Down We Go

CNN:

The two agencies that protect the country's coast lines and its residents, NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are still without leaders -- positions that must be appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate.

"That should scare the hell out of everybody," retired US Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré told CNN. "These positions help save lives."

Honoré knows all too well the value that leadership plays during a crisis, as he commanded Joint Task Force Katrina. He coordinated military relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

--and--

But according to Honoré, things could be anything but orderly. "These operations will not function as they should with temporary people doing the jobs." 

"Just look back to Hurricane Katrina to see how important leadership was. If someone is slow in making decisions it can be costly -- imagine having no one at all," Honoré said, referring to the criticism and eventual resignation of then-FEMA director Mike Brown over the bungled response after Katrina hit.

We'll see how it shakes out, of course, but is anybody really expecting good things? This is another play to Privatize (I think - prob'y), as per the usual shit the GOP is always trying to pull:

1) Fuck up the system of Federal Response and Aid to natural disasters

2) Point at it and say, "Oh look, that whole FEMA thing's fucked up"

3) Have your son-in-law's buddies step in and collect a shit-ton of tax dollars for doing something it would've cost a third of a shit-ton of tax dollars to get it handled by somebody who actually knows what the fuck they're doing.

How sure are we that those buddies of the son-in-law aren't working for a shell company?

- with a mailing address in Panama?

- that hides the fact that somebody's raking in nice fat profits from the misery of average Americans?

And how sure are we that those tax dollars aren't being funneled to a bunch Russian Oligarchs?

This is not governance - this is a fucking robbery.