Another question I'm hoping someone can provide more information on.
To assist with the recovery and disposition of the victims of Katrina, FEMA has hired Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Management, a Houston-based company which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Service Corporation International (SCI), another Houston-based corporation, which bills itself as the "dominant leader in the North American death care industry."
SCI is not only closely associated with the president (which is not surprising since the company is based in Houston), they were also at the center of what is probably the best-known scandal during Bush's six years as governor of Texas: the so-called 'funeralgate' case.
What's more, Joe Allbaugh -- President Bush's Chief of Staff in Texas and later his first FEMA Director -- was the central figure in that scandal, or at least the guy whose job it was to take care of the mess SCI had gotten into.
The last we heard, you'll remember, now-lobbyist Allbaugh was in Lousiana "helping coordinate the private-sector response to the storm."
One Tennessee mortician, Dan Buckner, who was on stand-by as a volunteer as part of the Department of Homeland Security's DMORT program told a local paper that morticians from around the country were available to do this work as volunteers. (DMORT works in conjunction with the National Funeral Directors Association).
"There's no telling how many dollars they'll spend on that contract," he told the paper.
Once SCI got the contract, the NFDA sent out a notification to their members which read in part ...
The company that FEMA has chosen to outsource the recovery work in Louisiana is Kenyon, a worldwide disaster management company, wholly owned subsidiary of Service Corporation International. Kenyon asked us to share the names and phone numbers of NFDA members and funeral directors who are interested in a paid three-week employment situation. If you have already volunteered with NFDA, we'd like to let you know about this paid option to help.
When questioned about the matter, a Nenyon spokesman said his company had had a contract with FEMA since 1997. And this list of catastrophes they've done work on does include several US passenger jet crashes from the late 1990s, i.e., before the beginning of the second Bush administration.
Still, companies based in Houston and/or companies with close ties to Joe Allbaugh do seem to be snapping up a whole lotta contracts. So perhaps someone out there can look into this a bit further.
--Josh Marshall
CNN: "Rather than fight a lawsuit by CNN, the federal government abandoned its effort Saturday to prevent the media from reporting on the recovery of the dead in New Orleans."
--Josh Marshall
Fat times in Crony-ville!
From Reuters: "Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
--Josh Marshall
Don't talk about the boss ...
A state agency lawyer quoted in a nationally-circulated news story as questioning Karl Rove's eligibility to vote in Kerr County is out of a job and feeling twice burned.Elizabeth Reyes said she was fired Tuesday as an attorney in the elections division of the Texas secretary of state's office because she appeared in a Washington Post story Saturday about the presidential adviser.
The article, which was reprinted in papers across the country, quoted Reyes as saying Rove's ownership of Kerr County property may not qualify him to vote there.
San Antonio Express-News.
--Josh Marshall
Seattle Times ...
John Pennington, the official in charge of federal disaster response in the Northwest, was a four-term Republican state representative who ran a mom-and-pop coffee company in Cowlitz County when then-Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn helped him get his federal post.Before he was appointed regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Pennington got a degree from a correspondence school that government investigators later described as a "diploma mill."
Pennington, 38, says he worked for his degree and he is qualified for the FEMA job.
Read the rest.
--Josh Marshall
CNN files lawsuit against government agencies seeking to bar press coverage of victim retrieval process.
--Josh Marshall
Mark Schmitt's got it just right about Michael Brown's padded resume. It's Bernie Kerik's phony nanny problem all over again.
--Josh Marshall
From a bad novel? Actually from the WSJ: "Ten U.S. Army recruiters are offering volunteer help for Katrina evacuees at Houston's Astrodome. But the recruiters, struggling to keep enlistment up during Iraq war, are also available with options for the jobless. "Our intent is to approach the evacuees at the right time for them,'' says Army spokesman Douglas Smith."
--Josh Marshall
Here's one question we're trying to get a handle on for our timeline. TPM Research Fellow Austin Bonner takes it from here ...
Reports have pointed to the number body bags in New Orleans as a possible indication of the expected death toll. But it's unclear from news reports if the number 25,000 means that FEMA estimated their need and then requested that many or there were simply 25,000 body bags available in the area.
On Thursday, September 8, the Times-Picayune reported that Bob Johannessen, a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, told them officials have "25,000 body bags on hand", saying "We don't know what to expect." FEMA spokesman Ricardo Zuniga has used the same language. Fox News, Reuters, and other outlets also said the body bags were "on hand." AP described the bags as "in the state."
But San Antonio Express-News characterizes Johannessen's statement differently, reporting that he " said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has shipped 25,000 body bags to Louisiana."
And other outlets like Investors Business Daily and the Chicago Tribune described FEMA as "ordering" the body bags.
So, is there a background source out there telling reporters that FEMA estimated the death toll and had 25,000 body bags sent in or is this a misunderstanding?
--Josh Marshall
Here is a question a number of readers have asked; and it's a good one.
Given his role in the Homeland Security chain of command, Michael Brown must have had a reasonably high security clearance for his job. But to get even the most basic security clearance requires a very extensive background check, in which FBI investigators go back through your resume, talk to past employers, look up old addresses, etc.
Yet, at least Brown's public resume appears to contain a number of innaccuracies of a substantial nature. What's more, at least two of his former employers appear to have given him very poor marks. (I base this on the assumption that the horse folks who fired him probably didn't have a lot good to say and the comments from another former employer, Stephen Jones, here).
There's some similar sort of background check when you get your senate confirmation. So, did all these fibs come out in that background check? And if so, why didn't they raise any red flags, let alone scuttle his nomination?
(ed.note: When I say 'resume' above, I don't mean the FBI works literally from a resume. But they get all your background info from you, including former places of residence, employment, etc.)
--Josh Marshall
Here's another wire story piecing together anecdotal evidence that the death may be much lower than feared.
--Josh Marshall
Bob Kaiser thinks they should look into it ...
Berkeley, Calif.: The Post published an incorrect report that the La. Governor had not declared a state of emergency about a week after she had. A White House source was cited. Why didn't you check this? Do you know why the White House provided false info? Were they that clueless or that dishonest? I think The Post owes us some answers about its own work and the White House on this.Robert G. Kaiser: This seems a fair point to me. I'm sitting here answering questions so can't immediately find out what our plans are, but I hope they include revisiting this matter for our readers' benefit.
From an online Q&A this morning at the Post website.
