FEMA chief Brown fired from last job;
couldn't handle overseeing horse shows
'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job' -- George W. Bush
Excuse me for engaging in what Charlie Sykes would call "disgusting political exploitation" of the Katrina tragedy. But I thought this report might have some relevance and help answer the question: What in the hell is the federal government doing and what took them so long? Could there be incompetence at the top?
No problem at FEMA, the Pres says. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,'' Bush said of Mike Brown, the agency's director.
The Boston Globe reports:
The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.Hat tip: Political Wire
And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.
The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.
posted by xoff @ 1:23 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
You know... I am going to agree with you on this one... I don’t know that any of us should be too happy about a post like this going to someone who lacked at least a decade of experience in the field. Even if he had been part of emergency government at a local level – it would be a reasonable appointment. Brown shouldn’t’ be the director. FEMA isn’t the place to break in new leaders.
In fairness – this part of the article should be considered too: [Brown served as FEMA deputy director and general counsel before taking the top job, and that he has now overseen the response to ``more than 164 declared disasters and emergencies,'' including last year's record-setting hurricane season.]
Lives were lost because of the storm and the subsequent tidal surge. If you really are hell-bent on blaming government for any of this then you better begin locally and work your way up. The first responders from the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana were the first line of failure here. You can’t blame the loss of life on FEMA. That doesn’t mean the director shouldn’t be replaced – perhaps he should. I just don’t think he should have ever been appointed as the director. There is ample evidence coming in that would indicate that state officials were at fault for much of the delay while FEMA and national Guard assets were already being deployed to the area.
There is also very strong evidence that the city failed to even develop an adequate plan to evacuate the poorest people in the city. I think it is a safe guess that the largest percentage of fatalities were from that population.
Under the law, FEMA cannot simply "go to...[and] establish command and control."
FEMA is specifically authorized to provide assistance AS REQUESTED by the State/Local types.
FEMA staged all their stuff near the hurricane site, then waited around until State/Local types asked for help.
Quite honestly, this has been a massive cluster*&^k and even Michelle Malkin has agreed that Brown should go.
Too bad it's not so easy to dispose of NOLA's Mayor, Director of Emergency Response, and the Governorette of LA.
Newsweek:
The Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was reluctant for the military to take a lead role in disaster relief, a job traditionally performed by FEMA and by the National Guard, which is commanded by state governors. President Bush could have "federalized" the National Guard in an instant. That's what his father, President George H.W. Bush, did after the Los Angeles riots in 1992. Back then, the Justice Department sent Robert Mueller, a jut-jawed ex-Marine (who is now FBI director), to take charge, showing, in effect, that the cavalry had arrived. FEMA's current head, Michael Brown, has appeared over his head and even a little clueless in news interviews. He is far from the sort of take-charge presence New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani conveyed after 9/11.
Up to now, the Bush administration has not hesitated to sweep aside the opinions of lawyers on such matters as prisoners' rights. But after Katrina, a strange paralysis set in. For days, Bush's top advisers argued over legal niceties about who was in charge, according to three White House officials who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. Beginning early in the week, Justice Department lawyers presented arguments for federalizing the Guard, but Defense Department lawyers fretted about untrained 19-year-olds trying to enforce local laws, according to a senior law-enforcement official who requested anonymity citing the delicate nature of the discussions.
While Washington debated, the situation in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast deteriorated.
The fact that there was no food or water at the convention center or at the Superdome was not FEMA’s fault. We can play the blame game, we just have to make sure to include everyone who is at fault rather than targeting our political villains.
Brown should probably be fired. I have no problem with that, but I want everyone who’s at fault to answer for it.
The first responders - didn't.
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