"F--k FEMA! Who? Who's NEMA? Huh? Well f--k NEMA too!!!" (Analysis)

they're so freakin' evil...

White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend pauses during remarks to the National Emergency Management Association Mid-year conference on Monday, Feb. 13, 2006 in Alexandria, Va. Top White House and Homeland Security officials pushed back hard on Monday against criticism of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. 'I reject outright the suggestion that President Bush was anything less than fully involved,' said Townsend. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Yahoo! News

White House Strongly Defends Katrina Role

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Monday pushed back hard against Katrina-response criticism leveled by ex-disaster agency chief Michael Brown and congressional investigators.

"I reject outright the suggestion that President Bush was anything less than fully involved," said White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend.

he was on vacation.

and didn't rush back.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "unequivocally and strongly" rejected suggestions that his agency was preoccupied with terror threats at the expense of preparing for natural disasters.

nope.

they were doing nothing.

or probably negotiating that $300 million deal with Halliburton to build internment camps in the U.S. to hold "illegal immigrants" and anyone else that fits.


"Appearing on page A5, the story said the federal government had awarded a $385 million contract for the construction of "temporary detention facilities." These would be used, the story said, in the event of an "immigration emergency."

Jamie Zuieback, an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), explained such an emergency like this: "If, for example, there were some sort of upheaval in another country that would cause mass migration, that's the type of situation that the contract would address."

SOURCE - http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_3470080

Both spoke at a conference of state emergency management directors in suburban Alexandria, Va.

Their rebuttal came as a Republican-written House report blamed government-wide ineptitude for mishandling Hurricane Katrina relief. A report by Congress' investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, reached similar conclusions and singled out Chertoff for delays.

okay...

so we're in agreement.

i mean, even the bad guys best buddies conceded.

but...

Both Townsend and Chertoff took swipes at Brown, who resigned under pressure in September as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"There is no place for a lone ranger in emergency management," said Chertoff, whose Department of Homeland Security is FEMA's parent agency.

what the hell do you mean "Lone Ranger"?

what the hell do you mean?

Brown testified before a Senate committee last week that he issued repeated warnings to the White House and DHS the day the hurricane struck, Aug. 29, that levees had failed and New Orleans was seriously flooding.

He suggested that the White House and DHS had dragged their feet. Bush and other federal officials have said they did not know until the next day, Aug. 30, that levees had been breached.

get. a. cell. phone. or. a. tv.

On Monday, Brown defended his performance.

"For Secretary Chertoff to claim that I failed to keep him informed belies the numerous telephone calls and e-mails between me and him prior to, during and after landfall" of the storm, Brown said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

anybody check that?

he might be right, i mean, we're reporters, we can find out...

what?

j-lo's pregnant???

nevermind...

Brown also applauded congressional investigations into the government's response.

that's good.

applause is always nice to hear.

Townsend, without naming names, criticized those at FEMA she said had "become bitter" and lashed out "trying to find someone else, anyone else, to blame."

well, when your boss says "oh no, don't save 'em from disaster, you crazy disaster expert you!", you know, some of the disaster experts get pissed-off...

"We cannot attempt to rewrite history by pointing fingers or laying blame," Townsend said.

umm...

"rewrite" history?

how about we "write" it?

and wait a minute, aren't these hearings "laying blame" on Mr. Michael "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" Brown, the former horseshow organizer and recent former head of FEMA?

and doesn't everyone who investigates it see people to blame?

a lot of people?

and your people responsible for them?

Townsend, who at Bush's request is conducting her own "lessons learned" inquiry, said her report would be released later this month.

A Senate panel is conducting a separate review due in March.

"whitewash! what! whitewash! whitewash! what! what! whitewash! what! whitewash! what! what!"

While both Chertoff and Townsend acknowledged that the federal response left much to be desired, both suggested federal officials up to Bush had been unfairly criticized.

okay... so "Don't blame the bosses!"

or... "Us!"

Bush, who was traveling in Arizona and California the day the storm roared ashore, was "highly engaged" in monitoring its advance, Townsend said.

he. was. relaxing. on. vacation.

