BREAKING: FEMA Rehires Mike Brown
From CBS News:
CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that Michael Brown, who recently resigned as the head of the FEMA, has been rehired by the agency as a consultant to evaluate its response following Hurricane Katrina.
(HT: Crooks and Liars)
UPDATE: The Department of Homeland Security is already spinning the story. From the AP:
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.
During that time, Brown will advise the department on “some of his views on his experience with Katrina,” as he transitions out of his job, Knocke said.
This isn’t consistent, however, with Brown’s statement on the day he resigned:
Today I resigned as Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. As I told the President, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA.
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Good lord!
September 26th, 2005 at 7:51 pmUnbelievable.
The Republican rap sheet for the past week alone is staggering. Senate Majority Leader and 2008 GOP presidential hopeful Bill Frist is now in deep trouble for likely insider trading. Only days earlier, the senior Bush administration procurement official at the Office of Management and Budget David Safavian was arrested for lying and obstructing the criminal investigation of Republican mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Later in the week, the Bush administration continued revving up its patronage machine even in the post-Michael Brown era, nominating unqualified political hacks and industry stooges for a senior post at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and leading investigations at the FTC.
For more on the epidemic of GOP corruption, cronyism and patronage, see:
“Banana Republicans.”
September 26th, 2005 at 8:02 pmJohn Stewart is right, Shrub only knows 5 people, and keeps rehiring them even after they fail!
September 26th, 2005 at 8:06 pmCurious are the ways of the Republican government. Well, indict him–that seems to make them quit right away. (Though Bush has in effect said that Rove will continue to work until actually convicted–and, I suppose, appeals are exhausted.)
September 26th, 2005 at 8:12 pmThree possible reasons I can think of, all of them bad: 1) Bush, an individual clearly in need of psychological counseling, is PATHOLOGICALLY INCAPABLE of admitting mistakes, so this an opportunity to project that Drownie wasn’t that bad, and in fact is talented enough to warrant rehiring as a consultant, somehow “proving” that Bush didn’t error in hiring him in the first place; 2) This is simply part of the “No Republican Left Behind Act,” in which corruption is systematically elevated to previously unknown levels; 3) This is simply a “F-ck You” message to Dems from the most ruthlessly arrogant presidency in modern times, utilizing methods that have Karl Rove’s fingerprints all over.
I SUGGEST THAT EVERY DEM ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET USE THE NAME “DROWNIE” FROM NOW ON. Not “Michael” or “Brown” or “Michael Brown” or even “Brownie,” but only “DROWNIE.” DROWNIE DROWNIE DROWNIE DROWNIE DROWNIE!!!
September 26th, 2005 at 8:19 pmAbsolute power corrupts absolutely. This is precisely one of the things the founders had hoped to avoid. This kind of naked abuse and corruption can only mean one thing. They know their days are numbered and it’s time to do as much damage (drown that baby that is us) and feed at the trough for as long and as much as they possibly can. I’m sure their internal polling is telling them that there will be a massive shift in 2006 and 2008. I just wonder how many will ever be made to pay for their little orgy of greed.
September 26th, 2005 at 8:22 pmi’m fast running out of comments… somehow, “jaw-dropping,” “unbelievable,” “appalling,” and “horrific” don’t do it anymore… i never thought i’d see such blatant, in-your-face, “screw you” actions coming from the white house… we’re in dark times indeed…
September 26th, 2005 at 9:00 pmThat’s interesting.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:08 pmThey want him hanging around as a symbol
of crony incompetence.
There must be a plan.
Maybe they have a discredit Blanco and Nagin
narrative that requires coordination with
Drownie?
It can’t be that Drownie has something on
the Cheney administration or they would
have just set him up at Halliburton or somewhere.
Must be an angle getting played by Rove somehow.
Maybe they are really protecting Chertoff by
keeping the planned fall guy around to
take the heat?
honest to god,this is the most crooked adminstration ever… bush is going to federalize america and put us all under martial law……ddoessn’t seem like anyone wants to stop this train front hitting the brick wall of dictatorship……
September 26th, 2005 at 9:24 pmIf you are an ex-con you can’t vote, but you are welcomed with open arms in the bush administration, the criminally incompetent alongside the simply incompetent. For those even more challenged there is plenty of positions available to troll on the thinkprogress blog - full-time or part-time - just don’t bring up that ‘minimum wage’ thing.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:27 pmJust heard that that Lynndie England was convicted and is made an example of. That’s very good news. Let this be a warning to the trolling scum that periodically infest these pages: when the time comes for accounts to be settled, those at the absolute bottom of the kleptocratic food chain - you - will certainly be the first, and possibly the only ones to pay for everyone else. And your “they told me to do it” defense will count just as much as hers did.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:36 pmThey’ve given up on trying to fix their ratings.