--Josh Marshall
Ivo Daalder is right. Michael Brown's non-dismissal dismissal is a day late and a dollar short. Actually, we're two weeks into this, so it's two weeks late. The responsibility for putting a nincompoop in charge of federal disaster relief doesn't rest with the nincompoop. It goes right to the top -- to the person who put him there.
--Josh Marshall
Pew Poll: "Bush's overall job approval rating has slipped to 40% and his disapproval rating has climbed to 52%, among the highest for his presidency. Uncharacteristically, the president's ratings have slipped the most among his core constituents Republicans and conservatives."
--Josh Marshall
Some possibly encouraging news.
Over the last couple days I'd noticed that news accounts were reporting finding relatively (and obviously that's 'relatively' heavily underlined) few bodies in New Orleans. There was the sobering discovery of 30 bodies at the nursing home reported yesterday. But with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 dead you'd expect higher numbers even at this early stage.
And this morning there's this off the AP wire: "Authorities said Friday that their first systematic sweep of the city found far fewer bodies than expected, suggesting that Hurricane Katrina's death toll may not be the catastrophic 10,000 feared."
Obviously, the numbers are certain to be horrific even if they're far less than 10,000 dead. And there's a whole swath of less-reported-on outlying areas which will yield up their own dead. But our collective eyes tend to glaze over once we start talking about numbers of dead in the thousands. So let's note at least this possible sign that the loss of life may not be quite as extensive as we've feared.
--Josh Marshall
We've all heard about studies FEMA commissioned last year to test out and put together a comprehensive disaster response plan for New Orleans. Here are some key excerpts (just posted at the TPM Document Collection) from the contracts FEMA put out for those studies, which make clear that officials at FEMA had a very clear understanding of what would happen if a Katrina-like storm hit and that at least tens of thousands of people would not be able to evacuate in time.
Late Update: Also, see this new piece out from the AP's Ron Fournier. The Hurricane Pam simulation predicted 61,290 dead and the necessity for federal officials to intervened regardless of go-ahead from the locals.
--Josh Marshall
Become part of our timeline project!
We've just updated our TPM Hurricane Katrina Timeline, working mainly from a thick stack of emails we received from readers, then confirmed and posted. You can see where we are at that link above.
Now, we need your assistance with our second round of updating. And let me try to be clear about just what we're looking for.
We're putting a heavy emphasis on chronology. We're trying to compile a record of just when particular events happened -- as in specific times on given days. So for instance you'll see under August 26, our final item is Gov. Blanco's declaration of a state of emergency; under August 27, we have Gov. Barbour declaration of a state of emergency in his state. But just when did those declarations happen on each day. As nearly as the time can be ascertained we want to know. So if you have details, confirmed by links to press or government websites, let us know and we'll update.
Other examples: when were the holes ripped in the Superdome on August 29th? When on Thursday September 1st did Mayor Nagin issue his "desperate SOS"?
Go down on our list and see events we don't have times for and see if you can find them. If we can't find the exact time, then the time it was first reported is a good second best.
And of course, more facts. We've got a decent list together now. But on the critical days from Sunday through Wednesday lots of government orders went out, lots of people were put in motion, press conferences were held. Look over our list, find other key points we haven't included and let us know about them -- as always, we're looking for specific facts, with links to back up the fact asserted.
--Josh Marshall
AP: "President Bush's job approval was at 39 percent, the first time it has dipped below 40 percent since AP-Ipsos began measuring public approval of Bush in December 2003."
--Josh Marshall
Allbaugh client Shaw Group bags two $100 million Katrina rebuilding and recovery contracts.
--Josh Marshall
Another TPM Reader, JW, responds to <$NoAd$> the Times article ...
I read the Times article before getting to TPM this morning and as I read the section you quote and the rest of the piece what became obvious to me is that the staff work for the executives was abysmal on all sides. First of all the Feds, and I mean FEMA especially, should have had a check list of the things that must be in place: proclamations made, signatures, documents, forms etc. Second, the governor should have had staff people telling her what was needed and making certain that everything was prepared and in a folder if not weeks and months in advance certainly in the days before the storm hit. And if the state people did not have everything in place the FEMA people should have had senior experienced staff people knowledgeable in the machinery who could speak to their counterparts and to the Governor and the President or at least to Andrew Card and make sure it all happened. For that matter why isn't there a kit or a plastic weather tight box that all of this stuff can be placed in and sent by Fedex to the governor with explicit instructions at the onset of this kind of thing. Or even better a kind of two week out of the box course that all governors and presidents (and staff ) take at the beginning of an administration that covers what to do in case of emergency.I mean this stuff should never have to be made up on the spot as if no one had ever seen an emergency before. In fact, as I think of it wasn't this the rationale put forth for the Homeland Security Department in the first place? I was never enamored of the plan even though it was a Democratic idea and now I am less enthusiastic but I don't think there is any putting that genie back in the bottle.
--Josh Marshall
Joe Allbaugh on why he made Michael Brown Deputy Director of FEMA. From today's Oklahoman ...
Allbaugh said Brown was his first hire after being tabbed to head the emergency agency."I hired him solely on his ability as a strong ethics attorney," he said.
Later that year, Brown played a major role in the agency's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Allbaugh said Brown headed up operations in the Washington office while he was in New York.
The deputy director's slot was vacant during that time.
"I decided he was the right person to become the deputy of the agency," Allbaugh said. "He was the logical person."
A strong ethics attorney who'd just gotten canned from his last job because of ethical <$NoAd$> improprieties.
--Josh Marshall
I'd really like to hear more about today's article in the Times about troop delays in NOLA from people who have knowledge of the relevant law and/or history. I discussed the piece here.
It's worth noting the article covers the specific issue of why there were delays sending in more troops. It doesn't deal with the FEMA lapses. But the more I hear from readers who have some knowledge of the relevant law, the more I get the impression that the White House was making aid contingent on the governor declaring that a portion of her state was facing a domestic insurrection and turning it over to the authority of the president.
But like I said, I'd like to know more. The Times article left me with too little context or explanation from outside sources as to whether the claims of the administration sources were reasonably based in the law.
As long as we're on the subject, here's a note I just got from TPM Reader EJ on the Times article ...
