Reviewer's Book Watch (June 2006)

Unacceptable': The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina
Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D.
BookSurge, LLC
5341 Dorchester Rd, Ste 16, Charleston, SC 29418
www.booksurge.com
ISBN: 1419618393, $12.99, 96 pp.

Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D., is a social issues columnist and satirist, author of 16 books, and a university journalism professor. He has also spent 10 years working in the field of emergency management. This book, based upon extensive observation and documentation focuses on the problems within our current government organization--a systemic failure--which allowed two million Americans to be put at risk. Evidently, the relatively new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is at the heart of the problem instead of the solution. Dr. Brasch lists the primary issues contributing to the problem as:

-Political policies that disregarded global warming and which resulted in warmer sea levels that facilitated catastrophic hurricanes;
-Policies that permitted oil companies to drill into the wetlands of the Gulf Coast and, thus, reduce protection against hurricanes and floods;
-Policies that substantially reduced funding for natural disaster protection, while hyper-inflating funds for the War in Iraq;
-Policies that downgraded the efficiency and response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while pushing new resources into the President's anti-terrorism campaigns;
-Policies that allowed a willful neglect of certain populations;
-Policies that emphasized the "PR mission" and "photo-ops" over actual command;
-Policies that allowed willful neglect of critical warning by government scientists and engineers; and
-Policies that allowed waste and corruption to infiltrate the nation's federal response."

'Unacceptable': The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina is a well-documented, concise book on the geopolitics contributing to dangerous problems within our current government. It is, indeed, a clear reflection of the misuse of power and resources. After reading this book, you may also believe that there is sufficient evidence to indict President Bush, or at least add your voice to the opposition or get in line to volunteer. Volunteer for what? For the suggestion floating around in the e-mail world: "Will someone please give this man a '. . . job' so that we can impeach him."

I'm certain that it was not an easy job compiling and organizing all the information documented in this small book, and it is important that someone cared to compile it for us and present it in a concise, understandable way. It is, however, always easier to criticize than to offer realistic solutions.

It is my belief that fewer people read newspapers or listen to the political news today. Fewer people care to be involved because they feel the problems are too overwhelming and out of control. Government has become too large, too complex, too corrupt, too greedy to think about, and the average person can hardly manage their own affairs. Possibly we need another Gaius Julius Caesar with a new vision, but then 'the powers that be' would soon put an end to such a man, as they did before.

My suggestion for change, which I'm certain we are not ready for, is to put a computer in every home and let the people run the country by majority vote on all issues (prohibiting organized special-interest groups) with the votes tallied by a central computer and policy made based on majority rule. This might excite people to take a renewed interest in the well-being of their country and planet. The men we elect, even if they were good to start, can hardly stand up to the power pressures they experience in office, and in the end, I think the average person has more common sense than our elected representatives.

So, let's get out of Iraq and put some serious pressure behind developing alternative energy sources such as hydrogen and setting up the necessary systems to make it work. Thank you Dr. Brasch for your very provocative account of our government's serious problems.