And why should they bother? There are still enough stupid Americans to beleiv in them and vote for them. And for those of us who won’t vote - the Republicans have the voting machines fixed.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:37 pmThat Bush is so “in your face”!
September 26th, 2005 at 10:09 pmMan he knows what’s good for us even when we don’t!
Man Bush makes the difficult decisions!
What’s an apocalypse without a horseman?
September 26th, 2005 at 10:38 pmJEEZUZ!
September 26th, 2005 at 11:11 pmThey just operate with impunity. They have no shame –they cannot be embarrassed.
What? Poor Brownie couldn’t find another job — no one other than George would hire him? So inflict him on the public again and see if he can’t get the next disaster right.
Many scandals, many incompetents in high places, and now even one of their propagandists is in trouble — I just heard Bill O’Reilly is being droppped from a radio station in Denver.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:18 pmBush has more scandals, ethics questions, and unknowledgeable, unqualified people in his stable of candidates for high positions that place him in the category of the WORST ADMINISTRATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Is anyone in the media paying attention? Hello?
#11 Damn right. But about your user name: didn’t you ever read 1984? 2+2 equals whatever in the hell they want it to equal!
September 26th, 2005 at 11:24 pmWell, this seems appropriate for an administration where everyone just kinda fails upwards. I’m surprised Bush isn’t giving the guy the Medal of Freedom.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:43 pmGuys, like I said in #15, he’s not getting his original job back. He’s being kept on for a couple weeks for debriefing, then still leaving FEMA.
This is a non-story.
September 26th, 2005 at 11:56 pm@19
You’re right, but it’s still a way for him to collect some more paychecks. Cronyism is ugly. Knowing that you can laugh and get away with it is even uglier.
And yeah, if that guy gets a medal of freedom, I’ll go postal. :)
September 27th, 2005 at 2:04 amA county judge in beaumont texas just ordered the police to forcibly take supplies from FEMA! Apparently they’ve been as incompetent in texas as they were in NOLA!
http://www.dailykos.com/ storyonly/ 2005/ 9/ 26/ 174822/ 324
September 27th, 2005 at 2:15 amAll this is part of the Bush,Cheney,Rove,Delay, Frist plan. They are going to keep this junk up untill the end. See this is what they do, while they have our eyes on what they create as important and unjust they are busy ramming through Roberts to the supreme court and cutting the heart out of much needed social programs. They refuse to reinstate the tax on the rich and let all the porkers keep their bridges to no where. They always want to keep our minds else where while they empty our pockets and empty all the coffers in Washington…It will keep working untill we take the country back or shut it down with a stop work , no buy day or week….Blessings
September 27th, 2005 at 2:27 amSharon,
I agree,
Unfortunately there are so many screwups in this administration, that it’s almost impossible to focus any one of them.
Iraq War
Voting Machine Rigging
Rove and Plamegate
Roberts and the Reichwing
Katrina failures
Rita Failures
Exploding deficits
Erosion of civil liberties
Attempts by the FBI to be exempted from search warrants
Attempts to open public parks to development
Oil drilling in wilderness
Cutting down of remaining virgin forests
Mercury poison in water
Destruction of EPA ability to enforce
The FDA and drug company buyoff
The No bid buyoffs of the corporate crooks (Halliburton)
The attacks on abortion rights
The attacks on birth control
The attacks on evolution and science
The religious warfare on american sanity and laws
….
Unfortunately these were just off the type of my head, I could have gone on half the night! Trying to stop these guys is like trying to stop the bullets from a shotgun. They are so unamerican at soo many levels that they are truly disturbing! The BIGGEST issues I think are the voting rights, the Iraq war and the supreme court, but talk to 5 people and you’ll get 5 answers.
“Tyranny is always better organized than freedom”
Charles Peguy quotes (French Poet, Philosopher and Essayist, 1873-1914)
September 27th, 2005 at 2:51 amVery good Ryan, you got them down to, one more is the endangered species act they are attacking this week. I believe to stop the killing in Iraq and here in America are the top to. What we do next and how to slow down their cutting, drilling and killing is the key. What ever we do it must be organized and huge……Blessings. P.S. Thank’s again for your great posts.
