BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA

Subject: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:04 PM

Breaking news from the Associated Press. Film at 11. Is anyone suprised ??

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:12 PM

Now if we can just get the rest of them to do the same! From the top down, I mean.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:20 PM

Such as the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA?

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: GUEST,maire-aine
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:21 PM

This from MSNBC.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:24 PM

Michael Brown will soon pop up again, named as the head of something or other, something else he has no qualifications for, other than buddyism with the bush.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:31 PM

Brown's resignation is a start, but it won't prevent a repeat of what we saw in Mississippi and Louisiana in any disaster situations in other locations. And getting rid of the mayor of NO and Governor of Louisiana won't accomplish that either.

FEMA needs to be restored as an independent cabinet level agency, and it needs to go back to being an emergency management agency, rather than a gravy job for the president's friends. It needs to have its natural disaster funding restored, and it needs to be run and staffed with qualified emergency management experts and personnel.

Also, we need to bring home the all of the various states' national guard personnel and equipment.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:45 PM

This is a case of someone falling on their sword for the "greater good". The AP reports that he had planned on going back to the ptivate sector this fall anyway. It's a shame that Katrina could't have waited until next year. But my guess is that the next person in this job will have their qualifications looked at very closly indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 03:48 PM

It is rumored that Brown will be appointed head of the soon to be created Department of Horsepuckey. He has the necessary credentials and this will please Doug R. no end.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 04:26 PM

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!"

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: saulgoldie
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 05:01 PM

Such as President Dipstick, Guest 3:20.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Deckman
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 05:12 PM

You know, if you think about it, Brown could be considered as being of President bush's MORE qualified appointees. How's that for scary! Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 05:21 PM

Bush has appointed David Paulison as acting head of FEMA. Anybody know anything about David Paulison?

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 05:39 PM

He seems to be a firefighter from Miami.

http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/paulison.shtm

We can be sure the media will go over his bio with a fine tooth comb.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 05:43 PM

I assume this means that Mr. Brown is now the top choice for the next Secretary General of the United Nations.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:02 PM

http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/paulison.shtm

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:15 PM

well, he at least has some experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:22 PM

Well, Brown knew how to put on equestrian shows, Bill.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:35 PM

"His emergency management experience includes Hurricane Andrew".

We saw a lot of the same problems with the emergency management of Hurricane Andrew as we have been seeing with Hurricane Katrina. Since I have been taking the stance that the problems with Katrina have been the result of a poorly funded and administered FEMA, I will give this guy the benefit of the doubt and assume that the problems with the emergency management of Andrew were a result of the same thing, rather than place the blame for that one on the local emergency management people such as Mr. Paulison.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:42 PM

It would be nice to see contingency plans in place that actually 'start' at the 'send help' stage. This time it seems that there was crap about who should help; who was in 'control'; who had authority, etc. There was no plan in place to handle the emergency situation. Too much jurisdictional garbage. Maybe the new guy will address that. Maybe the President will give some thought to it, also. However, one miracle at a time.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Bobert
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:56 PM

That got the wrong man...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 06:58 PM

We did have a few years during which FEMA was an effective emergency management agency. I don't see any practical reasons why the agency can't be made as effective again as it once was. But I can see a few political reasons why it might not be.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:05 PM

New York Times' PaulKrugman weighs in on this subject:

"All the President's Friends
            
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 12, 2005
The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. The hapless Michael Brown - who is no longer overseeing relief efforts but still heads the agency - has become a symbol of cronyism.

But what we really should be asking is whether FEMA's decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA's are there?

Unfortunately, it's easy to find other agencies suffering from some version of the FEMA syndrome.

The first example won't surprise you: the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a key role to play in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, but which has seen a major exodus of experienced officials over the past few years. In particular, senior officials have left in protest over what they say is the Bush administration's unwillingness to enforce environmental law....

What about the Food and Drug Administration? Serious questions have been raised about the agency's coziness with drug companies, and the agency's top official in charge of women's health issues resigned over the delay in approving Plan B, the morning-after pill, accusing the agency's head of overruling the professional staff on political grounds.

Then there's the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose Republican chairman hired a consultant to identify liberal bias in its programs. The consultant apparently considered any criticism of the administration a sign of liberalism, even if it came from conservatives.

