Yesterday, former FEMA chief Michael Brown went on Fox Business to talk about the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Obama administration to the H1N1 flu virus. Brownie, who gained infamy for his incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina, launched into a tirade accusing the WHO for addressing the H1NI virus in a selfish bid to gain “more attention” and said the Obama administration is recklessly overreacting:
BROWN: Well I think there’s one thing they’re legitimately worried about and that is this H1N1 is a new strain we haven’t seen before so we’re not sure how Tamiflu and everything will work against it. Here’s what I really think is going on. I think they want to raise this level because that gives them more attention, it gives them more, you know, more legitimacy, and allows them to get out there and say ‘oh look at us, we’re in control we’ve got this thing taken care of.’ It legitimizes what they’re doing. We shouldn’t be scaring the public. [...]
Neil, my theory always was after Katrina that the Bush administration and now the Obama administration will do it too. They will come out and they will do everything including the kitchen sink because they don’t want to get caught with their pants down. But what that does is, that’s the same as crying the sky is falling, chicken little. And next time people will be less inclined to believe it.
Watch it:
Host Neil Cavuto tried to rehabilitate Brownie’s image by telling him that he was a “sacrificial lamb” for the Bush administration’s Katrina failures. But just as Brown was woefully unqualified to take the job of FEMA director, it is unclear that he knows anything more about reacting to a possible pandemic.
After all, Brown (aka “Brownie“) was a central figure in the Bush administration’s dismissive, inadequate response to the disaster. He waited days after Louisiana had declared an emergency to even request DHS personnel to the Gulf region. As officials attempted to inform Brown that people were dying at the New Orleans Superdome, his press secretary responded that Brown needed “much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes” to eat at a restaurant. Brown told the press he had just learned about the situation at the Superdome four days after Katrina made landfall and a day after his colleagues had tried to tell him. He later resigned in disgrace.
Despite Brown’s attacks, the Obama administration has been praised by experts for its response to the flu outbreak. Officials have made rapid moves to dispel “unjustified fears about the flu virus,” while “stressing the need for precautions, such as washing hands, covering sneezes and seeking medical attention for flu-like symptoms.” The WHO has raised its global alert level to phase 5 because the virus appears to be spreading easily person-to-person, and cases are appearing that have no link to Mexico.
and according this this loser, hurricane katrina was just a drizzle and it was just a puddle when the levees broke. this asshat should stick to what he’s good at…nothing
April 30th, 2009 at 4:24 pmEXCUSE ME ??????
Just what qualifications does Michael Brown have (either academic or job performance related) that qualify him to speak on this.
This is so much like when I worked for the govt. The agencies and decisions are all controlled by flunkies who don’t understand what is going on – but they do know how to court fancy positions with business once they leave the govt.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:26 pmActually the responses have been similar. Slow and ineffective. It took many days for the U.S. to issue travel warnings to Mexico.
America’s public health system had their budget gutted in FEMA like fashion.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:26 pmTypical BS Christianista language.
Neil is a moron and Brownie is a murdering bastard. People died in NOLA that did not need to die thanks this stupid, incompetent a$$wad!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:29 pmMay Brownie & family get the swine flu, THEN we will see who is crying.
Gotta go.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:29 pmThese guys turn everything into a political football.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:33 pmSheesh.
Are they sabotaging themselves on purpose? The stuff coming out these days is nothing but one left-winger’s dream-come-true after another! I am so enjoying all of this.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:34 pmWow. The guy directly responsible for allowing the crisis in New Orleans to escalate into tragedy through his sheer incompetence is complaining because someone is allegedly overreacting to a threat?!? Every time I see something like this I wonder if the Fox “News” operation is really a far more sophisticated satire than Colbert.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:34 pmAll I can say is that with something like a potential pandemic, it’s much better to overreact than underreact. Playing catch up is much harder than being ahead of the ball.
These righties are really going over the edge. They are putting out ads trying to scare the public because Obama shook hands with Chavez and maybe bowed to an Arab (conveniently forgetting Bush holding hands and kissing an Arab).
