Well, it’s probably safe to say that FEMA Administrator and creepy guy who works at the front desk of the tire shop down the street, Brock Long, wishes he would have chosen his words more carefully this morning while attempting to defend the administration’s slow response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico.
Asked whether this is, as Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke suggested earlier this week, “a good news story,” Long told Fox News the following:
Yes, “the most logistically challenging event the United States has ever seen.”
Needless to say, some folks were quick to point out that there are other historical events that might have a legitimate claim to the top spot on the “logistically challenging” list.
A couple of contenders are pictured below:
Then again, Trump is apparently an admirer of the Nazi cause, so I suppose the first one is illegitimate (the Nazis “had a permit”) and knowing the President’s penchant for conspiracy theories, it’s conceivable that this administration believes the second one didn’t actually happen.
So you know, cut Brock some slack.
You can see he is an ass by the silent look on his face – no words spoken yet and his brow is wrinkled and jaw set, ready to pounce. On the 29th I made a post about this jackass – on H’s article, shown directly above as a related post: “Dammit, this is a People are dying Story” I had just seen him on CNN with insulting flippant responses and I was mad as hell. I’m sure that post is still on that article. Stupid Ass!
He was appointed by trump as FEMA Head Dick in Charge and confirmed by Senate June 2017 – first disaster was Hurricane Harvey in Texas – and “received wide spread praise for his handling of the federal response to Hurricane Harvey.” HAHAHAHA!
Well, here in Houston he is not praised and FEMA has turned down recovery assistance to people, my neighbors, who deserve the help while other neighbors of those people are approved for help but FEMA will not explain that. Some of these people had 3 to 6 feet of water in their homes and it will be at least a year before they can move back home, if ever! Praise, my ass. The only praise this jerk may have received would be from the same asswipe that said the Mayor of Puerto Rico was a poor leader! Another home in Houston in a horribly flooded neighborhood, set up a Halloween display and it has been on the news for a few days now.
And just like the others that trump appointed (many of which are already gone!) this man is probably not qualified for his position. In a CNN story Aug 28th, interviewed by Jake Tapper, right after Harvey hit: Long is also leading the agency at a time when it’s not fully staffed — Trump has nominated two deputy directors for FEMA who have yet to be confirmed. But Long said that is far from being his biggest concern.
“You know what?” Long said Sunday, “I don’t even have time to worry about it right now. But what I have seen inside my agency is, I have got some of the most dedicated people in the entire federal government, great lines of communications with the President. He’s extremely concerned, incredibly engaged.”
The President…? Incredibly engaged…? Seriously. So, there’s no doubt he kisses trump’s ass.
These 3 links are all current news coverage, a month after the storm!
https://www.click2houston.com/news/harvey-victim-s-halloween-display-shows-dark-humor-after-floods
http://www.khou.com/weather/harvey/homeowners-frustrated-by-fema-fund-denials-after-harvey/478866720
http://www.khou.com/weather/harvey-help/people-wait-for-hours-for-harvey-disaster-food-benefits/479657534
The problem with almost any kind of commentary or pseudo analysis like Murphy’s above is that its obviously laced with derogatory comments and political vindictiveness. Here’s my take…
1. FEMA was faced with 4 disastrous events consecutively…2 in Puerto Rico. I’m not sure they were even capable of quickly and efficiently handling Houston alone within a 1 month period.
2. Precisely how is Brock Long supposed to look when relaying his Depts. response to a disaster like Puerto Rico? He certainly wasn’t’t flip and explained very clearly what his people are doing and have accomplished. Also…heads of any Federal Dept are not supposed to comment on idiotic remarks by other Dept Heads or people in Administrative authority. His job is to do a job. We won’t know how large this job turns out to be until its done..perhaps many months from now.
3. As soon as you start calling someone a Nazi, a Fascist, or even a racist you’ve already taken the discussion out of the discussing. It now becomes a pissing contest on moral posturing
Here’s my proposed solution to what we might want to do as a country so that we don’t have to live thru endless repeats of these prolonged devastations..whatever their cause.
1. Bring home every US soldier from Germany..Japan and So. Korea. These countries either can or believe they can protect themselves.
2. Disband FEMA and reorganize the repatriated soldiers into a new branch of the military..the ERC..The Emergency Response Corps….Highly mobile..air and amphibious..with every soldier retrained to have some engineering skills..high level rescue and relief skills and specialized units able to operate with local assistance machinery needed to make access to food and water possible.
3. Require every State to have a standard and comprehensive disaster relief plan and coordination/assessment template filed with the ERC that can be implemented into action immediately upon a disaster’s striking.
We also have to drop the notion that the Govt is going to handle everything to everyone’s satisfaction all the time..it might also help to have a competent President who has the ethic and interest for his Nation’s people to communicate good will along with helping hands.
Pinelli – I formed my opinion of Long about August 28th, when I saw and heard his flippant behavior. I have not changed my opinion. As a resident in a large area where his FEMA is still working, I have first hand experience with how that is being managed. Trump’s choice to head FEMA is ridiculous, like his other choices have turned out.
The only other thing I have to say is about your ideas of how to better use the military. The U.S. soldiers located around the world are part of a volunteer military. Paid year round to protect the Unites States. Some military personnel are already working as assigned to relief efforts when called upon.
There are numerous disaster relief organizations in America. Google for more details.
