BCT Editorial – 7/24/06

This page was last updated on July 27, 2006.

Lip service; Editorial; Beaver County Times; July 24, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“The U.S. Senate recently passed a measure that would replace the Federal Emergency Management Agency with another bureaucracy. The new agency, according to The Associated Press, would have greater ability to plan for disasters.

“Does Homeland Security ring a bell?

“This was the agency created by President Bush to deal with all threats on American soil, natural and otherwise. It was the same agency that badly misjudged Hurricane Katrina.”

[RWC] Nothing like a little revisionist history. While President Bush suggested a homeland security coordinator, it was Democrats who proposed a full-blown department. It was Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) who authored the original homeland security bill in 2001.

“But instead of placing blame where it was due, the government gored FEMA. Remember President Bush’s buddy, former FEMA Director Michael Brown, the main scapegoat in all of this?”

[RWC] Once again, the Times dumps Katrina blame exclusively on the feds. This is the second editorial on this topic in two days.

“President Bush’s buddy?” To date, I’ve seen no reports anywhere that President Bush knew Mr. Brown before he nominated Mr. Brown (already a DHS employee) for his DHS position.

“Creating a new agency will not solve problems created by the Bush administration’s penchant for handing out high-profile jobs to unqualified cronies.”

[RWC] Please, guys, make up your mind. Is Mr. Brown an “unqualified crony” or a “scapegoat?”

Note the drive-by accusation that President Bush hands out “high-profile jobs to unqualified cronies” as a matter of policy. Where are all the examples and the supporting evidence?