Republicans have nothing, including shame.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:35 pmHeckuva Job Brownie has credibility to make an assessment about anything? Who knew?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:36 pmYes, it’s so irresponsible to sound an alert and prepare for the worst. Too bad they’re so reactionary that they didn’t take a page out of your book, Brownie.
I wonder if the CDC is more concerned about their hotel and dinner reservations than they are about the threat of disease and death like you were?
Asswipe.
PEACE
April 30th, 2009 at 4:37 pmI think they want to raise this level because that gives them more attention, it gives them more, you know, more legitimacy,
Without showing a trace of irony, and forgetting his court-installed former boss’ colorful threat-assessment pallette…
April 30th, 2009 at 4:37 pmCan someone explain why anybody would approach Michael Brown for his assessment of anything?
I don’t think I’d even ask him the best way to get the Sizzler.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:38 pmI wonder if Tamiflu is effective against viral idiocy?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:39 pmTHAT’S RICH! Who’s next? Cheney to talk about Biden’s approval ratings. Gonzales to lecture Holder on following the letter of the law.
What the FOXX are they smoking over there?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:39 pmI think they want to raise this level because that gives them more attention, it gives them more, you know, more legitimacy,
I guess responding competently to crises might tend to give one more, you know, more legitimacy.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:39 pmWhen the world is facing the Arabian Horse Flu, we’ll ask for your opinion, Brownie.
Until then, sit down and shut up! Thanksbye.
PEACE
April 30th, 2009 at 4:40 pmDear Mr. Brown: People are dying in my country right now. We’re closing down schools, movie theaters, federal buildings, basically most places where people would congregate; all of this in order to stop this disease from spreading. If left unchecked, this could turn into a global pandemic with a worse-case scenario of hundreds of thousands of deaths.
We’re dealing with it using a lot of precaution, both here in Mexico and in the USA, so you can take your theories, fold them until they’re nothing more than corners, and stick ‘em up wherever the virus won’t reach them.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:40 pmIsn’t brownie the guy the guy who went “whatever” when communications broke down during Katrina, and spent the rest of the disaster in bed?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pm“I think they want to raise this level because that gives them more attention.”
Yeah, kinda like that “terrorist threat level” warning thingy we had back in 2001?
Heckuvajob!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pmBrownie the Lawyer: fired
Brownie the Horse Judge: forced to resign
Brownie the FEMA “Director”: resigned under pressure
Brownie the FOX “expert”: smashing success
April 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pmOh, please this from former FEMA Director Mike Brown who was fired from a prior job at the Horse Assoc. and than hired by by an inept former leader to run FEMA? Ineptitude seems to run in the GOP’s family of “hate” as well.
Mike Brown holds no credibility, his comments are baseless and meaningless and he is just plain “dumb”!!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:42 pmisn’t this the same guy who had FEMA rescue his ass when the wildfires threatened his aspen home? ten buck says he’ll have no problem with asking for his shot of tamiflu courtesy of the government when the time comes.
these clowns talk a good game about “smaller government” until they need something.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:42 pmObama isn’t exactly causing a panic. The news channel’s lurid graphics might make me panic, but then when Obama comes on TV and tells me that washing my hands will help, I can’t help but think “oh, it can’t be that bad then.”
April 30th, 2009 at 4:43 pmPure RePugniScum meth.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pmPatrioticLiberalChristianMantisReligiosa, don’t forget
Brownie the Pot Laced – delicious and heady.
PEACE
April 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pmBrownie is responsible for a pretty good number of deaths due to his Katrina fumble, I think he wants to keep the record.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pmSeriously, this would be like if MSNBC had Bill Clinton on to lecture people about sexual promiscuity. The wingnuts would have a field day! Well, I’m having a field day now.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:45 pmWaiting Four Days to do anything: “Heckuva Job”
Trying to craft a rapid response to nip a possible problem in the bud = “Crying ‘Chicken Little’”.
I’d say keep your day job, Brownie, but these days, the only job you seem to qualify for is political hack.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pmbarfly Says:
I wonder if Tamiflu is effective against viral idiocy?