Hi, I'm regular reader. I'm writing regarding your 9/9/2005 1:05 AM post Re the story in the Times. A couple of things struck me reading this story. One is that it seems to present a narrative of kathleen Blanco resisting federal authority (and therefore timely aid) but if you close read the text it actually says that Federal officials were certain that she WOULD resist federal control (and that taking this control might have political consequences). The only quote from Blanco (and almost the only information sourced to Blanco)attests that she thought she had requested all possible aid. The article's lede suggests negotiations between state and federal authorities, but unless i'm mistaken, it reads more like the feds were negotiating with themselves.I'm not at all certain that I'm reading this correctly, and I am concerned. If Blanco did put up unnecessary impediments to aid then she certainly shares more of the blame than I had thought. But, if this is true it seems like it would have become the centerpiece of the adminstration's blame deflecting strategy and as such would have gotten more play than the completely false (and easily disproven) "no state of emergency declared" tactic.
The Times clearly got some good access for that piece. But they need to follow up because their narrative was confusing and raised more questions than it answered.
--Josh Marshall
They're a bit late to the party. But the Post adds some valuable details on the perilously high hack quotient at today's FEMA. One fun snippet: "[E}xperts inside and out of government said a 'brain drain' of experienced disaster hands throughout the agency, hastened in part by the appointment of leaders without backgrounds in emergency management, has weakened the agency's ability to respond to natural disasters."
--Josh Marshall
Here's one you'll want to read. Juliette Kayyem unearths and examines the grueling 42 minute confirmation hearing then-chairman Joe Lieberman put our guy Michael Brown through when he was appointed Deputy Director of FEMA in 2002.
--Josh Marshall
The Times has a piece tomorrow about the back and forth between Blanco and the White House around the time of the Katrina's landfall. A look at the sourcing suggests it comes mainly, though not exclusively, from administration sources from DOJ, DOD, DHS and the White House. Despite that, it really doesn't put things in a particularly good light.
I'm still not completely clear from reading the article precisely what the ins-and-outs were of how or why the president would have needed to invoke the Insurrection Act (see the article). I got the sense from the article that by the time lawlessness really started breaking out, the White House wanted to run the whole show or basically not get involved.
Whether that's true or not, the whole process seemed to amount to a lot of not-particularly-urgent brainstorming about how federal law and state control over the Guard would interact, how the Governor would react, what the politics would be -- basically a lot of thumb-twiddling by mid-level appointees while the whole situation spun out of control. And I don't see how you could read the piece and not think: why weren't any of these questions hashed out in advance?
Assuming the key points in the story are accurate, you can sorta see how one development led to another, and so forth. But the big picture just seems like these guys didn't have their act together.
Which, when you think about it, is pretty much what it seemed like in real time.
And one other point. A short way into the piece there's this graf ...
The debate began after officials realized that Hurricane Katrina had exposed a critical flaw in the national disaster response plans created after the Sept. 11 attacks. According to the administration's senior domestic security officials, the plan failed to recognize that local police, fire and medical personnel might be incapacitated.
That's quite a flaw when you consider that most of the really bad terrorist scenarios would almost by definition knock out local first responders. A dirty bomb? A small nuclear device? A bioweapons attack? Several hundred first responders were killed on 9/11. And the only reason New York City's police and fire departments remained functional is that, for all its horror, the 9/11 attacks were highly localized in one section of downtown Manhattan.
We've heard for four years how we're in a war on terror, how we live in a new world where the nexus of fanaticism and technology can inflict unimaginable horrors on us in our very cities. And they never figured anything could happen bad enough that it might knock the cops and fire departments off the feet for a day or so?
--Josh Marshall
Time finds what it really, really charitably calls 'discrepancies' in FEMA Chief Michael Brown's resume. Like when he served as "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight" in Edmond, Okla.? Okay, he was an intern (title=administrative assistant) there while he was in college. Or about his position as "Outstanding Political Science Professor [at] Central State University." The school says he never taught there. He's been a director at the Oklahoma Christian Home since 1983. Only no one there's ever heard of him.
You can't make this stuff up. Or, I guess, maybe that's not the best line in this case.
--Josh Marshall
The chick governor excuse. From tomorrow's Times ...
Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?" asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.
More here.
--Josh Marshall
I'm told tomorrow's Congress Daily says Tom DeLay has now acknowledged he met voluntarily last month with Travis County DA Ronnie Earle about the TRMPAC case.
--Josh Marshall
TPM Media LLC (yes, we actually have a fancy name) is looking for an ad rep to sell ad space at Talking Points Memo and TPMCafe. If you're interested, send an email inquiry to our comments email address. And put the words 'Ad Rep' in the subject line.
--Josh Marshall
A few things Democrats should stand for and stand up for now.
An independent commission to investigate the preparations for and response to hurricane Katrina at all levels of government. Anything else is just an elaborate cover-up.
An independent, time-limited, publicly-chartered corporation to oversee the reconstruction of the Katrina-devastated regions. Secrecy is an invitation to cronyism and public corruption. Only openness and transparency can prevent the theft and waste of public money on a massive scale.
We've spent the first half of this decade awash in a bath of ideological zeal and public corruption. Democrats say they're for reform, so be for reform. Competent, professional management; hiring and contracting on the basis of expertise and value; openness to public scrutiny at all levels.
We can't afford another CPA.
--Josh Marshall
The 9/11 chairs on what Katrina means ...
"There was nobody in charge," observed Kean, who said the Bush administration should now require states to establish clear chains of command for disaster situations in exchange for federal security dollars."There have got to be clear lines of authority because if there isn't somebody in charge, it costs lives. It cost a lot of lives in New Orleans," he added.
Kean said the Department of Homeland Security, a sprawling bureaucracy set up after the 2001 attacks, failed to produce two mandated risk assessments to U.S. transportation and infrastructure including levees such as the ones that failed after Katrina, swamping New Orleans.
"One report was due April 1. The other was due in early summer. Neither report has been done," he said. Homeland Security officials were not immediately available to comment.
Kean and Hamilton both said communications problems occurred between New Orleans emergency crews because of congressional failure to give first-responders nationwide their own segment of the U.S. broadcasting band.
"It is a glaring error four years after 9/11. Still exists. Not resolved. There are bills pending in Congress but they're far from enactment," Hamilton said.
Read <$NoAd$> the rest.
--Josh Marshall
This just seems amazingly misguided. And I don't understand why more is not being made of it.
Fully $50 billion of those recovery and reconstruction funds passed by Congress today are going to FEMA. FEMA is going to administer those funds. That is just friggin' crazy.