“Well, here in Houston he is not praised and FEMA has turned down recovery assistance to people, my neighbors, who deserve the help while other neighbors of those people are approved for help but FEMA will not explain that. Some of these people had 3 to 6 feet of water in their homes and it will be at least a year before they can move back home, if ever! ”
Tough titty.
“The representatives, and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, all voted against a $50.5-billion relief package for victims of 2012’s Superstorm Sandy when it came before them in January 2013. (The measure passed anyway.) Although the shape and size of a relief package for victims of Harvey won’t emerge for at least several months, it’s clear that a big one will be needed. Damage estimates from the storm still pummeling the Gulf Coast around Houston have reached $40 billion, and are likely to rise.
Texas is almost certain to pose a drain on federal emergency resources for the indefinite future. “FEMA is going to be there for years,” Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday on CNN.”
“I won’t abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York.”
– Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-harvey-aid-sandy-vote-20170828-story.html
Hey Milbank, don’t tough titty me! I never voted for him or Cornyn! In fact, I get their lying Ted newsletters every month and I take advantage of their page for comments EVERY SINGLE MONTH and I tell both of them exactly what I think of them and the rest of their greedy republicans who are too chicken to take necessary steps to get rid of their Boss! and I sign my name and address and phone numbers and basically dare them to call me for additional conversation. Never hear a word from them so the next month I remind them I am still waiting to hear from them because I have a few questions I’d like to talk to them about. EVERY SINGLE MONTH!
And this IS NOT A WAR between Texas and New York, nor you and me, Good Lord!
Milbank, one more thing. Are you taking some smug satisfaction and joy that people will suffer and lose their home and all their possessions and that makes you bubble with joy as some kind of satiated revenge for some no-account politician’s game?
What kind of a human being are you?
I don’t expect the cops to catch every crook. I don’t expect firefighters to save every building and person from the fires they fight, or medical emergency to which they are called. But what I do expect is that they are well trained, motivated, and give their best efforts. The same is true for FEMA. I cannot judge their training or motivation, but considering that they are still responding to the effects of 3 major hurricanes and hundreds of western wildfires, they appear to me to be giving 100%. I won’t judge them based upon Brock Long’s poor PR appearance on television.
I have been where Murphy is at. 6/23/2016 the rains came to West Virginia.
Water ran off off the hills around my home.
8 1/2 feet off water went into and around my cellar and was flowing at about 20mph over my culvert, washed some of them out and filled a five foot culvert 4 foot deep with creek gravel and 20 foot in length.
Every othe house in this area had a different FEMA inspector
One family got $5,000 for their washed out culvert, we got $200 for ours and the FEMA inspector told us that was all the damages he saw.
And he had the audacity to tell me that I could probably just” shovel it out and throw some stone over it”
So I’m now 67, fought in a war that a lot of people don’t remember and rely on the VA to treat my service connected disabilities.
I am still without a culvert or bridge and I am more than aware of how the folks in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico are dealing with.
Been there, done that and couldn’t wait for FEMA to pack their bags and hit the road instead of complaing to me how” this diaster” was taking them so far from home.
To all you diaster victims, you will find out how much you won’t get unless you can do it your self.
Vietnam 1971.
Viet Vet, thank you for your service! Vietnam, I remember. Began 1955, U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, troop levels tripled in 1961 and again in 1962, escalated further 1964! U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, the year I graduated from high school. Direct U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, finally. U.S. military draft ends, Jan. 27, 1973. Too many I knew from high school were drafted; it was horrible; some I never saw again.
I was 15 yr old the last hurricane in Houston, Hurricane Carla and it was a bunch of rain and no school for a couple of days. It must have been worse than that because people here still talk about Carla, 1961.
Yep, Hurricane Harvey was very different from Carla. Even if you were lucky your home did not flood after non-stop heavy rain for 4 days, the loss in resale value due to the huge impact on the subdivision is shattering. The loss of power for 3 weeks or longer is suffocating. I could not operate an oxygen machine without electricity. A woman died this week from flesh eating bacteria disease as a result of Harvey flood waters: http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-woman-dies-flesh-eating-bacteria-caused-hurricane/story?id=50121525
The fear of the approaching storm, the never-ending sound of the storm and the crashing of who-knows-what outside your home as night falls, the sudden power flickers and not knowing which flicker would be the complete failure, waiting for dawn, see the depth of water and then watching it rise quickly, the thankful prayer when the rain ends and rising stops. Couple days later you have to find FEMA and start the process and you are at their mercy. Luck of the draw on the agent.
If you did not view the links I posted in my comments at the top of this page, you should. This storm was a month ago – those videos are scenes from yesterday. FEMA Agents must be properly trained and managed. My opinion of Brock Long is not solely based on his television persona.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/08/27/harvey-causes-catastrophic-flooding-in-houston-shuts-down-airport.html
this is a mass casualty situation and due to the overwhelming damage to different areas and logistical nightmares, just like in Katrina, some people will not get aid in time and services have to be given where they can best help with what is available….. you can prepare and have practice and exercises but you are never really ready for the real thing (have enough people and supplies available) …just like the fog or war. It doesn’t help to have poor leadership or to deny the difficulty of providing help and that it will not always be perfect or deny that mistakes were made or unavoidable.
Thanks for the last sentence there, Doc