Don’t get caught flat-footed in front of the press! Below is a quick rundown of today’s “must reads.” – John T. Doolittle, House Republican Conference Secretary

THE MORNING MURMUR – Tuesday, September 6, 2005

1. Blame Amid the Tragedy – Wall Street Journal Op-ed
Rather than blaming the federal government for an inadequate response to Katrina, consider the culpability of city and state officials.

2. Magic Marker Strategy – New York Times Op-ed
The liberals bewailing the insensitivity and racism of Republicans in Washington sound like a bad rerun of the 1960's, when urban riots were blamed on everyone but the rioters and the police.

3. Hill calls on heavyweight advisers in Supreme Court battle – Washington Times
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has hired Jim Flug, an experienced and highly trusted private lawyer to dig up dirt on Judge Roberts and guide Kennedy in his quest for a nomination fight.

4. Annan expects blame over Iraqi oil program – Associated Press
U.N. Secretary-General Annan told the BBC radio he believed “that there will be lots of criticism for myself as chief admin officer…When it comes to Iraq, on this issue no one is entirely covered in glory."

5. Ga. Voter ID Opponents to Announce Lawsuit – Associated Press
Georgia Democrats are planning a lawsuit to challenge a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls – fighting fraud has become controversial.

FULL ARTICLES BELOW:

1. Blame Amid the Tragedy – Wall Street Journal Op-ed

By BOB WILLIAMS
September 6, 2005; Page A28

As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response?
As a former state legislator who represented the legislative district most impacted by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, I can fully understand and empathize with the people and public officials over the loss of life and property.

Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the federal government, rather than considering the culpability of city and state officials. I am fully aware of the challenges of having a quick and responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And there is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible -- local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin.

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.

A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected.

The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this writing, on the city's Web site, and states: "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored.

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance.

State legislators and governors nationwide need to update their contingency plans and the operation procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not always be the case with a disaster (think of terrorist attacks). It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response."

I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request.

The Louisiana Legislature should conduct an immediate investigation into the failures of state and local officials to implement the written emergency plans. The tragedy is not over, and real leadership in the state and local government are essential in the months to come. More importantly, the hurricane season is still upon us, and local and state officials must stay focused on the jobs for which they were elected -- and not on the deadly game of passing the emergency buck.

Mr. Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a free market public policy research organization in Olympia, Wash.

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112596602138332256,00.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

2. Magic Marker Strategy – New York Times Op-ed

September 6, 2005
By JOHN TIERNEY

It was the climax of George W. Bush's video introduction at the Republican convention: the moment at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series when he threw a pitch all the way to home plate. The video ended, and the conventioneers cheered as Mr. Bush strode onto a stage shaped like a pitcher's mound.

Well, live by the pitch, die by the pitch. When you campaign as the man on the mound, the great leader whose arm rescues Americans in their moment of need, they expect you to deal with a hurricane, too.

Mr. Bush made a lot of mistakes last week, but most of his critics are making an even bigger one now by obsessing about what he said and did. We can learn more by listening to men like Jim Judkins, particularly when he explains the Magic Marker method of disaster preparedness.

Mr. Judkins is one of the officials in charge of evacuating the Hampton Roads region around Newport News, Va. These coastal communities, unlike New Orleans, are not below sea level, but they're much better prepared for a hurricane. Officials have plans to run school buses and borrow other buses to evacuate those without cars, and they keep registries of the people who need special help.

Instead of relying on a "Good Samaritan" policy - the fantasy in New Orleans that everyone would take care of the neighbors - the Virginia rescue workers go door to door. If people resist the plea to leave, Mr. Judkins told The Daily Press in Newport News, rescue workers give them Magic Markers and ask them to write their Social Security numbers on their body parts so they can be identified.

"It's cold, but it's effective," Mr. Judkins explained.

That simple strategy could have persuaded hundreds of people to save their own lives in New Orleans. What the city needed most was coldly effective local leaders, not a president in Washington who could feel their pain. It's the same lesson we should have learned from Sept. 11 and other disasters, yet both liberals and conservatives keep ignoring it.

