Letter: Landrieu relies on smoke, mirrors

2theadvocate.com

August 6, 2008

Re: “ ‘Senator Blasts’ blasting away,” by Gerard Shields, Washington correspondent for The Advocate, published July 27.

It’s a sad day when an elected official is praised for her ability to get good press, but behind the headlines it’s all just smoke and mirrors. That’s exactly what U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is doing with FEMA, and it is disgraceful.

No one has more power to make changes to FEMA than Mary Landrieu. She is chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Disaster Recovery Subcommittee.

According to her Web site, she is “committed to reforming” FEMA, but all she does is talk about it. Waiting for FEMA to mess up and sending out a news release isn’t leadership, and it certainly won’t help us avoid another disaster such as Katrina. Landrieu isn’t taking her role as chairwoman very seriously. It’s just another example of why we need change in Washington.

And on the subject of Mary Landrieu’s “public relations savvy,” if for even one second, Landrieu is more concerned with good headlines instead of avoiding the loss of lives, the it’s time for her to go.

What has Mary Landrieu done besides send out news releases?