You could say that these are all cases in which the Bush administration hasn't worried about degrading the quality of a government agency because it doesn't really believe in the agency's mission. But you can't say that about my other two examples.

Even a conservative government needs an effective Treasury Department. Yet Treasury, which had high prestige and morale during the Clinton years, has fallen from grace....

And finally, what about the department of Homeland Security itself? FEMA was neglected, some people say, because it was folded into a large agency that was focused on terrorist threats, not natural disasters. But what, exactly, is the department doing to protect us from terrorists?

In 2004 Reuters reported a "steady exodus" of counterterrorism officials, who believed that the war in Iraq had taken precedence over the real terrorist threat. Why, then, should we believe that Homeland Security is being well run?

Let's not forget that the administration's first choice to head the department was Bernard Kerik, a crony of Rudy Giuliani. And Mr. Kerik's nomination would have gone through if enterprising reporters hadn't turned up problems in his background that the F.B.I. somehow missed, just as it somehow didn't turn up the little problems in Michael Brown's résumé. How many lesser Keriks made it into other positions?

The point is that Katrina should serve as a wakeup call, not just about FEMA, but about the executive branch as a whole. Everything I know suggests that it's in a sorry state - that an administration which doesn't treat governing seriously has created two, three, many FEMA's. "

-snip-

Click All The President's Friends-New York Times for the entire article.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 07:21 PM

Here's a dailykos diary by kos on Brown's Resignation.

Brown has resigned. It means little [Mon Sep 12th, 2005]

And here's a comment in response to that diary:

"Good Thing
I disagree that this means little. Brown's resignation is very significant. The FEMA head quits amid significant criticism a few weeks after a disaster? Fox and other Republican outlets can criticize local officials all they want, but Nagin and Blanco didn't quit -- Bush's guy did. There is no way for Bush to clean that up. People are smart enough to figure out that this guy should not have been there in the first place. Also, contrast this with the fact that Louisiana just hired Clinton's FEMA head. "

by lando on Mon Sep 12th, 2005

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:02 PM

Myth #3: A mask, plastic sheeting, and some duct tape will save you from a biological attack.
Weaponized biological agents are typically one to five microns (0.0001 cm or 0.00003937 inch) in diameter. The Department of Homeland Security suggests wearing a dense-weave cotton mask to help filter contaminants. Such a mask is a barrier only to particles thousands of microns or larger in size. In addition, partitioning off a room with plastic sheeting and duct tape can slow the movement of air from outside to inside, but it will by no means seal the area from outside air.

Good site to view:

http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/features/biowarfare/

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:04 PM

I posted that before someone remembers this.

a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/11/emergency.supplies/">http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/11/emergency.supplies/

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Bobert
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:06 PM

I still say they got the wrong guy...

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:08 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/11/emergency.supplies/
Sorry 'bout that.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 08:15 PM

Does this sound familiar:

"With concerns growing about al Qaeda's interest in acquiring weapons of mass destruction, Paulison cautioned that aid after an attack could be hard to come by, at least initially.

He said that in the first 48 to 72 hours of an emergency, many Americans will likely to have to look after themselves".

-snip-

this from the link that Peace posted above.

Oh.."Peace posted" sounds like a tongue twister. I betcha Bush can't say it fast. After all, he might not be able to chew gum and work at the same time. When a reporter asked Bush today to comment on Brown's retirement, Bush said that the reporter knew more than he did...

No comment.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: CarolC
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 10:10 PM

Hoo, boy. We're in trouble now. Somebody please help me understand where all of those billions of tax dollars we're paying for "homeland security" are going.

I think it's a crime that the Bush administration is making our servicemen and women risk their lives in places like Iraq in the name of "securing the homeland" while Bush is doing nothing whatever to provide any kind of "security" for their families here in the 'states.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 10:24 PM

Dubya's job, as he understands it (as told to him by his dad and by Cheney), is to reduce the size of the federal government and at the same time allow businesses to get bigger and have lower taxes and fewer regulations. Along the way, when people help get you elected, you pay them back with political appointments in the federal government. Generally the folks who work for those agencies hold their noses and go ahead and get the job done IN SPITE OF whoever is in charge. That's how it works.