September 27th, 2005 at 3:47 amSharon,
The protest saturday was a great start! We must organize more. We must push OUR congressmen more! We must remind them that the base IS behind them, and to turn of faux and CNoNsense long enough to realize they are propaganda! WE are american, not these corporate AHoles!
September 27th, 2005 at 4:09 amFrom the linked article:
‘ _Brown said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin “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.” ‘
Brownie’s doing a heckuva job using the chewbacca defense. Look at the monkey, don’t look at me.
September 27th, 2005 at 4:43 amRyan,
Good list. I’d like to add:
The for-profit-only megamedia that lies in bed with the military/industrial complex and this administration on so many levels, completely abrogating its true democratic duty of keeping the American citizens informed. Until this (and the voting issues) are fixed, we have no democracy.
Republicans cannot prevail by telling the truth, hence the un-American efforts of Murdoch, Hannity, O’Reilly, Limbaugh et. al, and to a lesser degree (but no less un-American) Russert and Matthews.
September 27th, 2005 at 7:39 amJohn, (#26) I don’t know to this day why the administration claim they needed control of the Louisiana National Guard, even though I think that charge is bogus. Why didn’t he use the active duty troops at the huge base at Ft. Polk, LA? Or Ft. Hood, TX? or Ft. Benning, GA (less than 400 miles away) or Pensacola area bases?
You’re right that Brown is using the chewbacca defense and that was why the administration kept him on, to keep spreading the blame and hit at the democrats.
September 27th, 2005 at 7:45 amHere is a thought. If that piece of slime is kept on the staff of FEMA, might it be to create the following- as a member of the government, any testimony he might be asked to give would be controlled by the government that he worked for. Thus- answers to certain questions could be controlled!
September 27th, 2005 at 8:04 amPup was UP. Brown went down.
Where is Brown? There is Brown. Mr Brown is out-of-town. But don’t worry— I hear Brown came back. Brown is back with Mr Karl Black.
zzzz
September 27th, 2005 at 8:18 amSorry for the Dr Suess ripoff. It just seemed to work for these shameless tools.
Murphy will write a new law on this one.
In the end, New Orleans will be George’s Waterloo.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:12 amYeppers, George wants everybody to drive less to conserve fuel. Lemme see here, a 747-400 has a fuel capacity of 47,210 gallons with a flight range of 5500 miles. That’s using about 8.5 gallons per mile to fly George to the hurricane zone. Does he ever make a good will tour of, say, Europe? The ‘War President’ flys a 747 and asks murkans to drive less. What next? Oh yeah, spend another 100 billion in Iraq. Drive less, pay more taxes.
Get to work, you bums.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:35 amNASA 747
Not sure how much “there” there is to the quote “it’s important that I leave now.” Leaving without 2 weeks’ notice looks like getting fired, something the Bushies rarely do. If the payroll had continued beyond that, then I think there’d be a smokier gun.
If you read the statement, at http://www.fema.gov/ news/ newsrelease.fema?id=18798, the statement says “today I resigned” and is missing the famous phrase “effective immediately.”
No, I’m NOT a Bush defender (read my blog before you draw that conclusion). I’m just saying it would be highly unusual for someone to resign and not draw pay for a couple weeks.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:40 am#32 I heard it costs as much fuel to start AF One’s engines as it does to run an average household for a year. So President fly-boy’s photo ops are a bit hypocritical.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:42 amLet’s see how long Brownie remains in his govt. post, drawing a salary — long enough to answer a few questions at today’s inquiry? Long enough to make sure the cover up is complete? Long enough to keep his mouth shut?
September 27th, 2005 at 9:45 amI guess we’re just making up the rules as we go along. Nothing is sacred, ethics and accepted normative values are out the window. This administration is totally out of step with the public majority.
September 27th, 2005 at 9:47 amSharon,
September 27th, 2005 at 9:59 amYou forgot a criminal in your #22 post. Newt Gingrich, he is the ultimate ring leader. Until this SOB is run back to Georgia on a rail, this crap will continue no matter who the other puppets are. He’ll just reload an be back in 2-4 years.
Marie…you always say it so good. Thank you. As for me I started using the word DICTATOR a long time ago. bushie just spit in America’s face. DICTATORS do that. Lets SHOCK AND AWE them in 2006, but FIRST….make SURE our votes are counted rock solid!. They can take thoes DIEBOLD voting machines and stick them…. I see DIEBOLD stock has plunged down….to bad. I love the name DROWNIE. I will use it from now on. I will remind all of the murder of all thoes people.
