Nothing should detract attention from Katrina

The Sun Herald Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Sep. 9 - No one and nothing should be permitted to detract a moment of attention away from recovering from the destruction and devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Anyone with the time to argue about what Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown did or didn't do -- or when he did or didn't do it -- has more time on their hands than most Katrina survivors.

We will simply pause long enough to say that President Bush waited far too long to remove Brown from a highly visible role in the federal relief effort. Bush ordered Brown off the Gulf Coast and back to Washington on Friday. The president placed Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who has been overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts, in charge of FEMA efforts in this region.

So what's the point of lingering any longer on this subject?

Brown's gone. But the death and destruction caused by Katrina remains.

We still have bodies to locate and people to relocate. We still have businesses to rebuild and communities to recover.

Those are our goals, and we must stay focused on them.

Anyone who wastes precious time debating the merits of one bureaucrat's resume is not contributing to the solution of any of our problems.

This editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board: President-Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle.