StarsAndStripes's blog

For years, conservatives have been claiming that they are distinctive in their singular committment to principle and the rule of law compared to convictionless Democrats who care only about results and demonstrating loyalty to interest groups.  This was always more of a political strategy than an argument grounded in reality, but the things conservatives are saying about Plamegate has now put the lie to this line of thinking once and for all. 

Take for example, John Tierney's column in the New York Times on October 16 where he asks "where is the crime?"  and expresses outrage that special prosecutor Peter Fitzgerald would even contemplate bringing an indictment under the Espionage Act, which prohibits the release of classified information to anyone not authorized to receive it. 

Four years after the first bioterrorism attack on American soil, which killed 7 people and required three federal buildings to be decontaminated at a cost of $239 million -- the Bush Administration still hasn't got a clue how to deal with infectious diseases -- whether naturally occuring (like the bird flu) or introduced by terrorists (like small pox). 

Faced with criticism about the potential of a bird flu pandemic spreading to the United States and killing millions of Americans, Secretary of Health and Human Services made the stunning concession that, "We need a plan.  I'm resolved to make sure we have one and so is the president." 

Shite and Kurdish leaders of the Iraq National Assembly were stung this week by criticism that a last minute rule change regarding approval of the proposed constitution was unfair.  The change would have made it far more difficult for the minority Sunnis to defeat the constitution by securing a 2/3rds majority against the document in three provinces.   

Problem was, the Iraqis thought that following the practices of House Republicans would be consistent with principles of democracy. 

For years, Republicans have been bending, rewriting, or simply ignoring any rule that got in their way of achieving political victory at all cost.   The list is lengthy: 

In an extraordinary post-resignation hearing on Capitol Hill, former FEMA head Mike Brown claimed that his agency, designated by the President of the United States to organize the full force and resources of the federal government to respond to an emergency, was helpless to avert disaster in New Orleans because the mayor (of the 36th largest U.S. city) and governor (of the 24th largest state) were unprepared to deal with a category 5 hurricane bearing down on their shores.  

At last check, Brown was part of an Administration renowned for its self-proclaimed leadership capabilities and willingness to take bold action in the face of an urgent threat.  In its National Security Strategy, issued in 2002, this Administration asserted confidently that "preemptive action" must be taken to "counter a sufficient threat to our national security."  "The greater the threat," they claimed, "the greater is the risk of inaction."  The President personally opined in this Strategy document that "history will judge harshly those who saw this coming danger but failed to act." 

George Bush enjoyed his Hurricane Rita fact-finding mission to the United States Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs so much, that he came home and decided to ask Congress to give the military the lead responsibility for dealing with all natural disasters.   These are the same forces that stayed on the sideline when Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, rudely interrupting the President's vacation and the Secretary of State's shopping trip to New York.

But the "fact-finder in Chief" has failed to explain why the entire system needs to be changed when the response to Rita, with civilian authorities in charge, worked so well. 

Bush Administration officials are acting as if they were ready and able to provide stronger and quicker relief if only Governor Blanco had asked for it. 

With a disaster the size of Katrina, they didn't have to wait.  All they needed was an order from the vacationing Commander in Chief. 

The National Response Plan -- issued in January by Tom Ridge -- contains detailed instructions on how the federal government should mobilize in the event of a catastrophic event that "almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to State, local, tribal and private sector authorities." 

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is acting as if his Department never thought about a terrorist attack or natural disaster that would quickly overwhelm state and local capabilities and therefore require a strong, competent, and fast federal response. 

He is reported in the New York Times as saying that future "ultra-catastrophes" like Katrina would require a more aggressive federal response. 

Problem for Chertoff's effort to sweep his Department's miserable performance under the rug is that last January, his predecessor Tom Ridge announced with great fanfare a new 426 page National Response Plan. 

Bush's efforts to lay the blame for the Katrina disaster at the feet of state and local officials just won't work.  This hill is too steep for even Boy Wonder Karl Rove to climb.

The National Response Plan, announced by Tom Ridge with great fanfare on January 6, makes clear that the President and his Administration are to lead the prevention and recovery efforts in the event of a natural disaster.

Here are a few tidbits from that Plan:

"The President leads the Nation in responding effectively and ensuring the necessary resources are applied quickly and efficiently to all Incidents of National Significance." (page 15)

Fours years since the nation was attacked and the government needed to respond to the 9/11 disaster, the President apparently hasn't figured out how the whole system works:

As he said yesterday announcing his personal investigation into the Katrina recovery debacle:

"It's very important for us to understand the relationship between the federal government, the state government, and the local government when it comes to a major catastrophe,"  Bush said. 

Not only would one presume that he would have a grip on this subject in the fifth year of his presidency, but, just nine months ago, his buddy Tom Ridge, issued a document that laid all this out called the National Response Plan. 

Karl Rove's strategy for bailing his boss out of the Katrina mess has been to lay the blame at the feet of state and local officials, conveniently all Democrats.  That dog just won't hunt. 

The Department of Homeland Security's webpage makes clear who is in charge -- the feds: 

"In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st [2003] for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort."