OP/ED: Michael Brown? This is your life!

Michael Brown is the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is also a campaign contributor to the Republican party and --more specifically-- George W Bush. So now we're going to take a look at the man accused of ineptitude of the highest orders and who has participated in a grand fumbling of the ball. Michael Brown? Who are you?



Let's take a look into the history of Mr Brown.

His public biography is listed on the FEMA site here and prior to his high level FEMA appointment it lists no significant job experience before the appointment to his post.

This endeavored me to dig a little further down into the pile of steaming horsepoop. That steaming pile is more relevant than you think as Mr Brown was formerly employed by the International Arabian Horse Association.

The Arabian Horse Association
The Arabian Horse AssociationSM (AHA) provides an association of like-minded Arabian horse enthusiasts and a focal point for your favorite recreational or competitive activities. AHA is the official breed association and registry in the U.S. with more than 40,000 members who own Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses.

As a full-service breed association, AHA seeks to meet the breeding, competitive and recreational interests of all Arabian horse owners. As the official breed registry for the Arabian horse industry, the AHA Registry has registered more than 1 million Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses since its founding in 1908, ensuring the integrity and perpetuation of the breed.

AHA offers over 400 events and competitions and the largest online marketplace and community forums on the web, bringing people together to share the joys of Arabian horse ownership. Membership in the AHA has its privileges and provides access to registration, programs, competitions and other services.

Prior to FEMA he spent 11 years at the AHA and was then asked to resign from his position. Asked to resign being a euphemism for dismissal further piques the curiosity of people. He is a known GOP activist and contributes actively to the party both in time and in money.

He was fired from the AHA after a series of lawsuits over "supervision failures".

And so the time may be running short for Mr Brown. The man who said that victims were liable for losses and went on to say that FEMA had no clue about the location of thousands of refugee's will surely be up in front of the Senate soon. The hearings will be most interesting.

Hiring your friends is never a wise thing to do. Worse than having to fire them is the risk that they might show you up in public. I think it is safe to say that that has happened.

So I prematurely say; Mr Michael Brown, Goodbye, we hardly knew ye.

P.S. Do you have the receipts for that $500m per day being charged to Joe Taxpayer?

[edit on 3-9-2005 by Nerdling]

I am not sure whether to be angry or unsurprised that political patronage bought someone who was obviously incompetent a post in a federal agency designed to handle crises. There is a definite NEED for change when people like this end up such vital posts.

So...he couldn't take care of horses, so they put him in charge of starving, desperate refugees?

Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.

DE

Hehehehe

Your efforts, Nerdling, are very much appreciated.

This stuff is TRULY priceless. What possible defense can someone provide for this man? What excuses will be sufficient?

Sometimes all it takes is a last name to be successful in politics..I should know. Is he one of THE Browns by any chance?

One final note - this guy is a picture-perfect patsie if ever I saw one. A criminal couldn't ask for a better fall-guy than this horse-trading schmuck. So it makes ya wonder, who's being protected?

Is it possible even he will be protected? Is he important enough to the fellas running the show that they would consider keeping him on despite this event? It will be very interesting to see.

Again, GOOD article Nerdling. Congratulations on your new appointment as well.

why hasn't there been a complete movement to shake the current system where blatant abuse of power is now become prominent and clearly visible to the public??

nerdling,

Thanks for the very informative and eye-opening piece of work. Thanks for the research into this.

Good find, Nerdling

Definately worth a Way Above!

That would explain why he treated those people like cattle! GRRRR!