Even if FEMA were still a model government agency, as it was by most accounts in the 1990s, this would still be a really, really bad decision. As the title says, FEMA is an emergency management agency, not a reconstruction agency. It doesn't have the organizational structure or competence to run the economy of a significant chunk of the United States for the foreseeable future, which is what this amounts to.
In the ten "Principles of Reconstruction" he posted yesterday at TPMCafe, Reed Hundt had these as #6 and #7 ...
6. Don't confuse reconstruction with emergency relief. Whatever reforms are necessary at DHS, it is clear that DHS should have nothing to do with reconstruction because its mission is to protect the rest of America from the next calamities and to provide emergency relief when necessary.7. Don't build a permanent reconstruction bureaucracy. Every reconstruction agency or authority should be managed by real managers, not political appointees, and should go out of business when the work is done.
Both of these are just right. And principle six applies to FEMA every bit as much as it does to DHS.
And all that of course would all apply if FEMA were a well-run agency. But obviously, it's not. It's currently run by a crew of political hacks. The agency itself -- if its recent performance is any example -- is in deep disarray. It's become thoroughly politicized. And there are already very credible claims that it has used its disaster relief funds to advance narrowly political agendas. And then add on top of that what we've seen this administration do with the contracting mess in Iraq. Contracting cronyism defines this administration. And we're giving $50 billion to one of its most cronyfied outposts.
This is a fiscal disaster waiting to happen, a truly terrible idea.
--Josh Marshall
We've been following these reports of a growing number of restrictions on the press down in the disaster zone. And one of the reports that got this ball rolling was this one from yesterday from Bob Brigham, in which he wrote: "We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they’re TV trucks around."
I talked to Bob a few minutes ago. And he said that there seemed to be a sea change in the treatment of reporters trying to get access to the city from yesterday to today. Today he reported that he and his colleagues were able to get through without any problem.
Something seems to have changed. And I would not be surprised if Brian Williams speaking out yesterday had something to do with it.
I'd be curious to know what may have happened behind the scenes over the last thirty-six hours. And I suspect it wasn't nothing.
--Josh Marshall
The White House sought and received a provision in the new Katrina disaster relief supplemental "that would extend from $15,000 to $250,000 the purchasing limit for an individual transaction for federal employees with government-issued credit cards
--Josh Marshall
From a reporter looking into the press restrictions story ...
i've followed your postings about alleged censorship re katrina coverage ... however, other than the williams post & yesterday's FEMA "order" re dead photos, i can't find other instances of officials impeding reporters as they cover aftermath .... i just checked with NBC, CNN and Fox News, and they all say they haven't heard anything about authorities interfering with reporters' work .... have you any new evidence? i'm interested in writing about this topic, if i can find enough evidence that authorities may have attempted to curb journalists ....
We're both looking for more info. If you have it, let us know.
--Josh Marshall
AP: "A grand jury has indicted a political action committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a Texas business group in connection with 2002 legislative campaign contributions."
--Josh Marshall
I guess it's pretty much just piling on at this point. But FEMA Director Michael D. Brown turns out to be -- hard to believe -- an even bigger hack than we thought. According to this article (sub.req.), he basically gave up the practice of law fifteen years or so before he got the job as General Counsel of FEMA, despite saying on his bio that he'd practiced for twenty years.
(ed.note: This is an edited version of the original post.)
--Josh Marshall
More on the firefighters FEMA had down in Atlanta getting trained to hand out fliers.
--Josh Marshall
Way to go Rudy.
Giuliani endorses Charlie Winburn, Cincinnati mayoral candidate who says only born-again Christians should be elected to public office.
(ed.note: Thanks to TPM Reader JB.)
--Josh Marshall
A Request.
We've already gotten a stack of submissions and additions for our timeline project. So please, keep them coming.
But I have another request.
As we discussed last night, there are now clear signs of an administration attempt to invoke a press blackout on what is happening within the disaster zone.
With thousands of bodies under the water in New Orleans, I will not be so myopic as to say that this is the story to focus on. In fact, though, it's close. Because if the attempt succeeds the public will lose the ability to know the facts about what happened in this tragic episode -- the facts about what happened, how it happened, why it happened. As I said last night, having failed to ameliorate the tragedy as it occurred, the administration now seems dead-set on sanitizing and concealing the details of what transpired.
So, if you see press reports of bans on press access of any kind, please send them in to us. Second, if you're a reporter on the scene -- or anyone on the scene who has relevant information, for that matter -- and you have more details you can share about what's happening, please send them in. Your anonymity will be assured.
--Josh Marshall
The Shame: Congress opts for GOP-controlled Katrina investigation, calls for independent investigation rejected.
--Josh Marshall
Give to worthy charities, like for instance, my reelection campaign.
From the Dallas Morning News ...
Gov. Rick Perry, in hurricane relief tours around the state, in news releases and on his official state Web site, has urged Texans to contribute to three groups: the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the OneStar Foundation.The last of those is a volunteer-coordinating effort founded by Mr. Perry. His prominent promotion of his own foundation has prompted some to question whether the governor is trying to benefit politically from the outpouring of sympathy and good works in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"One thing about politicians, you can never overestimate their shamelessness," said Fred Lewis, director of Campaigns for People, a group that favors greater disclosure of political donations and limits on the influence of large donors.
Mr. Perry created OneStar as a nonprofit charitable organization in January 2004 to coordinate faith-based initiatives and promote volunteerism. Its chief executive is Susan Weddington, who left the state Republican Party chairmanship to run the organization.
What a guy <$NoAd$> ...
(ed.note: Thanks to TPM Reader DK for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
At first the evidence was scattered and anecdotal. But now it's pretty clear that a key aim of the Bush administration's takeover of the NOLA situation is to cut off press access to report the story.
First, there were the FEMA orders barring members of the press from photographing anything to do with the recovery of the bodies of the dead.
Perhaps there could be guidelines about photographs which in any way clearly identified the deceased. No one wants to get first confirmation of the death of a loved one by seeing their body on the nightly news. But a blanket ban serves only to prevent the public from knowing what really happened last week. And the right of FEMA or any branch of the federal government for that matter to issue such a ban on American soil seems highly dubious to me. It's one thing with military casualties: the military operates under its own legal code and not under normal civilian rules. But this is happening on American soil. This isn't a war zone. Nor is it any longer a situation where police or National Guard troops are in the midst of retaking control from mobs or looters. This is a recovery from a natural disaster.
