Malkin has a great collection of internal FEMA e-mails from the Katrina debacle that demonstrate a serious detachment from reality in the FEMA ivory tower before, during and after the hurricane hit.
My favorite exchange had to be between Marty Bahamonde on the ground at the Superdome and the now-discharged Michael Brown’s Press Secretary.
Press Secretary (upon Mr. Brown’s trip to Baton Rouge the Wednesday following the disaster):
Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Given that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more than 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you.
To which Bahamonde responded (after spending three days in the squalor of the Superdome):
OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No, won’t go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants. Maybe tonight I will have the time to move the pebbles on the parking garage floor so that they don’t stab me in the back while I try to sleep, but instaed (sic) I will hope her wait at Ruth Christ (sic) is short. But I know she is stressed so I won’t make a big deal about it and you shouldn’t either.
Read them all. If you want a taste of ineffective bureaucracy in action, this is for you.
Posted by Preston Taylor Holmes @ 3:08 pm
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