Heckuva Job, "Pauly?"

(Knowing Dubya's propensity to assign idiotic nicknames to his underlings, don't be surprised if that's Paulison's actual "handle.")

McClatchy tells us here that R. David Paulison, the head of FEMA brought on after Mike Brown departed, will follow his predecessor out the door by no later than 1/20/09.

By the way, I know that Brown was redeemed somewhat by information that emerged subsequent to the Katrina debacle that he was more active in rescue efforts than we first believed. However, he remains every bit as culpable for the abysmal performance of his agency as does his boss, Mike (“City Of Louisiana”) Chertoff and of course Dubya himself.

The one point I will give Paulison, though, is that, as former Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, he at least has experience that is somewhat relevant to disaster management.

Still, though, this Washington Post story tells us that FEMA knew “since early 2006 (from) warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in government-provided trailers with levels of (formaldehyde) 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers.”

The story also tells us…

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) decried what he called FEMA's indifference to storm victims and said the situation was "sickening." He said the documents "expose an official policy of premeditated ignorance" and added that "senior officials in Washington didn't want to know what they already knew, because they didn't want the legal and moral responsibility to do what they knew had to be done."

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said FEMA had obstructed the 10-month congressional investigation and "mischaracterized the scope and purpose" of its own actions. "FEMA's reaction to the problem was deliberately stunted to bolster the agency's litigation position," Davis said. "FEMA's primary concerns were legal liability and public relations, not human health and safety."

…

In his appearance at yesterday's committee hearing, FEMA Director R. David Paulison apologized and said "in hindsight" FEMA should have tested trailers earlier. "The health and safety of residents is my primary concern," he said. But he depicted the 200 or so complaints as voiced by a small fraction of the number of families in trailers, and he said more research is needed to determine why some trailer residents have become sickened and what level of formaldehyde is unsafe in homes.

Paulison promised to consult with half a dozen U.S. health, environmental and housing agencies and with trailer manufacturers. He also acknowledged that concerns of environmental toxins in trailers go beyond formaldehyde. "There is an issue inside the trailers, but I don't know if it's formaldehyde, mold, mildew, bacteria" or something else, Paulison said.

So why did it take an appearance before a House oversight committee to get Paulison to acknowledge the contaminated trailers approximately a year after FEMA’s field workers first notified the agency’s management of the problem?

Also, though I don’t know that FEMA’s fake press conference last October was his idea, Paulison should have been out in front decrying it and disciplining those responsible, as opposed to his boss (anything that gives Chertoff the opportunity to look like he actually has a spine is particularly galling).

And finally, this SourceWatch link tells us the following about Paulison (the quote was discovered by none other than Keith Olbermann around the time Paulison was first appointed to head FEMA)…

"Paulison brings an extensive resume to the post," Olbermann wrote. "He ran fire operations for Miami-Dade County in Florida, and was past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. But in light of the response to (Katrina), another comment he made at the time of the Duct Tape announcements (re: the DHS warnings from former agency head Tom Ridge) rings especially loudly. Paulison said in February, 2003, that in the first 48 to 72 hours of an emergency, many Americans would likely have to look after themselves."

Bushco, “Working For You” as always…

Yes, Paulison was definitely an upgrade from Mikey (“Arabian Horsey Time”) Brown. But his tenure at DHS is an improvement only because he thus far has not yet faced a Katrina-like disaster to demonstrate that FEMA has actually improved under his watch.

Update 4/3/08: Well, at least they got this right.