The American Spectator

Dave: The Human Events story includes two very important items. The first reflects the ongoing discussions here on AmSpecBlog of the Bush White House’s communications shop:

“I told the President 90% of New Orleans has been displaced — this is a catastrophic event. And then on Friday, after this Tuesday conference call, I’m screaming, ‘Where’s the Army?’ So I think this whole notion of the White House’s being disengaged — there’s truth to it. It’s the end of summer; it’s Labor Day weekend; Nicole Devenish, the communications person, is getting married in Europe, so half the staff has gone to that wedding,; Andy Card’s in Maine fishing and relaxing; Hagin’s at the ranch in Crawford; the President’s on the ranch; and Chertoff goes to Atlanta to an avian flu conference.”

Now, I realize moving a wedding, especially one in Europe would be almost impossible. One would think, however, working for the White House while facing a major disaster, an obvious news event and national catastrophe, some of the other “communications” guests might have reconsidered their travel plans that weekend, thereby at the very least making sure the right messages come out of the White House that fateful weekend. Working for the White House entails putting aside your personal obligations. If you are not able to do so, don’t work there.

The second item is one of the best suggestions I have heard in a long, long time;

Looking ahead to the future, Brown said he’s not sure what will happen to FEMA, but he believes the only true way to make it an effective government agency is to remove it from under the Department of Homeland Security and give it Cabinet-level status.

Why stop there? Why not dismantle DHS instead? Everybody knows it was founded for political reasons entirely. It’s a sham. Not even its employees can stand working there, complaining of overwhelming bureaucracy, the contempt with which other agencies view them, the impossibility of getting anything done … DHS’s demise would be a blessing to all concerned.