Being an American from the old school, I'm 56 years old. I must say that I am ashamed of the way the New Orleans Disaster has been handled. I can not beleive that Americans are being treated like crap. I am not saying that the Pres is at fault, but FEMA sure ain't doin it's job. Why wasn't an alert put out to activate the resources before the storm hit? All last weekend long and the day before the storm hit, all you heard was this is going to be catastrophic. BUT NOTHING WAS DONE. FEMA should have had the water, food, medicine and the rest of the stuff needed, headed towards New Orleans before the storm hit. They say the city was flooded and you couldn't get in. I saw a highway with alot people on it, they could have used helocopters to get the supplies in and the injured and sick out. Remember the DUST-OFF??????? All of this should have been used just as the rain stopped not 5 days later. FEMA is a joke and the wanna be leader of FEMA is a joker. Being an Army retiree, I know what the Army used to be able to do. The Army has cooks, graves registration teams, water purification teams, MEDICS/DOCTORS, you name it, engineers..........

Well considering that the State and local governments were in charge until some time Thursday why is everybody bitching about FEMA? President Bush just suspended Posse Commitatus leaving FEMA in charge. Anything from here on out will be their fault. Put the blame where it belongs on the LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

No, the blame should go to the federal level.....this disaster involved three states, making it more than a local problem.

I had the impression the Mayor of NO was asking for federal help almost immediately......he had no resources to draw on, they had been blown away or overwhelmed by the time the wind died down.

This is what FEMA was created for! If this is not their job, then they don't have one!

Besides, was 9/11 just New York's problem?

I need to find a copy of a good Civics book and post the contents. The Mayor of a city in a time of disaster requests help from the State Government. He cannot request it at the Federal level. If the State Government can't handle the problem then the State requests help from the Federal Government. The Federal Government cannot just move in and take over in times of trouble. That is one of the checks put into place to prevent the Federal Government from unsurping authority from the States. The State governments should have made a request for Federal aid on Monday but they didn't until Thursday. The States involved requested help from other States, not the Federal Government. Marshal Law was instated by the States not the Federal Government. There may have been a lack of communication, it may even have been caused by the Federal Government declaring a disaster before the hurricane hit. The procedeure in the past is that the States involved request the Federal Government to declare a disaster but this time the Federal Government called it first to try to expedite matters. This may have lead to some confusion.

[edit on 3-9-2005 by JIMC5499]

Michael Brown took over the position of head of FEMA from Joe Albaugh who had been his room mate in college.

After announcing that he was leaving FEMA in December 2002, Allbaugh began the firm New Bridge Strategies, a consulting firm for companies applying reconstruction contracts in Iraq after the upcoming invasion by the United States. In March 2005, he registered as a lobbyist on behalf of Kellogg, Brown and Root, along with his wife Diane.

source Wikipedia

[edit on 4-9-2005 by redhat]

Originally posted by JIMC5499
Well considering that the State and local governments were in charge until some time Thursday why is everybody bitching about FEMA? President Bush just suspended Posse Commitatus leaving FEMA in charge. Anything from here on out will be their fault. Put the blame where it belongs on the LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

According to FEMA's site the president can declare an emergency and offer aid to state and local governments..

# EMERGENCY. "Emergency" means any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.

source FEMA

MAJOR DISASTER. "Major disaster" means any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, winddriven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under this Act to supplement the efforts and available resources of States, local governments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating the damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused thereby.

source 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.

business.bostonherald.com...

FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

www.fema.gov...

Well, isn't that a comfort. The same year FEMA becomes part of the DHS, we put the most incompetent person we can find at the helm. Honest to god, I don't scare easily, but I will never sleep soundly again after this debacle in NO - NEVER!

Edit: forgot my quote thingies

[edit on 9/4/2005 by Relentless]

Originally posted by JIMC5499
Well considering that the State and local governments were in charge until some time Thursday why is everybody bitching about FEMA? President Bush just suspended Posse Commitatus leaving FEMA in charge. Anything from here on out will be their fault. Put the blame where it belongs on the LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

Yea the state government has the funding and resouces after everything the federal government has put on their shoulders to hide the real deficit. Why don't we just blame those poor black people for not getting off their asses and buying a car, you know instead of crack. After all they had warning, advanced warning yet they didn't buy cars. btw Posse Commitatus doesn't have anything to do with fema. Fema is called in as soon as our fearless leader declares an area a disaster when did he do that? I think right before it hit. That put our glourous Fema in charge.

