We’ve been following the story of FEMA’s use of political considerations in dispensing aid in Florida after Milton. Yesterday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell gave congressional testimony on the issue. Coverage from FOX and Washington Times. She insists this was an isolated incident but agreed to an IG investigation. Meanwhile, the fired FEMA employee did some media and insists it is widespread. There is commentary from one of the better bloggers and the Washington Times.

The bottom line here is that corruption, and make no mistake this is corruption, is generally not intentional, is generally not a result of deciding to be corrupt. Rather it rides in, disguised as a good thing, and fools you into adopting it.

The fired employee insists that she was just following the general directive to keep her people out of confrontational and/or dangerous situations. The directive is undeniably policy. The issue centers on the presumption, clearly made by the fired employee, and more than likely made other places, that Trump voters were under suspicion of being confrontational and/or dangerous, based simply on their support of Trump, and therefore should be avoided.

The drumbeat on this issue began even before Milton came on shore. Remember, Helene hit just weeks prior and devastated Southern Appalachia, where I reside. Tales of FEMA uselessness came out of the mountains routinely in the weeks between Helene and Milton. When I could get my hands on actual data, not anecdotes, I reported it. There were local stories of confrontations between FEMA and locals, but the reports never added up entirely, not to mention the unprecedented nature of the situation made it easy to presume things weren’t going to work well for a while. What is undeniably true is that in this region, western North Carolina, East Tennessee and environs, responders have given up dealing with FEMA. Fantastic things are happening, but they are all private efforts and involve going around government agencies – especially FEMA. If there is not corruption in FEMA, there is unquestionably incompetence.

It is fair to say that trying to find a Harris voter in the Helene ravaged region makes finding a needle in a haystack look easy. Not to mention, given the region’s history of moonshine making, suspicion of government runs quite high generally – suspicion that could readily turn to resentment if the government failed in a pinch, which clearly has happened.

Now, let’s add into this mix the government’s general emphasis on DEI, where they prioritize “underserved” communities – a practice that is unquestionably prejudicial, just not, perhaps, on the basis of skin color. So, the agency is used to making judgments on the basis of things other than need.

Criswell’s cries of “no cultural issue” ring hollow when you consider these facts. There may not be a direct culture wherein denial of service based on candidate support is true, but there is a culture wherein prejudicial judgements based on factors other than need in response to an emergency are common and a culture that places the needs of the agency’s employees ahead of the community it is intended to serve. (Avoid confrontation….) That is a culture that could easily, given the circumstances of these two hurricanes, result in precisely the corruption seen specifically in Florida and quite likely elsewhere.

FEMA is the tip of the spear. As the new administration and Congress proceed, we are going to find similar things throughout the government. There is no “culture of corruption,” there is simply a culture that promotes and breeds corruption – making corruption inevitable.

This will not be easy to take out of the government, there are no simple fixes. Even now, questions of “burrowing” are coming to the fore. When it comes to removing corruption that runs this deep there are always two images that come to mind. One is the undragoning of Eustace in C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece “The voyage of the Dawn Treader.” The other is from the book “Hind’s Feet in High Places” wherein the protagonist must tear out her corrupt human heart to be replaced by the heart God intends. (starting page 118.) Both images illustrate that removing corruption is deep and painful, almost beyond the ability to stand the pain. Criswell is clearly trying to avoid the very necessary pain. Seeming sacred cows are going to have to be sacrificed in the effort to truly uproot this corruption. They may not be corrupt of themselves, but they clearly breed corruption.

ADDENDUM (an hour or so later): New evidence of widespread corruption in FEMA:

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on an incident of anti-Trump discrimination at FEMA, a new whistleblower revealed to Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) another alleged incident of political bias involving a FEMA employee.

“During the recess for votes, my staff made contact with a new whistleblower who provided a credible account that a FEMA contractor visited the home of an elderly disabled veteran’s family around October 10 following Hurricane Helene,” Comer said at the hearing.

“While there, the FEMA contractor recommended that the family remove Trump campaign materials and signs from both their house and yard. He warned the family that his FEMA supervisors do not take kindly to Trump supporters and that they seem like domestic terrorists,” he continued.

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