Still Rudderless at FEMA

The ineptness of the Bush administration when it comes to fundamentals like homeland security continues to stun and amaze.

Lest anyone need reminding, there may be no more pertinent example than the Federal Emergency Managment Agency (FEMA), which won praise for its response to hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters during the Clinton years.

The Bush administration, however, was unable to leave well enough alone. The White House installed a series of political hacks to run FEMA who were disasters themselves because they had no emergency relief experience and folded the cabinet-level agency into the huge Department of Homeland Security, where it was an unwelcome stepchild that no one wanted or quite knew what to do with.

The consequences of putting politics ahead of prudence were on display for all the world to see when Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast last August. While local and state officials contributed their share of problems, FEMA showed itself to be profoundly incapable of doing anything right and shredded the Bush administration mantra that the U.S. was prepared for another 9/11.

The start of 2006 hurricane season is only weeks away and the experts say it is likely to be another humdinger.

A reasonable person might assume that the White House has learned from the painful lesson of Katrina if only because President Bush took such a licking in public-opinion polls -- and in fact has never rebounded to pre-Katrina levels.

Well, guess again.

The New York Times reports that a months long nationwide search for a new FEMA director has been a bust because each and every qualified emergency response expert contacted -- the best in their field -- turned down the job.

The reason? None believe that the administration is serious about fixing FEMA.

It's easy to see why.

There still is no plan for reforming FEMA. Eleven of its 30 most senior jobs are being filled on an acting basis, including the directors of disaster relief operations. Most embarrassingly, the administration is now stuck with making the current acting director permanent.

That sends a most disturbing message that speaks volumes about the presidency of George Walker Bush: A vitally important government department in the post-9/11 world is being run by the only person the White House could find who was willing to take it on.

SHE CARES. SO SHOULD YOU.

Bri is a grassroots activist who, as she puts it, "spent four years soaking up the culture of the Crescent City" while going to college there and now wants to give something back.

She believes in the power of grassroots groups to effect change and soon will be returning to New Orleans to help try to make that happen.

Please visit her blog -- Pursuing Tzedek -- and give her your support.

MORE HOMELAND INSECURITY

Speaking of the Department of Homeland Security, its deputy press secretary has been arrested on charges that he used the Internet to seduce an undercover Florida sheriff's detective who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Disgusting details here.