[WSJ] President Trump visited Texas Tuesday to assess the damage from Hurricane Harvey and show concern for its victims. So far, his administration is largely getting praise for effective handling of the crisis. Washington’s disaster authorities appear to be in sync with the state on roles and responsibilities; the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its leader, Brock Long, deployed resources as Harvey approached; and the government response as a whole appears well coordinated.
"I give FEMA a grade of A-plus, all the way from the president down," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told "Fox News Sunday." Yes, Mr. Abbott is a fellow Republican, but he is also interested in protecting Texas and would not have said "A-plus" if the state weren’t getting what it needed. That assessment is backed up by Rear Adm. W. Craig Vanderwagen, a former career emergency manager who is plugged into the Harvey effort. "Early read," he told me in an email, "is that Executive Branch is performing well under this President."
Two reasons suggest themselves for the apparent success: personnel and preparation. Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with leaders experienced in this area. John Kelly, the president’s chief of staff, is fresh off his stint as the secretary of homeland security. He brought to the White House his own deputy, Kirstjen Nielsen, a veteran of George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Council.
Tom Bossert, another Bush alumnus now advising Mr. Trump on homeland security, has acquitted himself well on television, projecting calm and expertise as he discusses the hurricane response. It may be premature to conclude that Mr. Kelly has succeeded in bringing order to the Oval Office, but Harvey has demonstrated a reassuring ability to focus on a disaster when needed.
Beyond the White House, Mr. Trump still lags behind his predecessors in filling political appointments, but he appears to have prioritized the right ones. The president has made nominations for about half the slots at the Department of Homeland Security, more than at most departments. Some nominees, such as Mr. Long’s two deputies at FEMA, await Senate confirmation hearings. Mr. Long is an experienced hand, having previously served as Alabama’s head of emergency management. He has been a reassuring and take-charge presence throughout the Harvey response.
Mr. Long began preparing for the next disaster the day he was sworn in, when he presided over a cabinet-wide tabletop exercise on emergency management. Frank Cilluffo, a homeland security aide in the Bush administration, says this showed the White House was taking disaster readiness seriously. "Training is everything here," he told me. "You want to make mistakes on the practice field, not in the actual event." Then in early August, weeks before Harvey showed up on the radar, Mr. Long hosted the president and other cabinet officials at FEMA for a briefing on the coming hurricane season.
Thus far, the most controversial part of the president’s hurricane response has been communications. On the positive side of the ledger, Mr. Trump has used his vast Twitter following both to provide useful information and to convey that the White House is actively monitoring events. On Tuesday he retweeted an urgent alert from Brazoria County saying that a levee at Columbia Lakes had been breached and residents needed to get out immediately.
Mr. Trump’s tweets about the storm have been informative and responsible, with a tone appropriate to the human tragedy. To the extent he has been criticized, it has been mostly for tweeting on unrelated topics, such as his pardoning of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the "great" new book by Sheriff David Clarke. Although it isn’t realistic to expect the White House to eschew all other subjects during a crisis, perhaps the president could avoid tweeting about unessential matters until the storm passes.
Outside Twitter, the administration has relied on experts like Messrs. Long and Bossert to reassure the public, which seems an appropriate strategy. Message discipline matters. When responding to a disaster, Mr. Cilluffo says, you "can’t have one message here, another message there, and a tweet saying a third thing."
It’s reassuring that the White House understands the importance of relying on trusted messengers during a crisis--especially given the backlash to Mr. Trump’s comments this month after the violence in Charlottesville, Va. During an emergency, the government needs wide cooperation from the public, which may not be possible under any president with credibility problems. Messrs. Long and Bossert have the standing to appeal to Americans across the partisan divide during Harvey and whatever disaster may come next.
Mr. Trump’s handling of the hurricane response thus far is to be commended, but this is no time for complacency. The recovery in Texas will take a long time, and new disasters are always in the offing. The Trump administration would serve Americans well by following its successful approach to this first crisis with a continuing focus on disaster management. Today it’s Harvey. Tomorrow, who knows?
#1
Glad to read the Federal/Trump response is good. It is hard to grasp, the level of rescue and recovery responses that are required at the Federal, State and local levels for a disaster of this magnitude. The number of dead is probably unknown at this time. Estimates for clean-up and re-build are something like $100 billion and growing.
[OpsLens] "I served as a police officer in one of the most pro-demonstrator, anti-cop cities in America, Seattle. "
De-policing, a phenomenon where officers avoid proactive patrol, including enforcing pedestrian violations, littering, and investigating suspicious people and circumstances, is occurring in many American cities. Officers do not wake up one morning and decide to de-police.
