2008 Woodie Awards
Former FEMA head all washed up
Michael Brown resigns amid FEMA's own Katrina disaster
Communique staff
Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Political cronyism has been around as long as there's been a United States. Our first president, that other George W, appointed friend John Jay to be the first Supreme Court Chief Justice.
The seventh president, Andrew Jackson, filled his cabinet with his roughneck buddies; it later became known as the "kitchen cabinet."
Fast-forward to today.
It's been a stormy September and not just for those unfortunate souls living along the Gulf Coast.
Like many of those affected by Katrina, former FEMA boss and Bush crony, Michael Brown was unable to ride out the storm. But at least the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama weren't drowned in a storm of their own creation.
Ever since the blatantly inept disaster response by the federal government, the heat's been on the Bush Administration for answers as to why it wasn't prepared. The answer was Brown's absolute lack of leadership.
Brown's resume was more padded than a Hawkeye offensive lineman. The only things he "directed" before FEMA were horse shows - and he was fired from that.
A couple examples of "Brownie's" inspiring leadership:
Brown admitted he didn't act more aggressively because he expected Katrina to be a "standard hurricane," even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting "human suffering incredible by modern standards."
Brown claimed the federal relief effort was "going relatively well" and that the security situation in New Orleans was "pretty darn good." Meanwhile, New Orleans police chief Eddie Compas was on national television saying there was a security crisis.
Brown blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.
Maybe Brown could have at least rustled up Mr. Ed for some of the flood victims to ride to safety on.
A step was made in the right direction when he stepped down. In came Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen to head relief efforts.
There's a novel idea - putting an individual who knows about disaster relief in charge of disaster relief.
Hurricane season isn't over yet, for the Bush Administration or Gulf Coast residents.
Leading up to Hurricane Rita, over a million people were evacuated to avoid the powerful storm. But perhaps the best evacuation was when Brown extricated himself from FEMA.
The seventh president, Andrew Jackson, filled his cabinet with his roughneck buddies; it later became known as the "kitchen cabinet."
Fast-forward to today.
It's been a stormy September and not just for those unfortunate souls living along the Gulf Coast.
Like many of those affected by Katrina, former FEMA boss and Bush crony, Michael Brown was unable to ride out the storm. But at least the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama weren't drowned in a storm of their own creation.
Ever since the blatantly inept disaster response by the federal government, the heat's been on the Bush Administration for answers as to why it wasn't prepared. The answer was Brown's absolute lack of leadership.
Brown's resume was more padded than a Hawkeye offensive lineman. The only things he "directed" before FEMA were horse shows - and he was fired from that.
A couple examples of "Brownie's" inspiring leadership:
Brown admitted he didn't act more aggressively because he expected Katrina to be a "standard hurricane," even though the National Weather Service in New Orleans was already predicting "human suffering incredible by modern standards."
Brown claimed the federal relief effort was "going relatively well" and that the security situation in New Orleans was "pretty darn good." Meanwhile, New Orleans police chief Eddie Compas was on national television saying there was a security crisis.
Brown blamed the flood victims in New Orleans for failing to evacuate on time, even though local authorities failed to make municipal vehicles available to residents who could not drive or did not own their own cars.
Maybe Brown could have at least rustled up Mr. Ed for some of the flood victims to ride to safety on.
A step was made in the right direction when he stepped down. In came Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen to head relief efforts.
There's a novel idea - putting an individual who knows about disaster relief in charge of disaster relief.
Hurricane season isn't over yet, for the Bush Administration or Gulf Coast residents.
Leading up to Hurricane Rita, over a million people were evacuated to avoid the powerful storm. But perhaps the best evacuation was when Brown extricated himself from FEMA.