suffering people...

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's not something I want/need to see, but I think it's something that someone needs to be able to see. Not just for the forensic possibilities, tracking down missing people and identifying them visually (which is a process that'll need as much data as it can get), but just the fact that in the absence of proof to the contrary we've been seeing spin from the disaster to shift/avoid responsibility, and that really bothers me. Not only in the simple fact of denying the facts of the disaster and the response but in the attempt to censor and suppress and intimidate in its aftermath.

I'm trying to be thoughtful and respectful of the dead, too, but I'm more worried about the living and the slow strangulation of the American democracy....

[beeform]

Okay, THAT makes more sense than "Ya'll! We NEED photographic proof that the government screwed up big time! America must see! Sneak in photograph what you can! FEMA regulations be damned!"

Are they not going to allow access to forensic-type people for identification purposes? And will the information not be made available in an "official" place to those searching for missing relatives?

I'm obviously not following this as closely as you are...

[cptn-oblivious.livejournal.com]

In the months that come, as things get better we will begin to forget about the horror of the tragedy. As the water gets pumped out and months from now as the city gets cleaned up, we will be bombarded by images of families being reunited, stories of the strength of human spirit. We will see and hear stories of rescuers and survivors who risked their lives to save total strangers. Gone will be the looters/scavengers/finders. Gone will be the bodies from the streets(I hope). Reports of the environmental disaster will be few and far between.

The leader of our country will be pointing to all of the good that came out of this tragedy. Then they will point to the continuing war in Iraq, and ask for patriotism and support. They will point to the rescuers and survivors and say we need you to keep it up. They will hope that you will have forgotten the horror of the tragedy. In their calls to put aside laying blame until after the victims are recovered they will hope that we will forget, THAT THEY BARE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS TRAGEDY.

No they didn't create the hurricane, but they also didn't have people ready to move in as soon as the storm passed. There were no plans for the worst. When people call for our leaders to own up to their responsibilities. They will say it wasn't so bad.

Where will the truth be? The evacuees/refugees will be spread across the country. The press has been denied access, and told not to take pictures. I doubt this is a plan, I still have that much faith in humanity, but evidence will be needed. Those responsible need to be held accountable. This must NEVER happen again. Holding accountable those in power will help prevent it from happening again.

Now holding them accountable doesn't mean placing blame. It means looking at what they did, and what they didn't do, and taking account.

Rather than making me take off my boots at the airport scanner when I'm headed home for leave, or trying to watch what I do on the internet. Maybe DHS should work on making sure our infrastructure is strong and ready for the disasters that will come.


If you live on north western Washington State take a close look at Mount Rainier, and pray it keeps sleeping.