Techne/nous: FEMA shows us how it's done

It appears that the new party line of official Washington--that problems with the relief efforts were the fault of state and local officials--has sprung a leak. Bush et al tried to claim that Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco hadn't declared a state of emergency--and that the Feds couldn't do anything without one. Trouble is, she did--the Friday before the storm. Plus, it appears from Larry Johnston's discussion at TPMCafe that in point of fact, the National Response Plan put in place by the administration in December of 2004 allows the federal govenment to move proactively in the event of a disaster, without the need for a formal request for assistance from state or local governments. Finally, the Pentagon spokesman for the Northern Command explained that the Navy had already begun coordinating efforts to provide help well before Katrina hit Louisiana--the USS Bataan sailed in just behind the storm. Why didn't the Navy jump in to help immediately? Because the President hadn't given his permission:

"We had the USS Bataan sailing almost behind the hurricane so once the hurricane made landfall, its search and rescue helicopters could be available almost immediately. So, we had things ready. The only caveat is: we have to wait until the president authorizes us to do so. The laws of the United States say that the military can't just act in this fashion; we have to wait for the president to give us permission."

(Thanks to Kevin Drum and The Carpetbagger Report. Josh Marshall has a good discussion on these legal issues at TPM.)

And then, there's this collection of headlines about FEMA's efforts (brought to you by Daily Kos poster DavidNYC). If you suspected that we had jackasses in charge, it appears you were right: