The View From Kansas

A home in Greensburg, Kansas, was damaged by the most powerful tornado to hit the USA in eight years. (Associated Press)

In the wake of the recent tornadoes in the state of Kansas, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, claims the Kansas National Guard has depleted resources to respond, some of them having been deployed in Iraq. This came as a surprise to Republican Presidential candidate and fellow-Kansan Sam Brownback, who did a little digging himself. It seems the Guard is confident they have whatever they need to respond to the situation. At least that's what the state adjutant general is saying:

"We've been over the town twice now — all of our partners around the state, the experts from cities with technical search-and-rescue," Maj Gen Todd Bunting, the state's adjutant general, told CNN Monday morning. "We've done everything we can.

"Some of this rubble is 20, 30 feet deep. That's where we've spent all our efforts, and we'll do it again today."

So what the hell is Sebelius talking about?

For an informed discussion, you need to go beyond in the mainstream media to Confederate Yankee for the straight stuff:

While it was no doubt comforting to have the additional manpower and equipment from the National Guard available, it is the state and local emergency personnel with trained search-and-rescue experts that are our best resources for this and similar situations.

Despite an inaccurate claim made by Sebelius on CNN, National Guard soldiers are not first responders, and they never have been. National Guardsmen can only be called to duty in governor-declared states of emergency, or federally, by presidential order.

Our first responders were, and remain, our local and state police, fire, and rescue units. The National Guard is now, and has always been, a reserve force.

You would think Madame Governor would already know that. But when everything hits the fan, some people look to Washington to blame for everything, even acts of God. Look what it did for Louisiana.

mwbh cannot recommend CY highly enough, for getting the story behind the story, and providing astute analysis. Nor can we ignore an opportunity to get on the horn to The American Red Cross.

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[UPDATE MAY 12: Did Howard Dean order Governor Sebelius to lie about FEMA's response to the Greensburg tornado? The plot thickens...]
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