Now comes this post from Brian Williams, which suggests a general effort to bar reporters from access to many of the key points in the city.
Take a moment to note what's happening here: these are the marks of repressive government, which mixes inefficiency with authoritarianism. The crew that couldn't get key aid on the scene in time last week is coming in in force now. And one of the key missions appears to be cutting off public information about what's happening in the city.
This is a domestic, natural disaster. Absent specific cases where members of the press would interfere or get in the way of some particular clean up operation, or perhaps demolition work, there is simply no reason why credentialed members of the press should not be able to cover everything that is happening in that city.
Think about it.
--Josh Marshall
WARNING: Do Not Read the Following Post If You Are Now Or Are About to Consume a Beverage. This <$NoAd$> Post Reveals High-Level BS, Which May Not Be Appropriate For Some Readers Prone to Spit-takes. Proceed With Caution ...
Allbaugh flew to the Gulf Coast last week. His spokeswoman, Patti Giglio, said he went to coordinate private-sector relief, but did not give specifics.“He is putting his shoulder to the wheel to mobilize the private sector, getting stuff in, getting what needs to be done done,” she said, adding that he is not there to help his clients secure government contracts. “The first thing he says when he sits down with a client is, ‘Don’t hire me if you’re looking for a government contract.’”
This really is what the country needs. More no-nonsense, public-spirited lobbyists who will go into the disaster zones and make the trains run on time.
Read the rest of the article just out from The Hill.
--Josh Marshall
For all that went wrong the last couple weeks down on the Gulf Coast, there's still at least one thing to be grateful for: Bernard Kerik could have been DHS Secretary instead of Michael Chertoff. And as poor a performance as Chertoff may have put in, I doubt he has too many mob cronies and he's clearly got some managerial experience. And, heck, we don't even have to get into Judith Regan, which is more than you can say for Kerik.
But now it seems they've brought Kerik out of mothballs to float some new Bush talking points. Heck, maybe they'll make him head of FEMA. I hear that job's opening up. And for all I know maybe he went into a public corruption 12 Step Program after last fall. So who knows? Maybe he can keep his nose clean this time.
Anyway, TPM Reader JU tells me that Bernie was on Keith Olbermann last night and floated this line.
They knew five days, six days in advance there was a category 5 storm. In a post-9/11 world, did they have protocols to evacuate? Was there a mandatory evacuation call? Did they have buses lined up? Did they have food and water lined up? These are all things that crisis managers had this day and age have to have. And I think there may be a question whether that was done or not.
That's great. They knew five <$NoAd$>or six days in advance that it was going to be a Cat 5 storm? Kerik must have an astrologer who hooks him up with the really sweet info since the National Hurricane Center said that Katrina was a Cat 2 moving toward a Cat 3 storm only two days before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast.
Do we have to endure this goof again? Can Rudy hire him back and put him deep undercover?
--Josh Marshall
A collaborative project.
I had hoped to get this posted earlier today. But better late than never, I guess. Here's a bare-bones Katrina timeline we've just posted, with links to key events and developments over the last two weeks.
What we're going to do over the coming days is build the timeline out, collaboratively, with our readers. Take a look at the timeline. There are many key events that still aren't listed.
Identify the key events, as many crucial details possible and a link or links to very the key facts. Send them to us at the email address at the top of the timeline. Our crack research team will verify them and add them to the timeline. If you see errors or additions that should be made, let us know that too.
We hope to start updating this evening.
--Josh Marshall
Another Bush-defending talking point (Bush pleading with Nagin to begin the evacuation) bites the dust ...
Brit Hume did his best; but it didn't work out.
--Josh Marshall
Let the crony contracts <$NoAd$> bonanza begin!
From the front page of Baton Rouge-based The Shaw Group website ...
Hurricane Recovery Projects - Apply Here!Subcontractors/Suppliers & SBA Apply Here!
Personnel Applicants Apply Here!
The Shaw Group will assist FEMA and other governmental agencies in recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Subcontractors and craftsmen, please click here to apply for available positions: Hurricane Recovery Projects.
Frankly, if you're looking to nail down some good contracts, I'd definitely try to get into the Shaw Group pipeline, as their site suggests, since they've bought the services of our friend Joe Allbaugh.
Late Update: Everybody gets a taste? Jim Bernhard, CEO of the Shaw Group is chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
--Josh Marshall
From the White House website, here's the photograph of President Bush being briefed by videoconference by National Hurricane Center Chief Max Mayfield on Sunday August 28th.
--Josh Marshall
These guys are always one step ahead of you.
Back on Monday I told you how the Bush crony catastrophe contracts bonanza would be so big it might even tempt Bush fixer Joe Allbaugh to bring his influence-peddling racket back stateside.
Well, as TPM Reader JV points out, that ship's already sailed.
This article from the September 1st edition of the Post noted that Allbaugh was already in Louisiana "helping coordinate the private-sector response to the storm."
Now, if you figure that an article that appeared on the September 1st was probably reported out on Wednesdy August 31st, perhaps this is one of those cases that show how the public sector just can't match the pace of the private sector, seeing as Allbaugh seems to have beaten most of the folks from FEMA, the agency he ran before handing it off to Michael Brown, into the disaster area.
I also must confess that I'd been so focused on Allbaugh's Iraq operation, that I had lost track of what he was up to on the domestic rain-making activities.
First, there's Blackwell Fairbanks, the outfit he set up with Andrew Lundquist, the guy who ran Vice President Cheney's energy policy task force. And then of course there's Allbaugh's main shop, The Allbaugh Company, the one Haley Barbour helped him set up along with New Bridge Strategies, the Iraq venture.
I figure he's in Louisiana wearing the Allbaugh Company hat, seeing as how a few months back he signed on as a lobbyist for Halliburton subsidiary KBR to "educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues."
--Josh Marshall
I had heard it suggested by a knowledgable source that a White House representative was listening in when National Hurricane Center Chief Max Mayfield gave that briefing to Brown and Chertoff before Katrina hit.
But according to this August 30th article in the St. Petersburg Times, on Sunday the 28th, Mayfield arranged a video conference call with President Bush himself at the Crawford Ranch during which he explained the hurricane's force and destructive potential.
Perhaps this is common knowledge. But I hadn't heard it before. And it would seem to leave little question that the president himself knew the critical information from Mayfield before Katrina even made landfall.
Said Mayfield, according to the Times: "I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing that I did all I could do."