The liberals bewailing the insensitivity and racism of Republicans in Washington sound like a bad rerun of the 1960's, when urban riots were blamed on everyone but the rioters and the police. Yes, the White House did a terrible job of responding to Katrina, but Democratic leaders in New Orleans and Louisiana didn't even fulfill their basic duties.

In coastal Virginia - which, by the way, has a large black population and plenty of Republican politicians - Mr. Judkins and his colleagues assume that it's their job to evacuate people, maintain order and stockpile supplies to last for 72 hours, until federal help arrives. In New Orleans, the mayor seemed to assume all that was beyond his control, just like the mayors in the 1960's who let the riots occur.

They said their cities couldn't survive without help from Washington, which proceeded to shower inner cities with money and programs that did more damage than the riots. Cities didn't recover until some mayors, especially Republicans like Rudy Giuliani, tried self-reliance.

Mr. Giuliani was called heartless and racist for cutting the welfare rolls and focusing on crime reduction, but black neighborhoods were the greatest beneficiaries of his policies. He was criticized for ignoring social services as he concentrated on reorganizing the Police and Fire Departments, but his cold effectiveness made the city a more livable place and kept it calm after Sept. 11.

Yet Mr. Bush, with approval from conservatives who should have known better, reacted to Sept. 11 by centralizing disaster planning in Washington. He created the byzantine Homeland Security Department, with predictable results last week.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, often criticized for ineptitude, became even less efficient after it was swallowed by a bureaucracy consumed with terrorism. The department has spent billions on new federal airport screeners - with no discernible public benefit - while giving short shrift to natural disasters.

The federal officials who had been laboring on a one-size-fits-all strategy were unprepared for the peculiarities of New Orleans, like the high percentage of people without cars. The local officials who knew about that problem didn't do anything about it - and then were furious when Mr. Bush didn't solve it for them. Why didn't the man on the mound come through for them?

It's a fair question as they go door to door looking for bodies. But so is this: Why didn't they go door to door last week with Magic Markers?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/opinion/06tierney.html

3. Hill calls on heavyweight advisers in Supreme Court battle – Washington Times

By Charles Hurt
Published September 6, 2005

When Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, one of the key Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, faced a re-election fight against an unknown businessman in 1994, he turned to a highly trusted private lawyer to dig up dirt on his opponent.
Now, James Flug has rejoined Mr. Kennedy's staff and will advise him during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge John G. Roberts Jr.
"Jim Flug is the 8,000-pound gorilla who will be driving this thing," said Makan Delrahim, former Judiciary Committee staff director for Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican.
He is "very personable, experienced and weathered in nominations fights," added Mr. Delrahim. "He knows how to build coalitions, how to ask the probing questions and he knows how to staff somebody like Ted Kennedy."
Conservatives have noted Mr. Flug's role.
"It is hard to fathom Mr. Flug coming back to Capitol Hill after 30 years of private practice for anything other than a bitterly tough confirmation fight," Ed Meese of the Heritage Foundation, Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society and Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice warned in a joint statement.
Mr. Flug, who did not respond to e-mail, worked for Mr. Kennedy during the defeat of Nixon Supreme Court nominees Clement Haynesworth and G. Harold Carswell. After leaving Mr. Kennedy's staff for private practice, Mr. Flug rejoined the Kennedy staff two years ago.
But his involvement in Mr. Kennedy's 1994 campaign against Mitt Romney, who is now state governor, caused a stir when the Boston Globe revealed that the campaign had paid Mr. Flug to hire the Investigative Group Inc., the firm run by former Watergate investigator Terry Lenzner, to dig through Mr. Romney's background.
Mr. Flug isn't the only operative brought back for Supreme Court vacancy fights. Michael O'Neill, former nominations counsel to Mr. Hatch, was hired earlier this year to be chief counsel to Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
A professor at George Mason University, Mr. O'Neill clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1999 to 2005. Many Republican judiciary staffers believe Mr. Specter hired Mr. O'Neill to help assuage conservatives that he was committed to ensuring confirmation of President Bush's judicial nominees.
Mr. O'Neill's Democrat counterpart on the committee is Bruce Cohen, chief counsel for Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking minority member of the committee. Mr. Cohen, who joined Mr. Leahy's staff in 1993, was hired by Mr. Specter to be his counsel on the Judiciary Committee in 1981.
One of the most energetic staffers behind the scenes of the confirmation fight will be Don Stewart, the relentless spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican. Mr. Stewart, a former intelligence analyst in the Army, joined Mr. Cornyn after he was first elected in 2002.
Last week, the Hill publication National Journal predicted that Mr. Cornyn would be one of Judge Roberts' "most staunch and resolute" defenders.
"Cornyn, a savvy freshman who is closely allied with the White House, will vie for the mantle of the quickest, most relentless defender of the nominee," Kirk Victor wrote.