September 27th, 2005 at 10:18 am#37 David, your right, I did forget him. Hes been learking around for years, now theres a troll. Good posts every one. Drownie is on cnn as I write. What a lieing schmuck. He’s smoothing over with more lies. Answer to why he was brought back. George sure likes to carry dead horses a***s. Or maybe they are carring him………Blessings
September 27th, 2005 at 10:41 amBrown is now testifying before a committee, placing the blame where the administration wants it: sure, “I made mistakes” but of course lets make sure we look at the “state and local levels” errors, while noting that FEMA is not a first responder. His lying, unqualified ass and his bogus resume, for him to be saying anything, even under oath, is certainly so much worthless chaff.
This lap-dog’s bumbling, ineffectiveness cost a great many lives, yet he shamelessly tries to cover up the administration’s total failure.
September 27th, 2005 at 10:59 amit’s a classic quid pro quo…and he sticks around to pollute the investigation by planting lies and diverting blame as long as he gets paid for it…that’s the real ‘blame game’.
September 27th, 2005 at 11:05 amWhat a farce. He says he did a good job? Then why did he resign? You what stinks? It’s the stink of Drownie’s massive CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
September 27th, 2005 at 11:09 amInsider trading. “Don’t need the money.” Isn’t that what Martha Stewart was sent to prison for?
September 27th, 2005 at 11:21 amYou guys have not figured there real plan. It is all to keep quite anyone who might leak the inside story.
September 27th, 2005 at 11:22 amHow can this man be on the payroll if he resigned? I think they have a different plan, when he testifies before congress they can control what he can saids.
September 27th, 2005 at 11:26 amPlunger, I agree 100%….Blessings
September 27th, 2005 at 12:11 pmThis is unbelievable. Perhaps W will nominate Mr. Brown for Justice O’Connor’s spot on the Supreme Court?
September 27th, 2005 at 12:25 pmBrownie, Chertoff, Allbaugh, Bush, Cheney, Rove. Does anyone else like their brownies with nuts?
Whether the majority of the blame pie goes to Brown, Chertoff or Bush, the fact that most of it should be assigned at the federal level is inarguable. This disaster was so far beyond the capacity of the local government to manage that the arguments that point fingers at Nagin and Blanco are pure, unadulterated sleaze. Naturally, Sean Hannity, O’Loofah and Limbaugh ran with that storyline.
The GOP and this administration are going to burn in hell for their crimes. Count on it!
September 27th, 2005 at 12:26 pmBrown’s back and pointing fingers… I guess that NOW is the time for the “Blame Game!”
September 27th, 2005 at 1:10 pmBrown is a spineless puke. The main problem (Brown) testifing to an all Rethuglican investigation, now we’ll get some honest answers form this exercise. At the end of the day Chimpus will throw him a bag of money and a hearty “your doing a hell of a job here Brownie”. They should all rot in hell.
September 27th, 2005 at 2:17 pm#19
Wrong, Michael Brown was rehired as a consultant “Because he did such a good job with Katrina.” These asshats think that Brownie did a good job. The rest of the world does not.
September 27th, 2005 at 3:04 pmDidn’t they trip on their own words? Yesterday Brownie was remaining in place for a couple of weeks during the transition before his resignation could be completed. Today, they have given him a contract for a month (or so) as a consultant.
September 27th, 2005 at 3:43 pmWhich is it - he resigned - he resigned with a two-week notice — or he resigned and has been rehired under contract?
All of the democrats are finger pointing blamers and cannot-still-get over the fact that they lost the election. They are constantly looking for ways to whine and moan some more and don’t even realize that they are being very UNDEMOCRATIC by being adverse to even taking the right steps to work with making our country as great as it should be by creating all of the alleged ‘bad actions’ of anyone who might be in any way affilitated with any governmental office of any kind. You can’t blame another person for one person’s mistakes and the problems are the government as a WHOLE–have been since the beginning of political elections–and this country’s government is handled by BOTH the political parties. If the democratics don’t like the way things are being handled then why don’t they maturely step up and take responsiblity instead of cowering in the corner after they bark up their accusations.
October 25th, 2005 at 4:00 pmI sure as heck wouldn’t want to run a country full of a bunch of nasty idiotic people……and I am NOT REPUBLICAN.