[StBernard] don't rock the boat

[Westley Annis]

See what happens when a person who is "in the know" goes public with his
employer's state of affairs. See where rocking the proverbial boat gets you?
Senator Landrieu has is right, see story below, and since she is within the
Washington Belt, I trust she knows for a fact what I've been thinking since
I read that the feds sent in a team to "interview" the existing employees at
the Hurricane Center. I can imagine how the questions were carefully phrased
and the choices of answers they had. And of course, there was no hidden
agenda. It would be poetic justice if a storm's data couldn't be provided as
it should because the satellite fails to work when it's most needed and the
forecast is wrong. But who would suffer? Certainly not the "investigative
team", but the poor souls in some coastal area who are taken by surprise by
the storm's change in path, strength, size, etc. that varies from the
Hurricane Center's other means of forecasting. And it's all because the
truth hurt and embarrassed a few people who should have given this a
priority. Hope it's not de ja vu. There is no satisfaction in saying, "I
told you so." when the results are so critical. -ddk
***************
FROM NOLA.COM
 
The director of the National Hurricane Center was replaced Monday, just six
months into his rocky tenure, a dramatic shakeup a month before the
historically most active period of the hurricane season. 

The pressure on Bill Proenza, 62, to step aside has grown since he publicly
questioned the Bush administration's commitment to predicting the intensity
of tropical storms by not rushing to replace an out-of-date weather
satellite known as QuikScat. The center tracks and predicts the paths of
storms, issuing warnings that help government officials decide on
evacuations and other safety measures. 

Proenza's comments earned him accolades from some quarters as a
whistleblower, but were condemned as an "exaggeration" by National Hurricane
Center forecasters, some of whom joined a staff revolt Friday calling for
his ouster. 


At the time, Proenza said he wouldn't resign. But Monday afternoon, an
official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed
that Proenza had been replaced by deputy director Ed Rappaport, a longtime
Hurricane Center employee. Proenza could not be reached for comment. 

Spokesman Anson Franklin would not say whether Proenza had been fired or
resigned, only that he is on paid leave and still an employee of NOAA, the
umbrella agency over the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Despite the
turmoil, Franklin said the agency is prepared for what is expected to be a
busy hurricane season. 

"We have a team of outstanding professionals who will continue to do an
excellent job as they have done over the last several years," Franklin said.
"I believe the hurricane center is in good shape for this hurricane season."


But Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., suggested the agency was punishing Proenza
for highlighting NOAA's failure to address public safety concerns. 

"NOAA is embarrassingly far behind in ensuring that QuikScat remains part of
that arsenal, and Director Proenza was right to expose their failures to
public scrutiny as higher-ups looked the other way," Landrieu said in a
statement. "There is no excuse for putting bureaucratic office politics
ahead of the safety of the American people."