(ed.note: Special thanks to TPM Reader BP for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
Does anyone have a tape measure?
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the administration is "getting a bad rap" for the emergency response."This is the largest disaster in the history of the United States, over an area twice the size of Europe," Stevens said. "People have to understand this is a big, big problem."
From AP.
Late Update: Stevens' size of Europe quote has now been pulled from the piece, as of about 10:38 PM.
--Josh Marshall
The real story about the Brown memo below is, How did it get public? The knives, or rather, not the knives, but the long knife seems to be out for Michael Brown now.
But really, who put this joker in the job? And his number two? A Bush campaign advance man. His number three? A Bush campaign "media strategist".
Who appointed these guys?
--Josh Marshall
Off the AP Wire: "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. Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged."
--Josh Marshall
Not certain what to make of this -- but it's an interview with a local mortuary director in the Shelbyville (Tenn.) Times-Gazette. The mortician, Dan Buckner, is part of DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team), which is a volunteer wing of the Department of Homeland Security called in to set up morgues and process bodies in major domestic disasters. And he's been deployed to Gulfport, Miss. Bucker tells the paper that "DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies." And he goes on to say that that number does not "include the number of disinterred remains that have been displaced from ... mausoleums."
(ed.note: A note of thanks, if that's the word, to TPM Reader EO for the sobering tip.)
--Josh Marshall
On the Al Franken show this afternoon I mentioned this article from today's Salt Lake Tribune which tells the story of about a thousand firefighters from around the country who volunteered to serve in the Katrina devastation areas. But when they arrived in Atlanta to be shipped out to various disaster zones in the region, they found out that they were going to be used as FEMA community relations specialists. And they were to spend a day in Atlanta getting training on community relations, sexual harassment awareness, et al. This of course while life and death situations were still the order of the day along a whole stretch of the Gulf Coast.
It's an article you've really got a to read to appreciate the full measure of folly and surreality.
But the graf at the end of the piece really puts everything in perspective, and gives some sense what the Bush administration really has in mind when it talks about a crisis. The paper reports that one team finally was sent to the region ...
As specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.
You can't make this stuff up.
--Josh Marshall
We know from National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield that FEMA Director Brown and DHS Secretary Chertoff both received electronic briefings on Katrina's likely destructive potential before the storm hit. A knowledgable source suggests asking who else listened in on those pre-landfall briefings.
--Josh Marshall
AP: Bush to lead investigation into his own failure ...
Buffeted by criticism over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said Tuesday he will oversee an investigation into what went wrong and why — in part to be sure the country could withstand more storms or attack.Bush also announced he is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Gulf Coast region on Thursday to help determine whether the government is doing all that it can.
"Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people," the president said after a meeting at the White House with his Cabinet on storm recovery efforts.
"What I intend to do is lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong," Bush said. "We still live in an unsettled world. We want to make sure we can respond properly if there is a WMD (weapons of mass destruction) attack or another major storm."
Sad.<$NoAd$>
--Josh Marshall
TPM Reader GJ checks in ...
Lot of talk going around this town this morning that Pres Bush and the head of the National Weather Service both called Mayor Nagin in advance of the storm to tell him to get off his butt and call in the Guard. They found him at home. I don’t know where this came from, haven’t seen it myself. Sounds like the slime machine. Have you seen any such report?
Bush called Nagin?
--Josh Marshall
An exchange with a reader ...
TPM Reader JS: "Conservative colleague of mine chortling this morning: said he heard on Imus this AM that the reason the poor didn't evacuate from New Orleans before the storm is because they were waiting for their welfare checks. If true, about on par with Barbara Bush. Can it be confirmed?"
TPM: "I think this may be an extremely disfigured version of some factual information. the storm hit on the 29th. people on public assistance get their checks on the first of the month. so there is a lot of anecdotal information that quite a few people who live from check to check had no cash on hand by the end of the month and thus had no money to leave town. so, i guess one could say they "were waitng for their welfare checks" but [that] leaves a rather misleading impression."
--Josh Marshall
AFP, Sept. 2nd, 2005: "[Sen.]Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade 'F' for its response to the disaster so far."
CNN, Sept. 5th, 2005 ...
Anderson Cooper: Senator, on Friday, you gave the federal government an "F" for their efforts. What grade do you gave them right now.SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: Yeah, first of all, Friday, I gave all of the organized government relief effort an "F," state and federal. I think it's turned a corner, in fact, it began to turn later that day, Friday, when it essentially became an unprecedented military operation, not only National Guard, but major active duty military.
Rep. Boustany (R-LA) got the memo too.
--Josh Marshall
No correction or retraction yet from Newsweek on the Blanco/State of Emergency error, it seems. And no explanation from the Post about whether their version of the canard was the product of an error on the part of their reporter or, as seems more likely, a deliberate piece of misinformation they passed on from a high-level White House source without verifying it first.
--Josh Marshall
There's going to be so much money flowing that Joe Allbaugh might even be convinced to bring his influence-peddling operation stateside again. In fact, if you were ever planning to become a Republican or give money to Republicans, by all means, do it now. Because all of the GOP patronage and pay-for-play operation that we've seen up till this point was probably just a prelude to what's coming.
Just set together a few pieces of the puzzle.
FEMA Director Michael Brown got his job as a political patronage position, with no relevant experience and the last item on his resume getting fired from a job as a manager of horse shows. Last year he was caught giving out FEMA money as political pork with an eye to the 2004 elections. But that shouldn't surprise since people who get hired as part of patronage operations do their jobs as part of the patronage operation. That's the idea.
Now, look at this article from Tuesday's Times about the boom town atmosphere in Houston as people and business from New Orleans flood into the city ...
Oil services companies based here are racing to carry out repairs to damaged offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico; the promise of plenty of work to do sent shares in two large companies, Halliburton and Baker Hughes, soaring to 52-week highs last week. The Port of Houston is preparing for an increase in traffic as shippers divert cargoes away from the damaged ports of Pascagoula, Miss., and New Orleans.
Some of this is just the grim irony of politics and geography. Houston is a nearby port town deep into the oil business. It's also the capital of Bushland.
But see where we're going here. We have a thoroughly politicized FEMA, encased within an administration that ran the Iraqi reconstruction in such a way that they managed to give graft and cronyism a bad name. $10.5 billion is just a small down payment on the money that's going to go into draining and rebuilding New Orleans, constructing a much more durable and comprehensive system of pumps and levees around the city, patching up the coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama. And did we mention the important Senate race next year in Florida? And then there's the Port of New Orleans. And the oil facilities in the Gulf.
