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

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]

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]

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