In a week full of growing concerns over the response that followed Hurricane Katrina, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown resigned Monday claiming \the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president.""
In an effort to soothe some of the criticisms of the lackluster government response to Katrina relief efforts, President Bush relieved Brown, the former Arabian Horse Association director, of his duties on the frontlines of Louisiana mayhem.
Unsatisfied, some Americans continue to voice their displeasure with Bush administration officials and their response to the disaster, or lack thereof.
But is Michael Brown really to blame? Although he resigned of his own will, Brown was simply set-up for failure. Clearly unqualified, Brown was hired for one of the most important government positions and virtually entrusted with 300 million American lives.
To his credit, disasters like Katrina are almost always unpredictable and unavoidable. No matter how many or how far in advance mandatory evacuation warnings are issued some people will always remain.
The main thing we as a country need to gain from the misfortune of others is to recognize the need for future preparedness.
But is the president, our supposed great iron leader, doing what he says he will?
""Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That's a very important question and it's in the national interest that we find out what went on so we can better respond,"" Bush said Tuesday.
Accordingly, Bush has appointed former firefighter and the director of FEMA's preparedness division R. David Paulison as acting director of the struggling agency. This decision is promising, but a promotion from within requires us to ponder: Are we ready to play roulette with thousands more lives?
More importantly, do we have a choice? Although Bush has taken responsibility for the sluggishness of the government's response, we have yet to see actual actions taken to ensure future safety. Where are new programs to prevent devastation? Where is the money to back it all up? There are so many questions without foreseeable answers.
Amid all the apologies to victims of Katrina and all the seemingly empty promises of future response actions, Bush needs to address actual strategy: funding for emergency relief programs, mobilization plans for armed forces and relief workers, and enhanced communication systems to forewarn those in danger.
We only hope that tonight's presidential address is full of more than nice-sounding political fluff. With Hurricane Ophelia looming off the coast of the Carolinas, threatening even more destruction, now is the time to act ... before it is too late.
