Posted on 09/04/2005 8:43:56 AM PDT by holyscroller
The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.
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.
The agency, run by Brown since 2003, is now at the center of a growing fury over the handling of the New Orleans disaster.
``I look at FEMA and I shake my head,'' said a furious Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday, calling the response ``an embarrassment.''
President Bush, after touring the Big Easy, said he was ``not satisfied'' with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.
And U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch predicted there would be hearings on Capitol Hill over the mishandled operation.
Brown - formerly an estates and family lawyer - this week has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.
Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado.
``We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records,'' explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioner's office. ``This was his full-time job . . . for 11 years,'' she added.
Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.
``He was asked to resign,'' Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed last night.
Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign. [more on URL]
Not many people that you can trust in the media these days.
Well, that's the problem, it isn't a shelter. People were told to go to the Superdome as the "shelter of last resort", it seems a bunch of people showed up at the wrong place and couldn't understand why they weren't being helped immediately.
You would have to be an idiot not to have predicted it as a possibility before the storm even hit. I had even said to my uncle before the storm hit that I'd rather ride out the storm alone than be stranded in the dome with tens of thousands of people when they start to get pissed off.
Travis,
Drudge is running a smaller picture than you posted that has been circulating since yesterday. If you know how to send those fine pictures to him I bet they make the front page.
They changed that later on and told everybody to come. It's a pretty clear sign of poor planning.
Unbelievable, so with that happening at the local level, is anyone surprised that FEMA looks like it's chasing its own tail?
ping
It's the "new tone in Washington" which really isn't any different from the "old tone in Washington" before the brief respite given us by the Reaganites.
Nagin: "I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here. I'm like, “You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."
Rest of the transcript here: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/
Habitat for Horses/Lone Start Equine Rescue is organizing a massive relief and rescue effort to help the equines of southern Louisiana after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina forced millions to evacuate. A large number of horses, mules and donkeys are now in danger of starvation, injury and death if relief efforts are not immediately taken. FEMA and the USDA are now in control of the areas most devastated by the hurricane. As quickly as they allow, our emergency relief efforts will start.
these are excellent points. and the backfiring is what i am worried about...
those conservatives trashing michelle's opinion on this need to look beyond the moment and see the far reaching effects of another incompetent, though not as bad as the mayor and gov of LA, in charge.
Yea he screwed up. But nothing as bad as the Governeret. She intentionally kept the Feds out of the loop. This person is certifiable.
My primary criticism of both Bush and his father is that they rely too heavily on old cronies for their appointments. Then their loyalty to these old chums prevents them from firing the incompetent ones. Cronyism will be our downfall.
It is disgusting and lets not forget all the people there that didn't do what they needed to do.
bump that
I myself at first couldn't believe that one governor and one mayor could have been completely responsible for the ineptness of the situation. However, as the facts have began to come out, it appears that they are largely to blame.
I saw an incredible exchange on CNN between one of their reporters on the scene and the commentator. I'll paraphrase here as accurately as I can remember. Went something like this.
Reporter: crime, lawlessness, blah blah blah, and it didn't help that 2/3rds of New Orleans PD were disengaged from duty.
Commentator: Could you explain that last part, I mean why were 2/3rds of the police not doing their jobs?
Reporter: Well, some of them had lost their homes, some couldn't get to work, and a lot of them just threw up their hands and said screw it.
The reporter didn't use those exact words of course, in fact it was something much more innocuous sounding, likely something scripted by the NO CYA task force. But the commentator luckily asked for a more accurate description of what had really happened.
Why would the South "go Democratic"? Do we all have a death wish? The last thing we need is more Democrats mucking things up. The Republicans may not be perfect, but they tend to be a good bit better than the Democrats. This is certainly true of the major figures in this story.
A little checking shows that he had a little more experience than that of horse show guy.
From FEMA's Website
Michael D. Brown
Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response
Michael D. Brown was nominated by President George W. Bush as the first Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the newly created Department of Homeland Security in January 2003. As the head of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown leads federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversees the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration, and initiates proactive mitigation activities.
Additionally, Under Secretary Brown helps the Secretary of Homeland Security ensure the effectiveness of emergency responders, and directs the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, the National Disaster Medical System and the Nuclear Incident Response Team.
Under Secretary Brown has led Homeland Security’s response to more than 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies, including the 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster and the California wildfires in 2003. In 2004, Mr. Brown led FEMA’s thousands of dedicated disaster workers during the most active hurricane season in over 100 years, as FEMA delivered aid more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.
Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.
Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.
Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.
A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.
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