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well I read that I and I think.. "thats it???"
really.. he needs to either step up and take responsibilty for everything he did wrong (lets start with lying about his prior job experiance) or just disappear into oblivion.
Well, two of them anyway. It's a start I guess.
Brown Says He Should Have Asked Aid Sooner
Tuesday September 27, 2005 2:16 AM
BY LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Former FEMA director Michael Brown said Monday he should have sought help faster from the Pentagon after Hurricane Katrina hit, and accused state and local officials of constant infighting during the crisis, according to congressional aides.
Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.
Brown spoke to congressional aides from both parties a day before he is scheduled to testify in front of a special House committee investigating the government's response to the Aug. 29 disaster. He did not respond to several calls for response Monday.
But Brown ``acknowledged that he made mistakes,'' said one Republican staff member who attended Monday's 90-minute briefing.
Brown came to symbolize the halting federal efforts to rescue victims of the storm and flooding that followed in which more than 1,000 people died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He was highly criticized for being a Bush administration political appointee without deep emergency management experience, and left amid accusations that he padded his resume - which he vehemently denied.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed Brown from his on-site role overseeing the disaster response on Sept. 9. He announced his resignation from FEMA three days later.
A memo from a second Republican staffer who attended the briefing said Brown expressed regrets ``that he did not start screaming for DoD (Department of Defense) involvement'' sooner. The first substantial numbers of active-duty troops responding to the Gulf Coast were sent on Saturday, Sept. 3 - five days after the storm hit.
According to the memo, obtained by The Associated Press, Brown took several shots at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. He said the two officials ``sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively.''
He also described Blanco as ``indecisive'' and refusing to cede control of the Louisiana National Guard to federal authorities because ``it would have undercut her image politically,'' the do ent said.
Spokespeople for Blanco and Nagin could not be immediately reached Monday night.
The memo also criticized Brown's leadership in conference calls with state and federal authorities that he ran during the crisis, saying that no official notes were taken.
Brown ``just assumed that agencies would follow up on taskings resulting from the calls,'' the memo said.
Brown defended himself against charges that he learned from television that thousands of refugees gathered at the New Orleans convention center, where adequate food, water and other supplies were lacking and there was rampant violence.
He said that because the convention center was not a planned evacuation site, ``there is no reason FEMA would have known about it beforehand,'' according to the memo.
Brown also admitted he did not ensure that Nagin had a secure communications system during the crisis. And he cautioned staffers against a federal takeover of emergency management responsibilities that he said would become a ``crutch'' for local and state governments and could lead to future lapses in preparedness.
Knocke, the Homeland Security spokesman, said Brown agreed to stay at FEMA up four weeks after he resigned to advise the department on ``some of his views on his experience with Katrina.'' He said Brown, who is in a ``transition'' period, is does not have any decision-making or management responsibilities.
``There is an important public benefit to ensuring that any pending projects, initiatives, commitments or records be properly passed off to staff,'' Knocke said.
Brown ran FEMA for more than two years.
As Congress launches its investigation into government missteps in responding to Katrina, Brown's appearance in front of the House panel Tuesday looms as the highest profile yet, potentially offering the most drama.
The inquiry, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., is composed mostly of Republicans. Most Democrats have boycotted the investigation, which they say should be done by an independent commission.
However, at least two Democrats whose home states were crushed by Katrina - Reps. Gene Taylor of Mississippi and Charlie Melancon of Louisiana - planned to attend Tuesday's hearing.
well I read that I and I think.. "thats it???"
really.. he needs to either step up and take responsibilty for everything he did wrong (lets start with lying about his prior job experiance) or just disappear into oblivion.
I think that is everything. Did he not say he should have done things sooner? He also said, "acknowledged that he made mistakes" "and he should have sought help faster from the Pentagon after Hurricane Katrina hit".
That's pretty much it. I just don't think he was up to the task. In this case the task was larger than anyone had seen before.
He is passing the buck now on live TV, he must work for Bush,
Last edited by mouse; 09-27-2005 at 01:18 PM.
Brown will be scapegoated, sacrificd by the Repubs, who will then say it was ONLY Brown's fault, everybody else in DHS/FEMA was perfect.
You have tunnel vision Boutons! Bush accepted full responsibility.
He should also accept responsibility for 09/11 and going to war with Iraq because of no "WMD's".
hey what happenned to Osama Bin "dead or alive" ??????????
It sounds more like Brown admits LA and NO made mistakes.
"Bush accepted full responsibility"
It cost dubya nothing, his talk is cheap, and crooked, but only Brownie lost his job in disgrace, ie, he's a scapegoat.