Circumstances, such as political and department leaders showing little or no support, force cops to alter their behavior and adopt a professional survival mode. Still, many politicians and law enforcement leaders deny de-policing exists. They don’t want to admit their "enlightened" social justice policies have any negative consequences.
I served as a police officer in one of the most pro-demonstrator, anti-cop cities in America, Seattle. I retired at least ten years sooner than I might have due to the social justice indoctrination disguised as law enforcement training infecting the department. I now also look at law enforcement through a "de-policing" lens. Meaning, does a policy compromise officer safety or the effectiveness of police officers to do their jobs properly?
In today’s anti-cop environment, leftist politicians, community activists, and their allies in the media are inundating people with the false narrative that police officers are wantonly shooting minorities for sport. There’s even a socialist Seattle city council member who continues to describe two Seattle police officers as murderers and racists despite a King County inquest jury having found they acted properly in a fatal shooting incident.
The two officers are now suing her for defamation. People like her caricature cops as corrupt thugs and draw a moral equivalence between criminals killed by cops and police officers murdered by criminals--as if it’s supposed to be a fair fight.
Officers need discretion to do the job effectively. In today’s anti-cop world, one leftist strategy is using politically motivated policies to usurp officer discretion. Consider policies mandating universal report taking and vehicle and body camera use. The cameras do have legitimate positives, but there are still practical negatives to consider regarding policies.
Cops have to wonder if agencies will use the videos to go on "fishing expeditions" to find officer "misconduct," even absent a complaint. Not true misconduct but actions that used to be, and still should be, within officer discretion? I’ve heard enough disturbing anecdotal evidence to believe this is happening. When superiors fish for officer violations, cops may feel forced to waste time taking unnecessary reports or effectively de-police.
#2
Most people who criticize or protest police officers know little to nothing about the extensive training and demands required for police work and most likely don't care. The term, the "thin blue line" is the line between the civilized and the uncivilized.
BLUF:
[Dejour] Interviewer - What was your first impression of the people of North Korea?
Rodman - They work very hard and they take pride in the simple things in life. Whatever their job is, they do it to the best of their ability. I’m not sure anyone there knows how to be lazy, they have a lot of focus. The citizens there are very kind ... but it’s like you’d think these people have a spell on them because all they talk about is him [Kim Jong-un.] I mean it’s insane. I am so intrigued about how they live their lives through this guy ... and he is only, like, 33, 34 years old. He is changing North Korea so much it is really becoming a 24th-century country now -- it’s more like they took down the Flintstone Age and put in the Jetsons. Out with the old, in with the new.
#4
That is at least two people who idolize Kim Jong-In--Rodman and Kim Jong. Rodman must not know or discounts the many accounts of Kim Jong dispatching with his enemies (enemies are people who disagree with him). Some of Kim Jong's methods in the Hermit Kingdom.
[Right Scoop] Mike Lee was on with Stuart Varney this morning, explaining that if Republicans fail at both repealing Obamacare and tax reform, they are dead:
Lee couldn’t be more right. If they don’t get meaningful tax reform done in the wake of their Obamacare failure, then what good are they?
Trump is set to give a speech this afternoon on tax reform to get the ball rolling. But honestly, after all the disagreement on Obamacare, I don’t have high hopes for the tax reform battle. I fear we will end up with a reform that doesn’t really reform anything.
#1
Hurricane Harvey will be a big ticket gov't item. I would not have given the tax cut much of a chance before the storm. I will be shocked if any tax cut happens with the remaining time this indolent, obstructionist, do-nothing congress has remaining.
[DONSURBER.BLOGSPOT] How high and mighty the pundits and politicians sounded after Charlottesville. How dare President Trump say many sides were responsible?
But now as the violence from the leftist Antifa ...the armed wing of the Democratic Party... group escalates and shows what the anti-Trump resistance really is about, my oh my, are they bailing.
Hillary lackey and Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia now says:
“I disavow anyone — we won’t tolerate violence of any kind. You’re entitled to protest. First Amendment certainly protected. As I’ve said after Charlottesville, anyone who came to our state, anyone who committed violence, on any side, will be arrested. […] Everybody’s entitled to do their protest but were not going to accept violence from anybody.”
What happened to the cry of False Equivalence when President Trump said the same thing a couple of weeks ago?
I am guessing the polls show Democrats failed in another attempt to portray President Trump as Hitler.
The equivalence was not false.
It was dead on the money.
For more than a year, Democratic Party operatives have used the threat of violence and even violence to shut down conservative speakers.
Now out of the blue, Democrats have decided to start condemning this.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2017 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
It took the left way too much time to disavow Antifa support. Waaaaay longer than it took Trump to disavow any bad elements who tried to support him.
#2
Now out of the blue, Democrats have decided to start condemning this
Because their minions/handlers in the press couldn't contain the narrative any longer.