"Cornyn's aggressive press shop has established a rapid-response role in which it immediately challenges every charge leveled by Democratic critics against the nominee."
As Mr. Cornyn likes to say: "A charge unrebutted is too often a charge believed."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050905-114119-3586r.htm

4. Annan expects blame over Iraqi oil program – Associated Press

By Peter Graff
Mon Sep 5, 2005

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he expected to face blame over the Iraqi oil-for-food program when investigators deliver a report this week, and wished the United Nations had never agreed to run it.

Annan told BBC World Service radio he believed chief investigator Paul Volcker would also criticize others involved in the corruption-tainted $64 billion program.
"I suspect that there will be lots of criticism (for) myself as chief admin officer, probably something on the 661 committee, the Security Council, the government of Iraq," he said.

"When it comes to Iraq, on this issue no one is entirely covered in glory."

The now defunct program was designed to ship humanitarian supplies into Iraq while allowing Baghdad to sell limited oil under U.N. economic sanctions.
It was run by the United Nations and overseen by a panel of Security Council member representatives, called the 661 committee after a resolution governing the sanctions.

Volcker, a former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman hired to investigate the program, is due to issue a report of more than 1,000 pages on Wednesday on the investigation's findings.

Among those expected to face criticism are Annan's son Kojo, accused of using his father's name for personal profit while working for a Swiss firm that won a lucrative contract to inspect goods.

Annan is expected to be cleared of improperly interfering in the contract on his son's behalf, although sources close to the investigation say he will be rebuked for failing to supervise the program properly.

Annan said he wished the U.N. had had nothing to do with the program.

"We have a whole range of activities, oil-for-food was an extra program we were asked to undertake. Honestly I wish we were never given that program, and I wish the U.N. would never be asked to take that kind of a program again," he said.

The oil-for-food program was designed to lessen the humanitarian impact on Iraqis of U.N. sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. It gave U.N. officials the power to oversee billions of dollars in trade every year.

The program ran from 1996 until U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 and toppled President Saddam Hussein.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050905/ts_nm/iraq_un_probe_dc_1

5. Ga. Voter ID Opponents to Announce Lawsuit – Associated Press

BY ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer
Mon Sep 5, 2005

Opponents of a new Georgia law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls are planning a federal court lawsuit challenging the measure, which they fear will lower voter turnout.

The bill requires voters to show photo identification at the polls. It eliminates the use at the polls of formerly accepted forms of voter identification, such Social Security cards, birth certificates or utility bills.

A news conference to discuss the lawsuit was set for Tuesday, said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks.

The suit likely will echo the complaints that several groups filed in objection letters sent to the Department of Justice before it approved the new law last month.

Under the Voting Rights Act, Georgia and other states with a history of suppressing minority voting must get federal permission to change their voting laws.

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, Brooks said he believes the issue could ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"No matter who wins at the lower court level, there will be appeals," he said.

The Republican-backed measure sparked racial tension during the state's legislative session last spring. Most of Georgia's black lawmakers walked out at the state Capitol when it was approved.

Democrats had argued the idea was a political move by the GOP to depress voting among minorities, the elderly and the poor — all traditional bases for Democrats.

Plaintiffs in the suit include The Coalition for the People's Agenda that is chaired by the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The ACLU is representing the plaintiffs in this case.

The groups plan to include Georgia voters as co-plaintiffs, especially those who would be "grossly affected by the proposal," Brooks said.

Several other states request photo ID, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most allow voters without a photo ID to use other forms of identification or sign an affidavit of identity.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050906/ap_on_re_us/voter_3