Job
The NYT is reporting that the White House is having a difficult time recruiting a permanent replacement for Michael "Brownie" Brown, the former head of FEMA who took a big hit for the Katrina disaster response. In the days after the hurricane, it looked like Brownie was the incompetent who messed things up so badly and got all those people killed, but it turns out that in the Junta, Brownie was the closest thing to a model of efficiency.
Hired as the #2 at FEMA after being let go by the Arabian Horse Association, Brownie had three credentials: fundraising for Georgie, a former college roommate who could hire him into an important Junta job, and having worked for an organization with "Arab" in its name. All those things made him "qualified" to handle the important business of safety for the American people.
Unfortunately, it turns out that most residents of the city of New Orleans failed the means test when the hurricane hit. They were neither rich nor influential. So they had to be let go like the Arabian Horse people had let Brownie go.
But in the course of getting dinner in Baton Rouge, Brownie did find the time to call the White House and let them know the levees had failed. He did try to let Georgie know that "this is the big one" in their video conference. Georgie had down-graded FEMA from cabinet-level to a janitorial division of the Department of Homeland Security, much the same way he had downgraded anti-terrorism before 9-11.
When Katrina hit, Georgie tried to ignore it with the same vigour that he'd ignored terrorism before 9-11. It was a problem this time because he couldn't classify a lot of the information he'd gotten from the National Weather Service. So people had an idea just how utterly incompetent he and his Junta were. They tried to blame Brownie, but it didn't stick as well as they'd have liked.
So here we are, on the cusp of the next hurricane season. The levees remain a hazard, as the Junta fingers-and-toes estimate of the cost was 6$ short. And they can't find a replacement for Brownie.
I know what you're thinking: "hasn't the Arabian Horse Association fired any one else who could be brought in?" Apparently not.
And, it turns out, none of the real disaster management professionals want to join up. According to the article, it's too close to the hurricane season to make major changes, and Georgie is clearly a lame duck so it will be hard to overhaul the organization. But I think there's something more to it.
I think that the real professionals want nothing to do with this administration. That nobody who actually knows what they're doing wants to be strapped to this ticking bomb. Where "expertise" is a dirty word, the experts stay away. There are plenty of third-rate drop-outs around who are willing to take Junta jobs and the heat that comes with their inevitable failures. Why would someone who is smart, experienced, and able wan to be anywhere near these guys?
Especially in disaster management field, where mistakes lead to bodies and grieving relatives. When Richard Clarke testified before the 9-11 commission, he turned to the 9-11 families and apologized to them for not stopping the attack, even though he was the least guilty man in the government. A disaster professional who knows what he's doing would not want to carry that amount of water for the water-heads that would employ him.
So Georgie will nominate acting FEMA head R. David Paulison, who by all accounts may be capable. That's bad for him, because working with the likes of Georgie, Rummy, Rove, et al, he'll definitely wind up having to issue that apology.
Hired as the #2 at FEMA after being let go by the Arabian Horse Association, Brownie had three credentials: fundraising for Georgie, a former college roommate who could hire him into an important Junta job, and having worked for an organization with "Arab" in its name. All those things made him "qualified" to handle the important business of safety for the American people.
Unfortunately, it turns out that most residents of the city of New Orleans failed the means test when the hurricane hit. They were neither rich nor influential. So they had to be let go like the Arabian Horse people had let Brownie go.
But in the course of getting dinner in Baton Rouge, Brownie did find the time to call the White House and let them know the levees had failed. He did try to let Georgie know that "this is the big one" in their video conference. Georgie had down-graded FEMA from cabinet-level to a janitorial division of the Department of Homeland Security, much the same way he had downgraded anti-terrorism before 9-11.
When Katrina hit, Georgie tried to ignore it with the same vigour that he'd ignored terrorism before 9-11. It was a problem this time because he couldn't classify a lot of the information he'd gotten from the National Weather Service. So people had an idea just how utterly incompetent he and his Junta were. They tried to blame Brownie, but it didn't stick as well as they'd have liked.
So here we are, on the cusp of the next hurricane season. The levees remain a hazard, as the Junta fingers-and-toes estimate of the cost was 6$ short. And they can't find a replacement for Brownie.
I know what you're thinking: "hasn't the Arabian Horse Association fired any one else who could be brought in?" Apparently not.
And, it turns out, none of the real disaster management professionals want to join up. According to the article, it's too close to the hurricane season to make major changes, and Georgie is clearly a lame duck so it will be hard to overhaul the organization. But I think there's something more to it.
I think that the real professionals want nothing to do with this administration. That nobody who actually knows what they're doing wants to be strapped to this ticking bomb. Where "expertise" is a dirty word, the experts stay away. There are plenty of third-rate drop-outs around who are willing to take Junta jobs and the heat that comes with their inevitable failures. Why would someone who is smart, experienced, and able wan to be anywhere near these guys?
Especially in disaster management field, where mistakes lead to bodies and grieving relatives. When Richard Clarke testified before the 9-11 commission, he turned to the 9-11 families and apologized to them for not stopping the attack, even though he was the least guilty man in the government. A disaster professional who knows what he's doing would not want to carry that amount of water for the water-heads that would employ him.
So Georgie will nominate acting FEMA head R. David Paulison, who by all accounts may be capable. That's bad for him, because working with the likes of Georgie, Rummy, Rove, et al, he'll definitely wind up having to issue that apology.
posted by fiduciary at 8:28 AM
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