On Mon, 3 Oct 2005 22:51:07 -0400, "El Conquistador"
<serwad@bellsouth.net> wrote:

October Tuesday 4th 2005 (04h21) :
Fiasco uncovers Bush administration as fool's paradise
Posted on Sun, Oct. 02, 2005
MICHAEL BROWN

Fiasco uncovers Bush administration as fool's paradise

It is said that if someone thinks you're a fool, better to keep your mouth
shut than open it and remove all doubt. Speaking of Michael Brown...

The ex-FEMA chief testified on Capitol Hill last week about what went
wrong
with the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Even House
Republicans
shook their heads in disbelief.

GOP Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut was beside himself when Brown
announced, "I am not a superhero." Brown also pleaded for guidance and
asked, "What would you have me do?" This was truly strange.

Brown first was relieved of his FEMA responsibilities in the disaster
zone.
He said then that he looked forward to going home and having a margarita.
Then, under pressure, he resigned. As Brown drowned his sorrows in
tequila,
Katrina victims were drowning in the flooded cities of the Gulf Coast.

The hearings were as close to the woodshed as Brown had been since
President
Bush praised his Katrina work with, "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."
Another "Mission Accomplished"?

At the hearing, it was difficult to tell Republicans from Democrats. He
found no friendly faces in the crowd.

Brown said Louisiana was "dysfunctional" and that his main mistake was in
not getting the New Orleans mayor and governor to coordinate evacuation
efforts better. To that remark, Rep. Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat,
remarked, "You can try to throw as much as you can on the backs of
Louisianans, but I'm a witness as to what happened in Mississippi. You
folks
fell on your face." Has Brown ever heard of Gulfport?

Some lawmakers were surprised to learn that Brown was still on the
government payroll as a consultant. Fellow Americans, as you dig deeper
into
your shrinking wallets to help displaced Katrina survivors, the Friends of
Bush are using your tax dollars to heal Brown's bruised ego. These guys
are
shameless.

Brown is "Exhibit A" for political cronyism by GOP powerbrokers who put an
unfit man in charge of an agency that held lives and property in the
balance. It gets worse.

Brown came to FEMA in 2001 through a college friend, Joe Allbaugh, who ran
Bush's campaign and became head of FEMA. When Allbaugh left FEMA, Brown
took
over. As part of a reorganization, Bush put FEMA under the Department of
Homeland Security, headed by Michael Chertoff.

Chertoff isn't a fool, but he seems to be trying to fool people about
something. Chertoff's slow response, along with leaks about the
administration's questionable role, should have Republicans joining
Democrats in insisting on an independent inquiry.

In 2003, President Bush made Homeland Security responsible for natural
disaster and terrorism recovery. As much as was expected of Brown, even
more
was expected of Chertoff. Yet, as Brown moved into the limelight during
Katrina, Chertoff moved into the shadows. Why?

Brown offered some clues, including that the White House may have been
more
hands-on than it seemed. He told lawmakers last week that as Katrina
advanced, he spoke to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. "I remember
saying to Andy at one point that this is going to be a bad one. They were
focused about it. They knew it," Brown recalled.

It took Chertoff 36 hours to declare Katrina an event of national
significance even though the National Hurricane Center and others alerted
government officials of the devastation to come. This made no sense. At
the
hearings, Brown, who seemed to blame everyone else, easily let Chertoff
off
the hook. Why?

The public and lawmakers learned recently about a memo from Chertoff's
office suggesting a more intimate White House role before and during the
disaster. If Brown truly couldn't manage down to local and state officials
because he lacked skills and Chertoff couldn't manage up to White House
officials because they resisted, that may explain the chaotic response.

Brown said he was "happy to be a scapegoat...if it means that the FEMA
that
I knew when I came here is going to be able to be reborn and we're going
to
be able to get it back to where it was."

Making FEMA part of Homeland Security, cutting its funding and staffing
since 2001, Brown said, led to the "emaciation of FEMA." Whose bright idea
was this again? Rhymes with tush.

Speaking of the president, The New York Times reported that business has
been good for "Friend of Bush" Allbaugh, formerly of FEMA. Companies he
represents, including Halliburton and the Shaw Group, have received
lucrative government contracts since Katrina. Reportedly, more than 80
percent of the $1.5 billion contracts through FEMA were awarded without
competitive bids. The FOBs are making a killing from Katrina, just as they
are from the war in Iraq.

Brown may be a fool, but he's their fool.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rhonda Chriss Lokeman's column appears on Sundays.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/12794328.htm