FEMA Chief's Katrina E-Mail Damning?

COMMENTARY
Forget the poor writing style exhibited in the CNN article (Plural e-mail, like regular mail, should simply be e-mail, not e-mails. No one says, "I received a lot of mails.") but keep in mind that no one sends e-mail to announce an emergency. For example, an e-mailed bomb or suicide threat just doesn't carry the weight of immediacy when it sets in an unchecked mailbox. I'm not defending Brown, but I just don't believe Internet access to e-mail was the first thing restored around New Orleans. I'd be more suspect of Brown's communication failings if all his e-mail was marked, 'URGENT.' Urgent e-mail, now there's an oxymoron for you. The only e-mail I receive marked 'URGENT' on a regular basis is from some barrister in Africa asking me to contact him to send cash in order to claim an inheritance from some long lost relative. In the disaster zone, radio calls and hand delivered messages are urgent ... not e-mail sent into an area with neither electricity nor telephone service. If you point to Brown's e-mail as evidence of his failures, you are most likely looking from a fool's perspective. Perhaps that's even more worrisome.

STORY

'Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Louisiana congressman says e-mails written by the government's emergency response chief as Hurricane Katrina raged show a lack of concern for the unfolding tragedy and a failure in leadership.

Political Tension: Consider the source
Gravity: Off playing the blame-game

Topics: News, Gulf Coast, Hurricane, tropical storm, FEMA, tropical storm, Politics, Brown, Melancon, Katrina, politics, Louisiana, New Orleans, Mississippi

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