Lt. Gen. Russ Honore has advised critics of the multi-level governments screw ups in response to Hurricane Katrina: “don’t get stuck on stupid.” Point taken. There remains much to do and focusing only on past mistakes wastes time and resources – for those actually doing something. Quillnews, however, counts himself among “the couch commandos of the pundit brigades (who, according to Peggy Noonan, in the WSJ) have not added much light the past week, only heat.” True, true. It is early days. No doubt there were lots of explanations for many of the problems first responders faced in dealing with the devastation and these misfortunes will be fully aired in the days ahead. Again, point taken. However, if any of the many future blame-gamers are looking at issues to consider, I stand by the suggestions in earlier posts (QN, QN2, QN3) and add these observations and recommendations:
Regarding Louisiana
A) The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security kept the Red Cross and Salvation Army from delivering food, water, medicines and other material to those suffering at the Superdome. (HH, CQ, Powerline) Why? Could it have something to do with the internal culture of denial and fear within the department as a result of corruption? A federal grand jury recently returned some corruption indictments against some Louisiana DHS brass. (LGF, USDOJ) Could the default bureaucratic instinct in the Louisiana DHS be to keep outsiders out of their business? B) What are the social assumptions of state officials that giving aide to the needy is a secondary consideration to the possibility that giving this assistance may encourage others in need to seek assistance? To an Irishman, this sounds like the reasoning used by the British rulers during the Irish potato famine, who insisted that grains grown in Ireland be exported for sale to foreigners to keep prices up and protect Irish landowners, rather than feed the poor Irish who starved for want of food. Can Baton Rouge state bureaucrats be that contemptuous of or oblivious to the poor of New Orleans? C) There seems to have been an uncommon bias in Louisiana on the need for permits and approvals during emergency response actions. The reports on the demands for permits, written permissions and illogical requests is really shocking. This sounds, well, so French. FEMA bureaucrats may be to blame for some, but what are the locals thinking? (WSJ) The story about the barge of victims being refused permission to dock is telling. How could any police officer demand a permit when he saw a barge of flood victims seeking to disembark? How could the barge driver let that cop get away with issuing an order like this? How could the passengers accept this style of public administration? Why, in the name of Providence, would anyone even think about a permit at a time like this? Does this reliance on bureaucratic top-down order derive from Louisiana’s French-based legal code which has a bias toward the state, and which tends to assume the guilt of the accused? This code no doubt has its strengths (protection of children for example), but efficiency during an emergency doesn’t seem to be one of them. Should this cultural bias be exposed as an impediment to emergency response?
The "Blame Game"
Partisans defending the administration seem to have been successful – so far – in getting the phrase “blame game” into the political lexicon of the day, and preventing a frenzied political lynch mob. (Yepsin, USAT, NSDY, RLS) The script about “leaning forward,” “going forward,” and “saving lives” is getting through. No surprise. The Bush 43 team can stick to a political script. (NYT, NYT2, NYT3) Such skills are necessary for political survival in today's Media-ville. (WP, NYT) As Bush 43’s defenders have hit the ramparts, so have the lefty loonies eager to market grief imagery in their continuing anti-Bush 43 campaign. (DR, MM) Again, no surprise. Also, regular Ds are mostly wrangling about details about the kind of investigating committee that gets put together, and Chertoff's personality. As skilled as the Clinton Ds were having a FEMA that worked, D policies of environmental obstructionism and cutting levee improvements will be hard to defend down the road. For the people’s part, they are holding fire and withholding judgment. (WP, The Hill) The hurricane gets the blame, as it should. The people are not blaming Bush 43 personally yet. Again, common sense. The Congress will do what it does best – spend, and permit a few regulations to be suspended during the recovery period. Assignments of blame and creative solutions will come later. (WSJ, WP, BM)
Joe & Brownie: they did a "heck of a job" all right…
Quillnews is not surprised with political spoils, patronage and cronyism. Such practices have their uses. Bush putting his pal – Joe Allbaugh – in charge of FEMA in early 2001 was widely understood as wise. FEMA is a key to those moments in a presidency when a leader is seen by everybody at the same time as strong and decisive, or weak and incompetent. Having a pal in charge of cutting red tape, kicking ass and getting things done after a storm or catastrophe made sense for Bush 43. But an analysis of what Allbaugh in fact did after taking over FEMA – cut staff, programs and rely on outsourcing -- is not looking too smart now. (IndyWeek) In fact, today it has all the look of a raiding party by a would-be K Street weasel to cash in. Allbaugh ended what he saw as a Democratic give away of taxpayer money to civil servants for services the private sector could do better and which, it later turned out, he would help secure when he quit for fat fees. Cute. (Slate, AC, AC2) As for Brownie, when Allbaugh quit in the wake of Sept 11, he made sure his Okie pal with the resume worthy of a regional chamber of commerce staffer got the job as FEMA director. (How much better to pump up his new consulting business?) Brownie is the kind of boss-pleasing staffer DC grows like mushrooms under a tall pine. He did was what good for him, relied on consultants, followed the lead of his predecessor in relying on outsourcing and downsizing, and focused his personal energies on Florida, whose voters were important to Bush family fortunes. He was a whiz helping the president’s brother in Florida handle the results of the 2004 hurricane season. Jeb looked good; so did W. The state stayed red in ‘04. Hmmm. For these talents Brownie earned himself some partisan criticism, political street cred, a coveted presidential nickname and a bit of presidential slack. (BM, GE, Slate, Senate, Sen2) Has Brownie's luck finally run out? (Barone, WP) (Update: Releaved of duty, padded resume: Time, DK)
