index.xml Index file The Story of Mike Brown and FEMA continues 10/19/2005 There is a followup to comments I made on Septermber 28. Today in testimony before Congress other people in FEMA, among then the new head of the agency, disputed Mike Brown's criticism of the cooperation from the local officials. Also, today, an e-mail sent by a FEMA person on the scene in New Orleans was disclosed that described the dire situation developing at the Super Dome with thousands of people trapped there. It got no attention. Instead a reply was sent back by some administrative assistant to the Director, Mike Brown sharing concern for where he was going to dine in Baton Rouge! Mike Brown may blow the lid on Bush power grab 09/28/2005 As he testifies before a Congressional committee about the failings of FEMA under his directorship to deliver timely relief to hurricane victims in the South earlier this month, Mike Brown may inadvertantly blow the lid off a plan by George Bush to consolidate diaster relief under Pentagon control whose agenda is to give police state powers to the military quicker than it could be granted by states having to declare martial law and ask for military help. This is a sinister intrusion yet again of federal power over local control. Brown defended himself and pointed the finger up and down the chain of command. He criticized the Governor of LA and the Mayor of New Orleans, and he criticized his superiors. Evidance of something more comes from a memo to the state from Federal lawyers asking for control they did not have, which was answered by a querry about declaring martial law. Congress ought to investigate further to find if aid was delayed or with heald for the three days, contributing to loss of property and life, because of a power struggle between the local authorities and the Federal Government, especially because Bush has proposed that the responsibility be given in future emergancies, including terrorist attacks and natural diasters, to the Pentagon. While the military has traditionally been used to help people in a diaster it also has porogatives not granted to civil authorities in times less dire. The mechanism of local authorities of having to declare martial law and ask for the help from the federal and military authorities is a check on the national government from using the excuse of an emergency to abuse power under a cloak of secrecy. People should be suspicious of George W. Bush in this regard as his conduct in the world reveals that he could do at home to people he knows oppose him what he is doing abroad.