Brown, no doubt coached by Rove or equivalent, is using the same sliming tactic as dubya:
"yeah, I ed up, but state and local ed up even worse"
Just STFU and talk exclusively about your responsibility for your mistakes, make constructive suggestions how to correct them and how to do better next time (like follow your own ing procedures), and leave the finger-pointing and sliming of others out of it.
Nope, not these slime-bags. If they're going down, they're taking as many with them as possible.
"Just STFU and talk exclusively about your responsibility for your mistakes, make constructive suggestions how to correct them and how to do better next time (like follow your own ing procedures), and leave the finger-pointing and sliming of others out of it." ..............
Okay Mr. knowitall. Would you give that same advice to Blanco & Nagin? Didn't think so! Good for the goose but not the gander huh? You just exposed yourself for what you are!
"Okay Mr. knowitall."
Damn, I haven't heard that kinda trash talkin since gradeschool. Regressing in your old age, are ya? Diapers be next.
"Would you give that same advice to Blanco & Nagin?"
Of course, didn't your Mama tell you not to tattle on the other kids?
All I wanna hear from any of these jerks, state/city/fed, Dem/Repug, goose/gander, is:
"I screwed up here and here and here in MY responsbilities. I'm sorry."
Of course, the honorable thing to, if any of them had ANY honor and real sense of accountability, would be to resign on the spot. But since they have no honor or pride, matching their absence of competence, they should go on to say:
"Here is what I'm doing to corrrect my mistakes, making recommendations, TALKING TO THE OTHER TWO LEVELS OF GOVT, etc, etc so I will not be criminally responsible ever again for the death of innocent people under my au es."
Oh, damn ... so Bush is responsible for the events of 9/11?
Not everyone can be as eloquent as you, boutons.
Answer my question Boutons and quit smoking up the area! You have about as much of a chance of Bush resigning as we do about you quit calling Bush a "shrub".
I didn't see it in the original post but Brown said that 'the first mistake I made was not realizing until Saturday (after Katrina) that New Orleans was dysfunctional'.
I think that translates into Brown was not smart enough to realize that Nagin and Blanco were dumb...?
Quite a triumvirate.
"Bush is responsible for the events of 9/11"
now that you mention it
"Answer my question"
I DID answer your asinine question.
Your reading is as weak as your gradeschool trash talking.
In case you also have trouble scrolling back the thread:
"All I wanna hear from ANY of these jerks, state/city/fed, Dem/Repug, goose/gander is:"
THAT is your answer.
Maybe you still can't connect dots:
"ANY" includes Brown, Nagin, Blanco, shrub.
Now, you must be tired from all that, go take you afternoon nap, grandpa.
Yahoo News"I'm happy you left," said Rep. Christopher Shays (news, bio, voting record), R-Conn. "Because that kind of, you know, look in the lights like a deer tells me that you weren't capable to do the job."
"You get an F-minus in my book," said Rep. Gene Taylor (news, bio, voting record), D-Miss.
At several points, Brown turned red in the face and slapped the table in front of him.
"So I guess you want me to be the superhero, to step in there and take everyone out of New Orleans," Brown said.
"What I wanted you to do is do your job and coordinate," Shays retorted.
Well aware of President Bush's sunken poll ratings, legislators of both parties tried to distance themselves from the federal preparations for Katrina and the storm's aftermath that together claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Brown acknowledged making mistakes during the storm and subsequent flooding that devastated the Gulf Coast. But he accused New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, both Democrats, of fostering chaos and failing to order a mandatory evacuation more than a day before Katrina hit.
"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown told a special panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe. Most Democrats, seeking an independent investigation, stayed away to protest what they called an unfair probe of the Republican administration by GOP lawmakers.
"I very strongly personally regret that I was unable to persuade Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin to sit down, get over their differences and work together," Brown said. "I just couldn't pull that off."
Brown also said he warned Bush, White House chief of staff Andrew Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin that "this is going to be a bad one" in e-mails and phone conversations leading up to the storm. Under pointed questioning, he said some needs outlined to the White House,
Pentagon and
Homeland Security Department were not answered in "the timeline that we requested."
Blanco vehemently denied that she waited until the eve of the storm to order an evacuation of New Orleans. She said her order came on the morning of Aug. 27 — two days before the storm — resulting in 1.3 million people evacuating the city.
"Such falsehoods and misleading statements, made under oath before Congress, are shocking," Blanco said in a statement.
Who better to help the President investigate the mistakes made by the Government during Hurricane Katrina than the shill most likely responsible for many of those mistakes, who had no prior emergency management experience prior to heading FEMA, and who is already biased against State and Local officials?
Is this not what he did wrong? Ok, he shouldn't also pass fault to the locals, but he is admitting his fault. I don't think he did a good job, but what the do some of you people want? Boutons and Dan, I doubt either of you are familliar with admitting you are wrong, but that was atleast a fair example.
A public lynching.
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