Gino Piroli – 9/19/05

This page was last updated on September 19, 2005.

Can’t expect compromise chief justice; Gino Piroli; Beaver County Times; September 19, 2005.

This column is an example how many people “debate” when they can’t support their position with experience, facts in context, and/or simple logic. As you’ll read below, Mr. Piroli simply makes “drive-by” accusations without providing supporting evidence.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject column.

“I’m not sure what the outrage and furor are about regarding the appointment of John Roberts as chief justice of the United States.”

[RWC] Who’s outraged, Mr. Piroli?

“That concern should have been before the election. George Bush won and is expected to appoint those who share his views, no matter how extreme they might seem. That was what the election was all about and why certain one-issue groups campaigned and voted for him, despite his dismal record as president.”

[RWC] What are the “extreme” views of President Bush and Judge Roberts, Mr. Piroli? I suspect Mr. Piroli doesn’t want us to know what he considers extreme.

“And if anyone expects a compromise candidate, that will never happen on this man’s watch. You only have to look at his political appointments to head the various government agencies. Most have no background or credentials needed for the duties they are assuming. The list is long, from the CIA, United Nations, Environmental Protection Agency and many more.”

[RWC] “Most have no background or credentials needed for the duties they are assuming?”

Let’s look at the CIA. President Bush’s first CIA Director was George Tenet, who served as CIA Director during the Clinton administration. His second appointment was Porter Goss. Mr. Goss served as an intelligence officer for the Army and then the CIA from 1960 through 1972. He later served as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 1997 until his nomination as CIA Director in August 2004.

Regarding the UN, I assume Mr. Piroli is referring to John Bolton. Once again Mr. Piroli is wrong. During his years in government service, dating back to the early 1980s, John Bolton served in several leadership positions in the Departments of Justice and State. In the current Bush administration, Mr. Bolton served as the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for four years.

Regarding the EPA, the current director, Stephen L. Johnson, has worked for the EPA for 24 years and served in senior level positions.

Oops. Maybe in the future Mr. Piroli will do a better job of picking examples to prove his position.

“That he didn’t seek the most qualified person to head an agency was clearly demonstrated in the response to Hurricane Katrina by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its now-resigned director, Michael Brown, whose previous job was as a commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association.”

[RWC] I don’t know if Mr. Brown was the most qualified person or not, but Mr. Piroli misrepresents Mr. Brown’s experience. Before becoming head of FEMA in 2003, Mr. Brown served as deputy director and general counsel. He also worked on several committees after 9/11 to handle the response. He also headed FEMA during last year’s run of hurricanes and apparently did so competently, ignoring the standard sniping that occurs after every emergency. I think we need to ask what changed from last year. It may turn out Mr. Brown was not up to the Katrina challenge, but we won’t know that until we have a thorough after-action review of the entire response, including local, state, and federal.

“You hear many who say ‘Don’t play the blame game,’ but that’s usually coming from those who are to blame. You can point to local, state and federal leaders, but in the end, the man residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has to answer for the poor response to the hurricane by the federal agencies.”

[RWC] While it’s too early to assess blame without doubt, Mr. Piroli is apparently ignoring the increasing coverage of what the local and state leaders did and didn’t do. During the first week, all coverage focused on the feds and perceptions of what the feds did and didn’t do. We’re now only beginning to get a broader picture of who did what and when. Indeed, CNN caught Louisiana Governor Blanco admitting she made a mistake by not calling in the National Guard in a timely manner. In another example, everyone blamed the feds for not bringing supplies to New Orleans. We now know the state of Louisiana prohibited the delivery of food, water, hygiene items, et cetera into New Orleans because it didn’t want to give the people left behind any reason to stay. Regardless, no one has all of the information required to make responsible accusations.

“Surprisingly, for the first time in his presidency, Bush did take the blame, saying he accepted responsibility for those failures. He should also acknowledge a lack of attention to the domestic front, with steep cuts in rebuilding our infrastructure, including levees, and the many problems for our cities and states because of a lack of funding.”

[RWC] Regarding “steep cuts in rebuilding our infrastructure,” during President Bush’s five years, the Corps of Engineers spent more in Louisiana than during the last five years of the Clinton administration. Further, the Corps of Engineers spent more on Louisiana than any other state.

Mr. Piroli, can you explain to me why the feds should spend federal taxpayer dollars on local and state projects? Should we demand the feds build a levee system to protect Green Garden Plaza from the next flooding of Raccoon Creek?