Of course, if you want to get down into the minutiae, remember it was Joe Allbaugh who got his college buddy Michael Brown the patronage job at FEMA; when Allbaugh got into the Iraqi contracts racket he handed FEMA over to Brown. And the guy that helped Allbaugh set up his new influence-peddling shop out of a wing of his DC office? Right, Haley Barbour, who's now Governor of Mississippi.
Like I said, I bet we see Allbaugh pretty soon deciding that his services are required closer to home.
The White House is already laying the groundwork for centralizing all authority over contracting within the executive branch, which for all intents and purposes means the White House. No oversight. No transparency. Halliburton ready at the trough.
Like a friend of mine said earlier this evening, it really is going to be the biggest slush fund of all time.
--Josh Marshall
From "Strategic Goals" section of DHS mission statement: "Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies."
(ed.note: Catch courtesy of DefenseTech.org.)
--Josh Marshall
Small world. The Times and the Post note that one possible reason for the White House's slow response to Katrina was that so many key appointees were on vacation. A number, for instance, were in Greece for <$Ad$> the wedding of White House communications advisor Nicolle Devenish.
It so happens Devenish is marrying Mark Wallace, who, it turns out, took over from the esteemed Michael Brown as General Counsel of FEMA when Brown ascended from General Counsel to Deputy Director.
Wallace was General Counsel at FEMA as the agency was being transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 and 2003. After that he took a different job at DHS before becoming Deputy Campaign Manager of the Bush-Cheney 2004.
According to The Hotline (10/16/03), Wallace got his start in politics as Jeb Bush's driver in 1994.
(ed. note: Thanks to TPM Reader MC for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
As noted, the Washington Post got burned today by a "senior Bush official" who told them that Gov. Blanco of Louisiana had never declared a state of emergency in the site -- a claim the Post printed as fact. Yet the claim was demonstrably false and by late afternoon the Post had been compelled to print a correction.
This week's Newsweek contains the same false claim -- and though their recital of the anecdote is unsourced, common sense suggests that someone or some operation fed them both the same line, which neither organization checked out before running.
Monday's Times, not surprisingly, confirms that the White House damage control operation is being run by Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett.
Add it up.
And who will report this out?
--Josh Marshall
Monday WaPo: "One reason for the slow White House response, said a Republican who has been in contact with several officials, is that so many high-level officials and aides were on vacation. Vice President Cheney, for instance, was in Wyoming and did not return unil Thursday, and Nicolle Devenish, the president's top communications adviser, is getting married in Greece with a number of mid-level aides in attendance."
--Josh Marshall
Did Newsweek get spun too?
One way or another, let's get this straightened out once and for all.
As we've discussed over the course of the day, the Washington Post ran an article today in which they reported, on the say-so of an unidentified "senior Bush official", that as late as yesterday Louisiana Gov. Blanco still hadn't gotten around to declaring a state of emergency. This, allegedly, had prevented a more rapid federal response.
Only this claim seemed to be belied by a copious public record, not least of which was the actual declaration of a state of emergency dated August 26th, 2005, available on the state of Louisiana website.
The falsity of what the "senior Bush official" told the Post apparently turned out to be so patently obvious that before the day was out the Post issued a correction, noting Blanco's declaration on the 26th.
Yet the new issue of Newsweek says this of Blanco, as of September 1st, almost a week later ...
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco seemed uncertain and sluggish, hesitant to declare martial law or a state of emergency, which would have opened the door to more Pentagon help.
Now, all the rights and wrongs of this tragic debacle will turn on weightier facts than the day on which Blanco issued this declaration. But this claim, which appeared in two major national publications, seems to be patently false. In both the Post and Newsweek the anecdote appears as an illustration of Blanco's dawdling which prevented a more rapid federal response.
The Post got played by a senior administration official. Pretty odd that Newsweek would come up with the same false anecdote on their own, right?
Who's Newsweek's source?
--Josh Marshall
For all the horror of what went on at the Superdome and the convention center in New Orleans, we know so much about those cases because they were central points. There were lots of journalists there and thus lots of coverage. But before too much more time goes by, I want to call your attention to a post Ed Kilgore did a few days ago at his site, in which he excerpted this passage from the blog currently being run by the New Orleans Times-Picayune ...
About 100 people have died at the Chalmette Slip after being pulled off their rooftops, waiting to be ferried up the river to the West Bank and bused out of the flood ravaged area, U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon, D-Napoleonville, said Thursday.About 1,500 people were at the slip on Thursday afternoon, where critical supplies like food and water are scarce, he said. Melancon expressed serious frustration with the slow pace of getting these items to the people waiting to finish their journey to safety. Many of those at the slip were evacuated from a shelter set up at Chalmette High School that suffered massive flooding as the waters rose during Hurricane Katrina. Melancon said people are being plucked out of their water-surrounded houses, but the effort to get them out of Chalmette and provide them with sufficient sustenance is the problem.
A hundred people. Precise numbers <$NoAd$> are very difficult to nail down in the short-term under such circumstances. And the very round number suggests an estimate. But unless this story is wholly false, dozens of people died not of drowning or even before being rescued, but simply because they couldn't be moved from one way station to the next.
Why do people drop dead like this? Presumably a disproportionate number were old and at risk, or people with chronic illnesses without access to their medication. Depending on the circumstances, dehydration and/or dysentery probably played an important role. Whatever the details, how many stories like this will there be?
--Josh Marshall
Check out this document that Larry Johnson has found, a National (disaster) Response Plan that the administration promulgated last December which seems to say explicitly that in the event of a catastrophic disaster the federal government need not wait for any explicit request for the local authorities in the affected regions.
--Josh Marshall
Lesson learned?
Earlier today we noted that in today's papers the Post passed on a claim from a "senior Bush official" that "as of Saturday [i.e.,Sept.4], [Gov.]Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency."
As TPM -- and probably half the blogosphere -- pointed out, there is voluminous information in the public record showing this to be demonstrably false.
The Post just ran this correction ...
A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26.
Good for them for correcting the record. But are they going to be taking more blind quotes from this senior official who got them to pass on misinformation to their readers?
