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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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 Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:32 pm Post subject: Head of Federal Emergency Management's background |
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Here is a story on the head of FEMA. It's truly shocking that this guy was charged with such a high level position, with absolutely no experience with anything to do with disasters, or terrorism. It shows how serious this administration was in terms of protecting the citizens of the U.S.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12557181.htm
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FEMA leader has unlikely background
The current head of FEMA has a background that little prepared him for a disaster like Hurricane Katrina.
BY MATT STEARNS AND SETH BORENSTEIN
[email protected]
WASHINGTON - From failed Republican congressional candidate to ousted ''czar'' of an Arabian horse association, there was little in Michael D. Brown's background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane Katrina.
But as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brown now faces furious criticism of the federal response to the disaster that wiped out New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast. He provoked some of it himself when he conceded that FEMA didn't know that thousands of evacuees were trapped at New Orleans' convention center without food or water.
''He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm,'' said Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade emergency management chief who oversaw emergency response during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. ``The world that this man operated in and the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not have the experience.''
Brown ran for Congress in 1988 and won 27 percent of the vote against Democratic incumbent Glenn English, and spent the 1990s as judges and stewards commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. His job was to ensure that horse-show judges followed the rules and to investigate allegations against those suspected of cheating.
''I wouldn't have regarded his position in the horse industry as a platform to where he is now,'' said Tom Connelly, a former association president.
Brown's ticket to FEMA was Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's 2000 campaign manager and an old friend of Brown's in Oklahoma.
Brown told several association officials that if Bush were elected, he'd be in line for a good job. When Allbaugh, who managed Bush's campaign, took over FEMA in 2001, he took Brown with him as general counsel.
Brown practiced law in Enid, Okla., a city of about 45,000, during the 1980s and was counsel to a group of businesses run by a well-known Enid family. Before that, he worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., and was an aide in the state Legislature.
From 1991 until 2000, Brown earned about $100,000 a year as the chief rules enforcer of the Arabian horse association.
The suspensions Brown delivered to those suspected of cheating resulted in several lawsuits. Although the association won the suits, they were expensive to defend, and Brown became a controversial figure.
''It was positive controversy,'' Connelly said. ``It got word out that we were serious about enforcing our rules.''
But he said Brown could be ''abrasive.'' Others were less charitable.
''He just wouldn't follow instruction,'' said Bill Pennington, another former association president. ``Mike was bullheaded, and he was gonna do it his way. Period.''
At FEMA, Brown rose from general counsel to deputy director within a year. Bush named him to succeed Allbaugh in February 2003. With FEMA now part of the Department of Homeland Security, Brown's title is undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response.
Brown's old friend Andrew Lester, an Oklahoma lawyer, said the progression from horse shows to hurricanes was natural.
''A lot of what he had to do was stand in the breach in difficult, controversial situations,'' Lester said. ``Which I think would well prepare him for his work at FEMA.''
Despite the withering criticism and a promised congressional investigation of FEMA's performance, Brown still has the support of his most important constituent.
In Mobile, Ala., on Friday, Bush said the response to Katrina was unsatisfactory. But he had nothing but praise for FEMA's director.
''Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,'' the president said.
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 6:15 pm Post subject: Re: Head of Federal Emergency Management's background |
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[quote="desultude"]Here is a story on the head of FEMA. It's truly shocking that this guy was charged with such a high level position, with absolutely no experience with anything to do with disasters, or terrorism. It shows how serious this administration was in terms of protecting the citizens of the U.S.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12557181.htm
| Quote: |
FEMA leader has unlikely background
The current head of FEMA has a background that little prepared him for a disaster like Hurricane Katrina.
BY MATT STEARNS AND SETH BORENSTEIN
[email protected]
WASHINGTON - From failed Republican congressional candidate to ousted ''czar'' of an Arabian horse association, there was little in Michael D. Brown's background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane Katrina.
But as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brown now faces furious criticism of the federal response to the disaster that wiped out New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast. He provoked some of it himself when he conceded that FEMA didn't know that thousands of evacuees were trapped at New Orleans' convention center without food or water.
''He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm,'' said Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade emergency management chief who oversaw emergency response during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. ``The world that this man operated in and the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not have the experience.'' |
This is criminally negligent cronyism.... |
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Flossie
Joined: 19 Feb 2005
Location: Up to my nose in the sweet summer smells of sewerage in Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Brown's old friend Andrew Lester, an Oklahoma lawyer, said the progression from horse shows to hurricanes was natural.
''A lot of what he had to do was stand in the breach in difficult, controversial situations,'' Lester said. ``Which I think would well prepare him for his work at FEMA.'' |
How could these two jobs possibly be comparable regarding 'difficult and controversial situations'???????  |
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desultude
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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Think about this, if there is another big terrorist attack like September 11th, this is the guy who will be in charge of the emergency situation. 
And he was appointed after Sept. 11th, so this administration at least should know what sort of expertise is required by such a situation. Pure criminal negligence is correct. We are given a steady diet of fear and terror alerts, and they put a horse trainer in charge of the response teams for the whole country.  |
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funplanet
Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Location: The new Bucheon!
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 5:09 am Post subject: |
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First, FEMA needs to have their house "cleaned," fire 'em all...
Second, take FEMA out of the Dept of Homeland Security (another oxymoron and a completely useless organization) and make them independent as they were before |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:26 am Post subject: |
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| funplanet wrote: |
First, FEMA needs to have their house "cleaned," fire 'em all...
Second, take FEMA out of the Dept of Homeland Security (another oxymoron and a completely useless organization) and make them independent as they were before |
No doubt. But who is going to fumigate the White House?? Even after all this I doubt we Americans will pull our heads out ofour butts long enough to see the damage this pox on humanity has caused not just now, but far into the next two generations.
If it weren't so obvious we've already waited too long and done too little, I'd be frantic. Unfortunately, we crossed that line in November 2004. It saddens me I don't have children right up to the moment I turn on the TV or walk out mydoor each day. From that point on I couldn't be more thankful.
Dumbya Bush: the single best advertisement for contraception ever conceived. First, for his parents; now, the rest of us. |
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igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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| Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:37 am Post subject: |
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Knowledge & ability clearly is secondary.
Political "correctness" must always come first. |
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