FEMA's Political Appointees Shown Fiddling
While New Orleans Drowned

E-mails sent between former FEMA Director Michael Brown and his staff paint a devastating portrait of callous and careless leadership during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, according to a story today at CNN.com:

Ahead of Katrina coming ashore, Brown's deputy chief of staff, Brooks Altshuler, dismissed the idea of the White House creating an interagency crisis group to manage the government's response.

"Let them play their little raindeer [sic] games as long as they are not turning around and tasking us with their stupid questions," Altshuler said in an August 28 e-mail.

Meanwhile, veteran FEMA employee and AFGE member Leo Bosner began clanging an alarm bell, but to no avail, days before the storm made landfall. Here's an account from News Inferno:

Three days before Hurricane Katrina hit eastern Louisiana, Leo Bosner, a 26-year FEMA employee, issued a serious warning to his superiors. “We told these fellows that there was a killer hurricane heading right toward New Orleans," Bosner told CNN. "We had done our job, but they didn't do theirs."

His alert stated, " New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level. If the hurricane winds blow from a certain direction, there are dire predictions of what may happen in the city."

For more on Leo Bosner's attempts to move his superiors to action, click here.