Now Is The Time To Blame

by Michael Gregory Steele and Herman B. Hayes

Many conservatives have warned all of us, and especially the press, not to play the "blame game," when talking about the delayed response to Hurricane Katrina. Trying to cast blame is certainly not appropriate when those who could potentially be blamed might be destracted from their work. Well, with rescue efforts well under way, and with FEMA finally getting the opportunity to do their job, it's now time to blame.

I'm sure many of you have read newspapers and articles trying to understand who is responsible for the inept response to humanitarian crisis on the Gulf Coast. Who was supposed to do what and who didn't do their job? What's the chain of command, and who answers to who? There's no need to make things so complicated though; I'll explain everything.

You see, FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible at the federal level for coordinating disaster relief and recovery. But who does FEMA report to? Well, the FEMA director used to be a cabinet level official who answered directly to the President, but not anymore. President Bush wisely downgraded this organization to be included in the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. He figured this was as good a time as any to try and wean the country off the teat of big government.

So FEMA's current director, Mike Brown, does not ultimately answer to the President even if he was appointed by him. In fact Brown has to run everything past one man and one man only: New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. In the days leading up to the tragedy, the infinitely qualified Brown worked furiously to get ready for the relief efforts. But until he got the final go ahead from Nagin, all his tireless work was for naught. Brown frantically tried to get in touch with the mayor -- begging and pleading with his staff -- but to no avail. The mayor simply refused to return his calls. Nagin's excuse for not doing his job: cocaine binge.

Panicked, Brown finally called President Bush who ended his vacation early to take charge of the situation. We know that this was not a failure of government on all levels, because that's not how the blame game is played. When you play the blame game you must find one person to point the finger at and assign culpability. That's pretty much the only rule when playing the blame game. For those of you who might be playing at home, I'll give you a hint: the person who is responsible for FEMA and who spent most of last week on a hotel room floor is the one to blame. Shame, Ray Nagin, shame on you!