And she said it was Bush himself who first conceded several days after the storm — one of the nation's worst natural disasters — that "the response to the hurricane was insufficient."

actually, he was the last person to concede.

The White House welcomes congressional inquiries into Katrina and the aftermath, and will cooperate with them, Townsend said.

"But let's be clear about the facts," she said. "As you know, President Bush was highly engaged in the preparation and response effort, beginning when Katrina was a tropical storm off the coast of Florida."

"Please, inquire all you want, just make sure you find out what we say is true - or else you're not clear on the "facts", got it?"

Chertoff announced wide-ranging changes to FEMA.

uh-oh.

here we go, time to spend some money...

The changes range from creating a full-time response force of 1,500 new employees to establishing a more reliable system to report on disasters as they unfold.

est. salary of $100,000/year each = $150,000,000

est. damage of $1,000,000/year each = $1,500,000,000

He said he hoped to put the changes into effect before the 2006 hurricane season begins June 1. The changes include:

_Tracking trucks carrying food, water, ice, blankets and other emergency supplies by satellite to ensure they arrive at disaster sites quickly and with enough equipment.

RFID chips are being eased into our daily lives.

great.

"Chip?"

"Oh c'mon, I betcha can't get just one..."

_Sending FEMA employees to emergency shelters and other temporary housing venues to register victims for aid, instead of relying on victims to register by phone or the Internet.

now this makes sense.

the gestapo oughta be there in person to streamline their victims paperwork, and it's hard to believe FEMA employees weren't on hand in FEMA camps. in fact, i believe they were actually there, but they were probably out hunting seniors in the streets of New Orleans like Dick Cheney.

_Creating a database of already-approved private contracting firms from disaster regions to remove debris and provide services faster.

translation: "no-bid contracts"

Halliburton anyone? their KBR subsidiary? Republican donors?

ohhh...

it's gonna be sweeeet...

_Establishing "reconnaissance teams" to report disaster conditions to Homeland Security and FEMA operation centers within hours, and improving communication channels to ensure the information quickly gets to the president and Cabinet-level officials.

hmph, looks like they're a force to be reconnoitered with i reckon, well, i imagine we'll all be seeing them peeking in our windows real soon...

___

On the Net:

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov

Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov

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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060214/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_congress















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BONUS: What you need to know if you need to live...

FEMA - The Secret Government

By Harry V. Martin with research assistance from David Caul

Copyright FreeAmerica and Harry V. Martin, 1995


Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States. It is not an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars. This government organization has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress, it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution.

Not only is it the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was not even created under Constitutional law by the Congress. It was a product of a Presidential Executive Order. No, it is not the U.S. military nor the Central Intelligence Agency, they are subject to Congress. The organization is called FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Originally conceived in the Richard Nixon Administration, it was refined by President Jimmy Carter and given teeth in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush Administrations.

FEMA had one original concept when it was created, to assure the survivability of the United States government in the event of a nuclear attack on this nation. It was also provided with the task of being a federal coordinating body during times of domestic disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Its awesome powers grow under the tutelage of people like Lt. Col. Oliver North and General Richard Secord, the architects on the Iran-Contra scandal and the looting of America's savings and loan institutions. FEMA has even been given control of the State Defense Forces, a rag-tag, often considered neo-Nazi, civilian army that will substitute for the National Guard, if the Guard is called to duty overseas.

THE MOST POWERFUL ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Though it may be the most powerful organization in the United States, few people know it even exists. But it has crept into our private lives. Even mortgage papers contain FEMA's name in small print if the property in question is near a flood plain. FEMA was deeply involved in the Los Angeles riots and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of the black helicopter traffic reported throughout the United States, but mainly in the West, California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado, are flown by FEMA personnel. FEMA has been given responsibility for many new disasters including urban forest fires, home heating emergencies, refugee situations, urban riots, and emergency planning for nuclear and toxic incidents. In the West, it works in conjunction with the Sixth Army.


[Continued...)


SOURCE - http://www.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon6.html