Craig Fugate is Obama's choice for the head of FEMA. Fortunately Fugate seems actually to be capable of doing this job, has experience. For Craig Fugate was the head of Florida's emergency response system.

In October 2001, Fugate was appointed the Director of the Florida
Division of Emergency Management by Gov. Bush. After the events of
9/11, the division was tasked with the role of managing the Federal
Homeland Security funding and developing Florida's Domestic Security
Strategy with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The program
has since been recognized as a model for other states.

In September 2003, the Florida Emergency Management Program became
the first state emergency management program in the nation to receive
full accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.

Fugate led the response to some of the worst hurricanes in the
Florida's history in 2004 and 2005, and he has helped the state cut
response times to impacted communities during recent hurricanes.

He seems competent, certainly, but did you see that bit about who appointed him?

Fugate, who faces Senate confirmation once he is nominated, has been
director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management since 2001,
chosen by former Gov. Jeb Bush. He was retained by current Gov. Charlie
Crist. Both governors are Republicans.

Before that, Fugate was the agency's assistant director for more than four years.

Fugate
has been praised for helping guide Florida through several devastating
hurricanes in the past decade. He was criticized in 2005 for not
distributing enough ice, water and other supplies immediately after
Hurricane Wilma. Fugate had warned residents before the storm that they
should have enough supplies for three days after it passed, but many
did not and that overstressed the system.

Napolitano called Fugate one of the most experienced emergency managers in the country.

"The
work he's accomplished in Florida serves as a model for other states,"
Napolitano said in a statement. "He will be a tremendous asset to FEMA
and it's employees."

Fugate's department was held up as a
national model after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He said then
that the state had been preparing extensively for the threat of
terrorism since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and had done exercises
for several possibilities, including cruise missile attacks.

Did ya see it?

Yup, he was appointed by the last President's brother, Jeb Bush. Good to see that one of the family appoints on the basis of skill, no?

Yup:

U.S. President Barack Obama picked Craig Fugate, the top emergency
response official in Florida, on Wednesday to head the federal agency
that was widely panned for its response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Obama, who criticized the Bush administration's response to the
hurricane disaster in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast during the
presidential campaign, said his choice to lead the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) would keep such "failures" from happening
again.

"From his experience as a first responder to his strong
leadership as Florida's Emergency Manager, Craig has what it takes to
help us improve our preparedness, response and recovery efforts," Obama
said in a White House statement announcing his intent to nominate
Fugate.

"I'm confident that Craig is the right person for the
job and will ensure that the failures of the past are never repeated,"
he said in an apparent reference to the response to Katrina.

Former President George W. Bush was widely criticized for the
government's slow emergency response to Katrina, which hastened a slide
in his popularity and left a lasting stain on his legacy.

How remarkable, appointing bureaucrats because they're good at being bureaucrats. Tsk.

You think it might catch on?