Jackson Free Press

Lott didn't want to blame anyone for the government's response to the disaster, saying he doesn't want to "bite the hand" that's trying to save him. His own home in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

But he did say it appears it was mistake to move FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security.

He says FEMA should be a "freestanding agency reporting only to the president." That, he says, would help to eliminate bureaucratic delays in dealing with disasters.

Previous Commentsshow

Uh oh. Lott just kicked the air out of the folks saying that criticism of the administration for hamstringing FEMA is a "liberal" or a "Democratic" thing, eh? Good for Lott. I'll tell you, so far this week at least, he is impressing me. Hey, it happens now and then. Make sure you're reading all the transcripts from his remarks and such we've been posting on KatrinaBlog. Someone pointed out to me yesterday that the Ledge and others are cherry-picking his remarks, leaving out the stuff critical of the administration and FEMA. These transcripts don't leave out anything.

DonnaLadd

Sep 8 2005

Politics surely makes for strange bedfellows. Lott has been at odds with Bush and Frist for some time; interestingly, these statements (above) likely put him at odds with Haley Barbour, who has had nothing but praise for the Bush administration and the Federal Gov't thus far into this ordeal.

grinder

Sep 8 2005

Lott seems to be the realist in this state right now. He has those moments. And I should say that I have never considered him a purely political animal, as Barbour tends to appear. He has an independent streak, thankfully, and I respect that side of him, even as I don't agree with him. I could never respect a politician (or citizen) who won't speak up for what's right, or criticize failures that cost lives in his or her own state, because they want to defend their party or someone they voted for. Talk about really stupid and irresponsible. If there is ever a time to put aside politics and focus on what matters ó which includes accountability ó then this is it, especially since we can't keep it from happening again.

DonnaLadd

Sep 8 2005

Conservatives are piling on ó against the administration's response: Joe Scarborough of MSNBC: "The bottom line is that despite the fact the president was strapped with two governors who bungled this crisis badly, in the end it is the president who sends in the National Guard and FEMA relief. The president's suggestion that the size of this storm caught all by surprise just doesn't get it. His administration was 48 hours late sending in the National Guard and poor Americans got raped and killed because of those mistakes." -- Joe Scarborough, MSNBC (Interesting that he seems to bash Barbour, too -- unless he means someone else??) And here's a great quote from Hunter at everyone's favorite lefty blog, DailyKos: The administration said it was keeping us safe from terrorist attacks, or at least had a plan for responding to them; turns out, it can't even respond to disasters that have been broadly foreseen, and which come with days of prior warning. We need to find what's wrong, and fix it. Immediately. That's only a "partisan" issue if you truly care about your party more than your country. Which, as it turns out, some people do. And they're sticking out like sore thumbs right now.

DonnaLadd

Sep 8 2005

I would also hazard to guess that Barbour's political career will be more intact down the road if he stops defending everything this administration has/has not done. And it doesn't help to blame the media, when people on the Coast are mad as hell about FEMA's poor response. He can't just pretend.

DonnaLadd

Sep 8 2005

It's not just FEMA... They're mad at the Natl. Guard and pretty much all the other entities that could fish them out of the rubble, waters, etc. I saw, this morning, a woman from another state filled her SUV with supplies (including medical), drove in right after the storm and has been at an apartment complex BY HER SELF assisting these people... Some have diabetes and similar conditions. She stated angrily that she'd not seen one "official" entity since her arrival.... Not even a police officer. The whole system has failed many people from local to Federal... It's truly sad.

kaust

Sep 8 2005

Jon Stewart: The president has vowed to personally lead the investigation into the government's failed response to Katrina? Isn't that a job perhaps someone else should be doing? Samantha Bee: No, not at all, Jon. To truly find out what went wrong, it's important for an investigator to have a little distance from the situation. And it's hard to get any more distant from it than the president was last week. --The Daily Show

kaust

Sep 9 2005

This from MSNBC: Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. FEMA's top three leaders -- Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative. Meanwhile, veterans such as U.S. hurricane specialist Eric Tolbert and World Trade Center disaster managers Laurence W. Zensinger and Bruce P. Baughman -- who led FEMA's offices of response, recovery and preparedness, respectively -- have left since 2003, taking jobs as consultants or state emergency managers, according to current and former officials. Follow that link and check out the picture for the article... The caption reads: Carpenter Alan Perkins walks past a sign put up by a resident living in a tented city in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Thursday. The storm victim put up the sign after she called four times for FEMA's assistance and was always prompted to leave a message. The signs read: FEMA hung up on me. They said they were too busy to help.

kaust

Sep 9 2005