Unlike some politicians, emergency workers praise FEMA
BRIAN ACKLEY Political Columnist
It's hard to figure what killed more trees in the last two weeks or so: Mother Nature and her

slushy slapdown or every politician from here to Washington, D.C. and back.

Mother Nature's wrath was instant and stunning. The politician's limb liquidation came in a less furious but equally breathtaking squall of self-congratulatory and shallow press releases that undoubtedly took as many trees to produce as there were power line crews in our area last week.

Actually, for the most part, most of our elected officials did what elected officials do: act like moths around a blazing bonfire. Most of the grandstanding was relatively harmless; in fact some of it was downright humorous.

Brian Higgins, whose congressional game plan seems to be to swing for the fences on every issue and hope for at least a double (which still leaves a pretty good batting average), temporarily confused FEMA and the Red Cross, chastising the federal agency for its turtle-like response, as if FEMA was designed to be a first-response agency. In talking with actual frontliners - those interested in providing meaningful, minute-by-minute assistance and not out glad-handing emergency workers in front of a media pack acting like hormone driven teenagers who just spied a rock star down the street - the town and village officials who barely slept for days on end generally praised the FEMA effort.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, the undisputed front-runner of frivolous faxes during her almost six years in office, moved quickly to reassure us all that she, "will continue to monitor developments closely to make sure we do everything possible to help those affected." Fortunately, she didn't have to reach far into her past. One of her mindless missives during the devastating floods which hit south central New York earlier this year dutifully reminded us all that she would, "continue to monitor the work of the federal agencies on the ground and get our communities the right kind of help as we move forward." As they say in the beer commercials, "Brilliant!"

In Amherst, Councilman Bill O'Laughlin made a mountain out of a Mohan, perhaps hoping the heat he turned up in his cauldron of personal politics would waft over the town, providing a blanket of warmth so many were so desperately seeking. Mohan, once again, seemed well intentioned. The actual execution of his taxpayer-first mantra, once again, seemed a little lacking. It was not the kind of emergency situation performance, however, that one would hope for from a councilman who in 2008 fancies himself on the 16th floor of the Rath Building, especially since his private sector job as a financial advisor is to protect people's money,

Obviously, the biggest benefactor is incumbent Rep. Tom Reynolds, who should he actually pull victory from the jaws of defeat, can thank a most unexpected but fully exploited $250 million campaign contribution, or whatever the final cleanup bill turns out to be. We saw everything but Reynolds with 25 or so saplings at his side during one of his imperious pressers. "They're my supporters," he would explain.

And why is it that Jack Davis is acting like a guy who still had fallen Redwoods in front of his factory's doorway? Whose advice is he following exactly by staying cloistered in his plant, publicly eschewing the idea that - gasp! - he should actually get out and meet a few of the voters who he claims he so badly wants to represent.

His let-them-eat-cake nonchalance over everything from the seemingly trivial - such as baby kissing and flesh pressing - to something truly important - such as the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, one of the region's few true jewels - shows a disturbing, tunnel-visioned, free-trade disconnect which makes reaching for the Davis lever more problematic than it should be.

The storm even allowed County Executive Joel Giambra to claim something other than his handling of county finances as a wreck after his sport utility vehicle was broadsided at an intersection with a nonworking traffic light.

Whether it was one of our favorite pols, or Old Man Winter himself, no one seemed to remember that a tree is a terrible thing to waste.

(Brian Ackley is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. Opinions expressed here are those of the author.)