All presidents do it. Some manage to actually appoint talented individuals to the posts. This one didn't, and this is the one who got caught in the most egregious offenses against the citizens who were injured by this political practice.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: number 6
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 10:35 PM

I wonder who's gonna be 'fired' over all of this?

Thanks for posting that McGrath "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!" ... I hope that accolade will never be forgotten.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 11:10 PM

Brown's resume is under scrutiny. Too bad the White House didn't take a close look. He was an intern and a student but not an assistant director and a professor, among other "discrepancies".

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: dianavan
Date: 12 Sep 05 - 11:39 PM

From the Washington Post

"After leaving FEMA in March 2003, Allbaugh, who managed the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, founded Allbaugh Co., a lobbying-consulting firm with many clients in the disaster-relief business.

Among those clients are: the KBR division of Haliburton; TruePosition, a manufacturer of wireless location products, services and devices; the Shaw Group, a provider of engineering, design, construction, and maintenance services to government and the private sector; and UltraStrip, which is marketing the first water filtration system approved by the Environmental Protection Agency"

It was Allbaugh who brought Brown to the attention of Bush. I think they were college roomates.

Some journalists are calling Allbaugh a 'disaster whore'. I tend to agree. As usual, you will notice that Halliburton (Cheney) is also involved in this.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 01:43 AM

"Humpty-Dumpty was Pushed'....

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Wesley S
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 10:26 AM

Remember that when the Prez said "Brownie - You're doing a heck of a job" he didn't say "heck of a GOOD job". At least that's how I expect the White House to spin this in the future.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: number 6
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 10:57 AM

So true Wesley.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 11:13 AM

Bush is still batting 1000. He has not yet fired anyone who has screwed up yet.

Generals who warned against post war disasters have been fired but that was supposedly done by Rumsfeld.


Medals and trophies abound... http://www.angelfire.com/md2/customviolins/bushaward.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 11:43 AM

sorry picture is really http://www.angelfire.com/md2/customviolins/bushrumaward.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 04:09 PM

It was announced by FEMA's press office this afternoon that Michael
J. Brown, the director of FEMA, had resigned. Actually, he resigned last Thursday -- FEMA only found out about it today.

When President George W. Bush was informed of this development, he told reporters that he intended to make an example of Mr. Brown for his handling of the crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi, and for reports about Brown falsifying items on his resume. To that end, the President has announced he is awarding Brown the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and nominating him for the remaining vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Sep 05 - 07:49 PM

Bush...has not yet fired anyone who has screwed up...The traditional reason incompetent people don't get fired by their incompetant bosses is that they know where the bodies are buried.

I wonder what bodies would Bush be likely be worried about? Not real bodies maybe, especially those in New Orleans or Iraq, which don't seem to weigh too heavily for him. I mean, hidden stuff that would actually damage him.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 11:58 AM

See this excerpt from an article written by By Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey [Knight Ridder Newspapers: Setember 13, 2005]

"WASHINGTON - The federal official with the power to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina was Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not the former FEMA chief who was relieved of his duties and resigned earlier this week, federal documents reviewed by Knight Ridder show.

Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, Chertoff could have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state or local officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown had only limited authority to do so until about 36 hours after the storm hit, when Chertoff designated him as the "principal federal official" in charge of the storm.

As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost hundreds of lives.

But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director.

But according to a memo obtained by Knight Ridder, Chertoff didn't shift that power to Brown until late afternoon or evening on Aug. 30, about 36 hours after Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. That same memo suggests that Chertoff may have been confused about his lead role in disaster response and that of his department."...

-snip-

Click Chertoff delayed federal response to read the entire article.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: michaelr
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 07:23 PM

"Michael Brown has been relmoved from his post and ordered to return to Washington immediately. He's expected to arrive in about a week.

...It's a FEMA joke! You'll get it in five to seven days."

(Bill Maher)

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: Peace
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 08:25 PM

LOLOLOL

That is priceless.

Subject: RE: BS: Mike Brown resigns FEMA
From: number 6
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 10:19 PM

That was brilliant .... bravo to Bill Maher !!!

sIx