One day after former FEMA Director Michael Brown was subjected to what can only be described as a beating by Congress' Finance Committee, that same committee gave Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco a free pass.No puncturing remarks, no pointed questions, no personal insults like Brown was subjected to -- although they did offer Ms. Blanco an "opportunity" to respond Brown's accusations that state and local authorities were slow to act in the face of the storm.
''We are looking forward, not backward," she replied.
In the PR game, our technical term for a response like that is "a sack of monkey crap."
Why are Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin getting away with this?
Smells like...politics.
Some of the questions the committee COULD have asked, but didn't:
-- Why did Blanco and Nagin leave 100,000 people stranded in the city?
-- Why was the sheriff of neighboring town Gretna allowed to block a bridge with shotgun-toting deputies, refusing to allow city residents to leave?
-- Why was Blanco slow in activating the National Guard to respond to the disaster and why did she impede the National Guard and the Red Cross from entering the city to provide assistance to the stranded?
-- Why did Blanco refuse to cooperate with federal agencies, including FEMA, in coordinating assistance?
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., -- who subjected Brown to some of the most brutal and personal remarks during Tuesday's hearing -- said on Wednesday that while Brown made mistakes, so did others.
"He can't be the scapegoat. First responders are local and state, and the governor and mayor did a pathetic job of preparing their people for this horrific storm," Shays said on NBC's "Today" show."
Too bad he didn't say something like that to Blanco and ask her why she failed in her responsibilities.
1 comment:
It's technical term.
And technically, it's monkey crap. The distinction is important.
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