The CEO factor – Management’s Bottom Line
As a Harvard MBA, an entrepreneur in both the oil and sports businesses and a shoulder rubber with real-life chief executives for years, Bush 43 knows that in the conversations around any management table, political skills are valued, but what is most valued is performance. It is on performance that Bush 43’s peers will judge him. Today these CEOs give Bush 43 high marks for his leadership and political management during the post-Sept 11 era, and the strength of character shown in making the decision to use force to change the political landscape of the Middle East and restore US defense credibility. The post-Saddam era has been a horror for all involved, and no doubt many mistakes were made. But all know it could have been far far worse, and that before the start of the Iraq campaign all would have accepted today’s result in a heart beat. Quillnews has supported this policy completely, and been savage in defense of the US anti-jihad campaign and the spirit and sacrifice of the volunteers involved. But part of that campaign also has included reordering US assets at home to stop a jihadist attack on the homefront, and also ordering US assets to respond in the event of a catastrophic natural event or act of war. On this front, Bush 43 now knows – regardless of the blame game or inefficiencies owing to Louisiana’s unique circumstances – that the four years since Sept 11 have been squandered. This is not good. Hurricane Katrina has revealed that the US has organized itself today so that it has:
- A dysfunctional, make-shift DHS that doesn’t know how to tell it leaders the truth, (the glaring exception in the DHS is the USCG which since 1790 has been a uniformed federal service focused on its mission, no matter the supervisory arrangements),
- Downsized, politicized and demoted the FEMA organization and approved work processes that hide bound responders in bureaucracy, and has staffed itself with politicized and inexperienced managers,
- Created a national system of reliance on local and state “first responders” but has not trained, funded or equipped them properly or ensured they have competent leadership,
- Delegated decision-making veto power over the use of our national defense assets during a national catastrophe to local officials whose inefficiencies cost lives, and jeopardized (because of the placement of strategic energy assets) the economic well being of the world economy, (WP graphic) and
- Projected an image in Media-ville to friends, adversaries, would-be enemies, and the jihadist enemy of a US that tolerates political cronyism, arrogance, social injustice and operational incompetence.
Quillnews bottom line: What happened in the early hours after Katrina to American citizens in New Orleans and Louisiana was a national calamity. Bush 43 was the CEO in charge of the government that has reorganized its assets and policies that has weakened the US capacity to react to attack and protect its citizens. (RCP) And he knows that in responsible executive management, it is performance that matters. (WP) Setting aside political positioning, blame-game antics and rhetoric what matters is performance. As General Honore says, let’s not get stuck on stupid. And on that account, Bush 43 as the US CEO recognizes that the US governmental sectors failed at all levels. Every manager in the US knows it. An experienced CEO whose chief advisors, Cheney and Rumsfeld, were themselves were CEOs, certainly does. Bush 43 signaled he knew it was his neck when he appointed himself in charge of the investigation (management review) and dispatched Cheney to the region for a look-see. As Bush 43 reviews performance and considers future actions, he will know what he did in the past was in good faith and was what his colleagues in the executive ranks of every private sector corporation have done since the end of the Cold War: he has approved budgets and programs that have helped recast the US government as much as possible into the downsized, outsourced entity that uses the technology-rich operational model of the new global economy. Just like any executive in the corporate goliaths, Bush 43 and other US political leaders have looked at the question of managing the US government – “do I do it myself or do I buy it outside?” – and shown a bias toward having the US government “buy outside.” Let the more efficient, cost effective private sector do it. Unfortunately for the people of Louisiana, It is now unarguable that the US has reorganized, and delegated and outsourced itself to a point where its emergency response system no longer functions. It is also clear that domestic dysfunction has real impact on the US's capacity on the battlefield in the war on terror. This is life-and-death wartime serious! (RCP, Slate, WSJ, NYT) It is time for Bush 43 to recognize that management must act now to swing the pendulum back. (SF) Its time to have the government “do it myself” again – and get adequate numbers of human assets inside government service at all levels who are dedicated, disciplined lifers with the support and professional cohesion they need to apply their love of country with a lifetime of experience and operational familiarity to ensure that US domestic “first responder” services are the match of their counterparts in the US military services. They should have clear lines of authority, be put into action quickly and have decision making procedures that are swift and have the wider interests of the nation in mind. All ideas are welcome. (WP) It is now time to think "outside the box." If amendments to the US Constitution are required to reclarify and rebalance the relationships between the states and federal government during an emergency, so be it. Let's get this done. In the Post Sept 11 War against jihadists terror, the job of first responders to protect and respond is just as important to our national defense and the welfare of all our citizens. Any green-eye shade bean counter will tell you that in the long run – calculating in the costs of mismanagement of hurricanes and natural disasters – it will be cheaper.
Comments