And one other point: for all the truly foolish chattering about anonymous sources and blind quotes a few months ago, this is a terrific example of the worst sort of anonymous sourcing. This claim by the administration official was obviously meant to place blame on Gov. Blanco. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that. Maybe she deserved blame. Reporters frequently have to rely on interested parties to bring key information to their attention.
But in this case, this is a straightforward factual assertion. What you do in such a case is find out whether it's true or not. If it is, you don't need to source it to your tipster. You run it as a fact. What you don't do is take an interested party's say-so on an easily verifiable claim and run it as a blind quote.
--Josh Marshall
In light of the post immediately below we've set up a thread over at TPMCafe to document, discuss and dissect that storm of disinformation the White House is putting out today to pass the buck on the debacle in New Orleans. Let us know what you heard on the Sunday shows, post links to the documents that contradict, etc.
--Josh Marshall
It's almost awe-inspiring to see the level of energy and coordination the Bush White House can bring to bear in a genuine crisis. Not hurricane Katrina, of course, but the political crisis they now find rising around them.
As we noted yesterday, the storyline and the outlines of the attack are now clear: pin the blame for the debacle on state and local authorities.
So, let's get all the facts out on the table now. And let's not be afraid to let them all fall where they may. There's no need to make saints of Gov. Blanco or Mayor Nagin. In such a storm of error as this, it would not surprise me if they made a number of them too. But the reason you have a federal government and particularly a FEMA in cases like this is that it is in the nature of local and state authorities to be at least partly overwhelmed in disasters of this magnitude. Read what Ed Kilgore wrote a couple days ago at TPMCafe ...
Anyone who's been involved in a disaster response episode will tell you the first few days are characterized by absolute chaos. Basic logistics are fouled up; communications systems are paralyzed; a thousand urgent needs must be triaged; a vast welter of well-meaning but tunnel-visioned federal, state and local agencies, plus private charitable organizations and volunteers, rush in; local elected officials are forced in front of cameras to inform and reassure the affected population. Somebody has to be in charge of the chaos, and that's FEMA's job.
This is just one of the many reasons why the White House's main excuse -- that the locals didn't tell us what to do -- is such a grim joke.
But let me, just for starters, focus in on one specific case. Administration officials gave a series of blind quotes for an article that appeared in today's Washington Post.
One passage reads as follows ...
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
I don't have the details yet <$Ad$> on the first point about the multi-state mutual aid compact. The state authorities seem to be saying that there was little point in making the request since the nearby states were also hit by Katrina. Indeed, this article says that Blanco accepted an offer of National Guard troops from New Mexico on Sunday, but that the paperwork didn't arrive from Washington until Thursday.
But let's focus in on the second point. Had Blanco still not declared a state of emergency as late as yesterday?
On the state of Louisiana website you can find this letter Gov. Blanco sent to President Bush on August 28th, that was last Sunday, just on the eve of the hurricane's landfall. (Here's the PDF and here is a text transcription.) Basically the letter is a laundry list of requests for aid and assistance from the federal government, invoking various laws, and so forth.
Some of the key passages include ...
Under the provisions of [the relevant federal law], I request that you declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period beginning August 26, 2005, and continuing ... In response to the situation I have taken appropriate action under State law and directed the execution of the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005 in accordance with Section 501 (a) of the Stafford Act. A State of Emergency has been issued for the State in order to support the evacuations of the coastal areas in accordance with our State Evacuation Plan ... Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster ...
The referenced state declaration of emergency was apparently declared on August 26th, that is, the Friday before landfall.
There's also this Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana, which appears on the White House website dated August 27th, which begins: "The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing."
Key excerpts include ...
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe ... Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.
Now, it seems to me there are three points that make sense to raise with all this data.
The first is the importance of keeping an eye on the big picture and that is the fact that this whole conversation we're having now is not about substance, but procedural niceties, excuses which is it is beyond shameful for an American president to invoke in such a circumstance. We don't live in the 19th century. All you really needed was a subscription to basic cable to know almost all of the relevant details (at least relevant to know what sort of assistance was needed) about what was happening late last week. The president and his advisors want to duck responsibility by claiming, in so many words, that the Louisiana authorities didn't fill out the right forms. So what they're trying to pull is something like a DMV nightmare on steroids.
Second, as long as the White House wants to play this game, there are various invocations of federal statutes in this proclamations. And we'd need a lawyer with relevant experience to pick apart whether the right sections and powers were invoked.
Third -- and this is key -- even on its own terms, the White House's claims seem false on their face. The plain English of this documents shows that states of emergency had been declared on both the state and federal level before the hurricane hit and that at the state's request the president had given FEMA plenary powers to "identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."
--Josh Marshall
David Broder helps the president up into the booster seat ...
It took almost no time for President Bush to put his stamp on the national response to the tragedy that has befallen New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, a reminder that modern communications have reshaped the constitutional division of powers in our government in ways that the Founding Fathers never could have imagined.Because the commander in chief is also the communicator in chief, when a crisis emerges the nation's eyes turn to him as to no other official. We cannot yet calculate the political fallout from Hurricane Katrina and its devastating human and economic consequences, but one thing seems certain: It makes the previous signs of political weakness for Bush, measured in record-low job approval ratings, instantly irrelevant and opens new opportunities for him to regain his standing with the public.
Washington<$NoAd$>.
--Josh Marshall
Let me extend my condolences to the friends, family and colleagues of Chief Justice Rehnquist, who as you know died last night of thyroid cancer at age 80. I didn't post on this last night; and I doubt I will any more in the coming days or even weeks -- not because it isn't important news with all sorts of historic implications, but because I have little of value to add to the conversation.
--Josh Marshall
Now at least we have the storyline. The Bush administration wasn't caught sleeping on the job while New Orleans went under with a gutted FEMA run by a guy who got fired from his last job policing horse shows. In fact, according to the new White House storyline, the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans didn't ask for help quickly enough. And the White House was powerless to act until they did. Apparently they couldn't even reschedule the president's vacation until the locals got the right forms signed<$NoAd$>.
Here's the early version hot off the presses from the Washington Post ...
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."
Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.
Bush, who has been criticized, even by supporters, for the delayed response to the disaster, used his weekly radio address to put responsibility for the failure on lower levels of government. The magnitude of the crisis "has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities," he said. "The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable."
CNN actually did a decent job picking apart Michael Chertoff's tissue of lies this afternoon. Let's see who drops to their knees for the new mumbojumbo coming down the pike.
--Josh Marshall