From the FEMA site:

# Request and declaration

(a) All requests for a declaration by the President that an emergency exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State. Such a request shall be based on a finding that the situation is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. As a part of such request, and as a prerequisite to emergency assistance under this Act, the Governor shall take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State's emergency plan. The Governor shall furnish information describing the State and local efforts and resources which have been or will be used to alleviate the emergency, and will define the type and extent of Federal aid required. Based upon such Governor's request, the President may declare that an emergency exists.

# Certain emergencies involving Federal primary responsibility

(b) The President may exercise any authority vested in him by section 502 or section 503 [42 U.S.C. § 5192 or § 5193] with respect to an emergency when he determines that an emergency exists for which the primary responsibility for response rests with the United States because the emergency involves a subject area for which, under the Constitution or laws of the United States, the United States exercises exclusive or preeminent responsibility and authority. In determining whether or not such an emergency exists, the President shall consult the Governor of any affected State, if practicable. The President's determination may be made without regard to subsection (a).

Now, as it seems to me, paragraph (a) says the Governor can ask for a declaration.....paragraph (b) says the President can consult with the governor, or can make the determination without following paragraph (a)......that is he does not have to wait to be asked....and once the declaration is made FEMA moves......?? Right?

Surely we don't have to play "Mother May I" when this much s*** hits the fan....not when so much is at stake??

I personally have never been any fan of FEMA, nor do I feel that we have many, if any top level government personel right now, from the president himself on down, who seem to be very competant in any ways.

Stlll, it seems as if in light of the devastating losses and unthinkable situations that so many citizens are now facing, that looking to place blame on any one person, agency, etc.... is not helping anyone right now at all.

If anything, it could only prove to be detrimental, as it only places more pressure on those who are being blamed to meet with public approval, that it is taking away from what ability they did have to do the number one task at hand, and that is to do their very best, no matter how good that is or isn't, to save lives!

Then, after all is said and done, would be a much better time to take a look at what went wrong, who is responsible, etc.... and that would be a much more appropriate time for all concerned to be looking at making changes in personel, training, etc.... so that if/when ever faced with something similar in the future, everyone would be better prepared.

Just my 2 cents.

CyberKat

P.S. I've got to admit though, that it is really hard to see that Michael Brown on TV attempting to appear as if he has a clue about anything and take him seriously.

Originally posted by Conspicuouz
why hasn't there been a complete movement to shake the current system where blatant abuse of power is now become prominent and clearly visible to the public??

I have wondered the exact same thing many, many times myself. Perhaps right in the center of a major crisis isn't the time to do it, then again perhaps it has to be.

I believe that the current "powers that be" have instilled so much fear into the vast majority of American citizens, that it has taken, unfortunately, these devastating occurances to make the people wake up and take a good, hard look at reality. Also though, during these times, we have so many that have more pressing personal situations to deal with which must be taken care of immediately, that by the time the initial shock and anger have beun to dissipate, and the long (often too long) assistnce that was so desperately awaited has finaly begun to trickle in, the average American is agian either too tired, too afraid or both to do anything about it.

It is a truly sad "catch 22" that the government has mamaged to maniuplate too many into accepting, that it will take a lot more with steady resolve, to permanently make the necessary changes.

Excuse me, but I seem to remember the Governor being on CNN in the morning early in the week (like Tuesday) saying that help had been asked for from the federal government. I also received a email tonight with a dead link stating that when Hurricane Charley hit the other year the place was declared a disaster area before it came ashore. Does anyone know anything about this??

I just found a time line on CNN (under Special Report) that said the President Bush declared a federal disaster area for Mississippi on Sunday Aug. 28th in the afternoon and ordered federal assistence to the area that was before the storm even hit. This means that it is all on FEMA and Michael Brown's head.