The Arizona Division of Emergency Management is responsible for, well, managing emergencies. A quick glance at the Division's website tells me that the people chosen by the Governor to lead it are well-qualified and competent.

About ADEM Director Frank Navarrete:

Mr. Navarrete has extensive experience in the area of law enforcement communications and intelligence, including 18 years with the Phoenix Police Department.

And Navarrete's deputy, Lou Trammell:

Since being with the Division he has participated in the response and recovery for 48 state and federal emergencies and disasters.

Lou retired in 1991 as a Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-three years with the U.S. Army. His last assignment was a Combat Weapons Developer for armor forces. Qualified as an Instructor Pilot and Flight Examiner, he has served combat aviation tours in Southeast Asia and Central America. He is a licensed commercial pilot and certified open-sea diver.

He received an MBA from Central Michigan University in 1981, received a BS degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1977, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College.

These are professionals with actual experience in protecting, rescuing and serving their constituents.

I have little doubt that these two men and their staffs would efficiently and effectively respond to a natural disaster in Arizona. The question is whether or not Bush's FEMA would allow local authorities to upstage the federal entity by actually getting the job done.

I wouldn't put it past Bush's FEMA to obstruct a relief operation if they feared the locals would come out smelling like roses while the feds would smell like the cess pool they've turned the federal bureaucracy into.