Editorial: Shifting blame is his game
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 | 12:31 p.m.
Light continues to be shed on why the federal government shrugged its shoulders in the hours and days after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.
In congressional testimony Friday that centered around the flooding in New Orleans, former FEMA director Michael Brown said he warned top White House staff about the broken levees and rising water levels, but intentionally did not call his supervisor at the Homeland Security Department.
Brown's testimony reflected his displeasure with the reorganization three years ago that saw the Federal Emergency Management Agency folded into the Homeland Security Department headed by Michael Chertoff. "The policies and decisions implemented by the DHS put FEMA on a path to failure," he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Instead of calling Chertoff when he learned Aug. 29 from a FEMA official that Katrina had breached the levees, Brown said he called Deputy White House Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, who was with the vacationing President Bush in Crawford, Texas. Brown said he also e-mailed White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. He said he didn't call Chertoff because he would have been "wasting my time."
Under questioning from Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Brown acknowledged he informed only the White House staffers, and did not ask them to take action. Bush and Chertoff have said previously that they did not learn of the levee breaches until Aug. 30.
The White House shares much of the blame for the laggard response to Katrina. But Brown's remarks, in our view, do not lift any fault from his own shoulders. His personal differences with the Homeland Security Department did not give him the right to bypass Chertoff, who was in a much better position to make emergency decisions than White House administrators.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Trainers scuffle at Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto weigh-in
- Hooters reports loss, says Chapter 11 possible
- Live Blog: Pacquiao wins by TKO in round twelve
- Clubs want to be ‘good citizen,’ so stripper-mobile ends its run
- Police seek man who stole $2,000 worth of clothing
- Las Vegas club agrees to halt promotion featuring live dancers on truck
- Nuclear plant in Ely could complicate radioactive waste, water issues
- Manny Pacquiao says he feels stronger than ever
- Las Vegas Hilton reports wider loss in quarter
- Now we can all see Islamic extremism for what it truly is
Blogs
The Kats Report
New face of Monte Carlo includes all the faces of Caliendo
The Greene Room
Predicting this weekend's Mountain West football slate (1 Comment)
Top Chef: Las Vegas
Top Chef Episode 11: Child's play
Miech Again
UNLV prez Smatresk is ready for some basketball (9 Comments)
Politics: The Early Line
Harry Reid's fourth TV ad begins running today
The Greene Room
Chad Ochocinco vs. Anderson Silva? That would be a sight ... (5 Comments)
Top Chef: Las Vegas
The Jet Stream: The three stages of chefdom
Calendar »
- 15 Sun
- 16 Mon
- 17 Tue
- 18 Wed
- 19 Thu
-
Actor's Expo at Rave Motion Pictures
Rave Motion Pictures Town Square 18 | 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
-
Lily Tomlin at the Hollywood Theatre
Hollywood Theatre at MGM Grand
-
Neil Sedaka at the Orleans
Orleans Hotel-Casino
-
Supernatural Santana – A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint
The Joint
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati





