Questions about potential new Attorney General nominee
Joseph A. Palermo
Two years ago this week, as Hurricane Katrina built into a “http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1625 5″ and was threatening New Orleans, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff held to his scheduled speaking engagements as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Secretary Chertoff left the rescue duties to his friend, FEMA Director Michael “Brownie” Brown, whose main qualification for being responsible for thousands of lives in a major city was that he had been the “Judges and Stewards Commissioner” for the International Arabian Horse Association.
When “Brownie” briefly testified before the Republican Congress he blamed his own inept response on the lack of resources that his boss, Secretary Chertoff, had given him, saying that Chertoff ignored planning for natural disasters because he was only concerned about terrorism.
Chertoff should have known that “Brownie” was not up to the task, and he also should have been a major player alerting our somnambulant Chief Executive about Katrina’s dangers. Instead, Mr. Chertoff failed the nation when it needed him most. He should be held accountable for the shameful display of government ineptitude that his bungling of the Katrina catastrophe exposed.When the disaster in New Orleans dominated the mainstream media with heartbreaking images of people begging to be rescued from the rooftops of their homes and from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Chertoff appeared on several news shows. The principal protector of our beloved “homeland,” Chertoff claimed there had been two distinct catastrophes, a hurricane followed by a flood, as if the two events were not connected.
At a time when chaos reigned in the city, he told National Public Radio’s Robert Siegel “there is a more than adequate law enforcement presence in New Orleans.” Chertoff also showed that he was unaware that there were several thousand people stranded at the convention center. When journalists described the conditions of people who were trapped in the squalid building without water, food, or proper sanitation, Chertoff denied the reports saying they were “rumors” and “anecdotal versions” of events.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/chertoffs-katrina-record_b_62004.html