Too many photos, audio clips and videos posted online.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/31/2017 8:24 Comments ||
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#3
we won’t tolerate violence of any kind
Bullshit, McAuliffe. You stood back and tolerated it pretty well in Charlottesville.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/31/2017 10:20 Comments ||
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#4
Perhaps even helped it to create the photo-op for the narrative for 2018 and beyond. They have unleashed the far left's brown shirts and discovered they are t really easy to manage.
[Wash Times] Forty years later, the story still seems hard to credit: In the summer of 1977, Capitol Hill was gripped by revelations of the CIA’s top-secret MK-Ultra mind control research program, targeting unsuspecting American citizens, in some cases by luring them to brothels to be fed LSD-laced cocktails.
The blockbuster hearings that summer, chaired by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and aided by a timely dump of intelligence documents, touched some of the country’s rawest nerves: the assassination of Kennedy’s brothers, the possibility of mind-controlled "Manchurian candidates" and the increasing prominence of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs across Western culture.
Although the CIA program officially ran from 1953 to 1964, its dark and fertile legacy stretches to today, living on in modern conspiracy theories about U.S. intelligence agencies’ ability and willingness to manipulate society through surveillance, disinformation, celebrity culture and strategic news leaks.
Security advocates argue that domestic intelligence-gathering is vital for the sake of homeland security. Critics counter that revelations that the CIA and the National Security Agency can hack into phones, computers and even televisions connected to the internet show their powers are still too great and threaten essential personal liberties and constitutional protections.
The 1977 MK-Ultra hearings first tilled similar suspicions and were considered a critical pivot in official and popular attitudes toward the nation’s intelligence community. Triggered in part by the shock of the Watergate scandal, they also revealed the U.S. government’s covert assassination programs and surveillance of American citizens brought to light by the Church Committee’s 1975 investigations of the FBI, CIA and NSA.
The August 1977 MK-Ultra hearings specifically explored what seemed like an outlandish idea straight out of science fiction: the possibility of government mind control.
#2
revelations of the CIA’s top-secret MK-Ultra mind control research program, targeting unsuspecting American citizens, in some cases by luring them to brothels to be fed LSD-laced cocktails.
During those times, there were plenty of knowledgeable, willing participants who were taking LSD voluntarily. These were also the times of "free love" so that the enticement of brothels was not all that great.
#3
I learned most of what I needed to know on this topic from Stanley Milgram's book "Obedience to Authority" Detailed comprehension of this book should be required to get a high school diploma.
[PacificPundit] As I said yesterday, the response to Hurricane Harvey has brought out the best in most Americans, regardless of party ID, color, race or creed. It has also brought up the ugliness of some who call themselves Americans from price gouging, to looting to out right mocking of suffering people. Left wing filth news sight Politico just displayed the ugly side of Harvey, with a cartoon mocking Texas flood victims. This is something you’d expect to see on Salon or something, but Politico proves to be no better.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
08/31/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
All they have is hate. What are they going to do?
#2
As I said yesterday, the response to Hurricane Harvey has brought out the best in most Americans, regardless of party ID, color, race or creed.
For the most part that is true despite the few incidents of looting and price gouging. Left to our own devices we don't need Washington as much as they think we do.
#3
Hey blue Houston et al. Here is what your colleagues really think of you. It is ok, it happened to me too. People I grew up with. Better for it.
This is just provocative bigotry at its absolute sloppiest. People I know who could fit this stereotype are out on horses, in boats, whatever they can do to help. They were there Saturday, Sunday, before this was a story they were there before there was a story. Keep it up, show us what you all really think. I want to see that flabby, pale ass you all hope gets pinched by your cocktail buddies as you tee hee about poking stuffed animals. This is fourth grade, you are professionals, show me, because I laugh.
Herb McCoy7309: The video did not display as submitted, so I removed the quotes around the URL. Sometimes this fixes the problem, and did in this case. Preview allows you to check what the article will look like before you submit it.
:-)
trailing wife
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
08/31/2017 00:00 ||
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The song sez no man is an island.
Not wrong, when his foes own the highland,
So carry on phoning,
Ignoring the droning,
Belong! Well... until you go silent.
At home on the range with the cattle,
The ant and the grasshopper battle.
An eagle-eyed bird,
Its discouraging herd...
Gonna straddle the fence or skedaddle?
#4
The bruthas he calls "toms" and "judases" we would call, "the sane ones".
I'm rather amazed that people haven't reflected on the history of how "whitey got his white privilege" in the first place. Wretchard at Belmont Club pointed out that white boys are the most dangerous: White Lighting.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DONSURBER.BLOGSPOT] How high and mighty the pundits and politicians sounded after Charlottesville. How dare President Trump say many sides were responsible?
