By By Russel Akiyama

Everyone knows a category four hurricane plowed through the Gulf coast last week, and everyone knows there was a serious lag in the amount of time it took for the federal response to materialize. From civic to state to national government, there was a critical breakdown of communication, logistics and planning–leaving tens of thousands of American “refugees” homeless. So, what do we do now? I would like to stay out of the tirelessly popular Bush administration “blame game,” but I’m afraid that simply isn’t possible.

Let’s start locally. By now it’s old news that back in 2001 the Federal Emergency and Management Agency released a report explaining one of the three most serious disasters to hit the US would be a major hurricane blasting through New Orleans. For those of us who keep up with the news, it has become apparent there were several attempts by local and state government to receive funding for major construction and reclamation to impede a catastrophe on the scale of Katrina from happening. The Army Corps of Engineers at least twice attempted to increase funding in levee protection from a severe hurricane. A multi-billion dollar piece of legislation to reclaim delta plain in southern Louisiana, which protect against storm surges, never passed. There were also dozens of reports and studies that warned against potential catastrophic flooding. So what happened?

After a heated tiff with Congress, the Bush administration cut nearly 67 percent of the Army Corps of Engineers budget, which caused the New Orleans branch of ACE to report it is now $5 million in debt. The Congressional bill on land reclamation in Southern Louisiana was tabled, and the resulting effects are now clearly evident. But let’s get to the juicy part.

The emergency response has been horrendous. Many have seen this as one of the most embarrassing and harmful blunders of the Bush administration. Finally, it would seem, the light is reaching some of the dark recesses of the conveniently and sloppily packed “Club Dubbya”–where cronyism abounds. I suppose we should have seen the administrative clog forming once the office of Homeland Security merged with FEMA two years ago. Then again, each of those federal departments should have seen and prepared for a major hurricane barreling towards a densely populated region of the country days before it hit.

As in any catastrophe there is usually a point of responsibility, or “point-man” to look to in the event of a disaster. So who was administratively in charge of this emergency effort? Well, there was Joe Albaugh, the first director of FEMA who President Bush appointed in 2000 after Mr. Albaugh served as his campaign chairman. Then, after Director Albaugh, came the now fired Michael Brown, whose prior experience in emergency management was trading Arabian horses, Fox News Reports. Next, the top deputy in FEMA is a man by the name of Patrick Rhode, who also worked on the 2000 election campaign. Third in command at FEMA is a fellow named Brooks Altshuler, who used to work in the White House – planning presidential trips. And if that is not enough to floor the mind of anyone who has ever remotely experienced logistical snafu’s or had to respond to an emergency situation, the man in charge of long term recovery at FEMA, Scott Morris, used to produce radio and television commercials for the Bush campaign.

Hopefully, with the help of the ever-gracious American media corporations, the light of journalistic broadcasting and investigation now will shed more answers to the ineptitude of the Bush administration. More than that, I hope the attention turns to the tens of thousands of refugees forced to meander from their homes. In time, this “blame game” will surely be the end of the “Bush game.”

Russel Akiyama is a sophomore political science major. You may email him at [email protected]