So today the emergency alert system was given the ability to activate AMBER alerts. That got me thinking.
We've been hearing these alerts once a month for what seems like forever. Here's what they say on the
EAS Fact Sheet regarding the purpose of their agency:
QUOTE
The EAS is designed to provide the President with a means to address the American people in the event of a national emergency. Through the EAS, the President would have access to thousands of broadcast stations, cable systems and participating satellite programmers to transmit a message to the public. The EAS and its predecessors, CONELRAD and the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), have never been activated for this purpose. But beginning in 1963, the President permitted state and local level emergency information to be transmitted using the EBS.
So where exactly was the EAS on September 11th.?
The news websites were bogged down. The TV and radio had no clue what was going on. The American people were in a virtual panic. We were scrambling for information.
If not when our country is under attack, then when exactly is the appropriate time to activate the EAS? What specifically constitutes a national emergency?
The President did drop the ball on this one. He should have lead the country through a series of official update statements. He should have reassured the country.
Instead, he flew around in Air Force One for a while. Speaking of which, can the President activate the EAS from Air Force One?
I've searched the Internet now for over an hour to get the amount we spend on this pathetic government agency. I've checked FirstGov, the FCC, and the OMB. None of them readily give the figure.
I'm afraid I don't want to know the cost.
Mike