Actually I heard on the radio today that it isn’t effective against this strain of flu. But, the government has already spent millions on buying it from Don Rumsfield’s company. I wonder if they take returns?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pmWhy would the opinion of an incompetent hack like “Brownie” have any bearing?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pmThis man should have had a prison term for the way he mishandled the Katrina. Now, this former horse judge, is trying to tell us the the Obama administration not WHO is manipulating the concern for a pandemic.
The man has no shame and no conscience. I wonder if he emailed his secretary to find out what color shirt to buy for the FOX interview.
Oh, and FOX is a national disgrace. Why can’t they do something about that entertainment rag posing as news.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pmRepublicans prefer to let a few thousand die first, like 9/11 and Katrina, before acting so they can get more money to pass out to their cronies as opposed to having to spend the money on citizens.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:48 pmDrownie’s face will be red if this flu goes the way it did in 1918.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:50 pmHa! Brownie should know. After all, he did a heck of a job after hurricane Katrina.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:51 pm“He later resigned in disgrace.” Need we say any more?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:55 pmbrownie’s philoshy is ignoring the people, not scaring them.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:58 pmMapleStreet; Exactly. This dolt has zero knowledge on infectous diseases, yet he seems to believe he knows whats best for the country.
Perhaps Brownie should read up on the Spanish flu, you know, the one that killed 100 million people worldwide. That outbreak had a 98% survival rate, and still devastated the civilized world.
April 30th, 2009 at 4:59 pmThis is so bizzare. Is there someone else that Fox could have chosen whose words would have evoked a MORE obvious challenge to his credibility??? This just seems like asking Edsel Ford to chair a discussion about Toyota quality.
Is this just a cheap way to flap a red flag in front of our faces? That was more effective when WE were marginalized and THEY we in control, but now???
April 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pmAbove the Clouds Says:
“He later resigned in disgrace.” Need we say any more?
…and…and…they didn’t even let him use the standard exit line of “leaving to spend more time with his family.”
April 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pm” Brownie, who gained infamy for his incompetent response to Hurricane Katrina, launched into a tirade accusing the WHO for addressing the H1NI virus in a selfish bid to gain “more attention” and said the Obama administration is recklessly overreacting: . . ”
Since when does ANYTHING this retard says mean ANYTHING to ANYONE. After the ’superior response’ he provided with Katrina, I wouldn’t give him credit for any word or action that God gave a worm.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pmThe thing of it is that were the administration doing less about swine flu, the bailout or pretty much any other issue Obama and his team are handling, the wingnuts would be out in force saying exactly the opposite.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:01 pmFOX business never talks about business….weird.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:02 pmNow if I want advise about emergencies, I would surely go to Brownie. He evidently did a great job in the Arabian Horse Assoc.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:02 pmWhoa.
.
Whoa.
.
Whoa.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:02 pmsoooooo…what would be this clown’s ideal solution? ignore the problem like ronnie raygun did in the 80’s with AIDS?
April 30th, 2009 at 5:03 pm…and say ‘oh look at us, we’re in control we’ve got this thing taken care of.’ It legitimizes what they’re doing. We shouldn’t be scaring the public. [...]
Right, Brownie. WHO should be following your example as shown during Katrina: Ignore the situation and pretend it does not exist, then downplay it when the media (and everyone else) starts to question your competency, and be more worried about your shirt and tie that the disaster at hand.
And how did that work out for you?
April 30th, 2009 at 5:06 pmWhich administration was always calling wolf? If you guessed the George W Bush administration then you answered correctly.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:10 pmSo Rick Perry, secessionista, is a chicken little for asking for government assistance because of swine flu….
Okay. I. Got. It.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:13 pmXisithrus Says:
FOX business never talks about business….weird.
I’ve wondered that myself before. But I just figure it’s kind of like how FOX News doesn’t report news.
.
Bozo The Neocootiebug Says:
soooooo…what would be this clown’s ideal solution? ignore the problem like ronnie raygun did in the 80’s with AIDS?
That’s the Brownie aproach to all disasters, yeah.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:14 pmOh noes!! Bawk Bawk Bawwwwwk! Teh Sky is falling Chicken Little!!
April 30th, 2009 at 5:16 pmAll tabloid all the time!
April 30th, 2009 at 5:18 pmTeh sky is falling and its made of money!! Guess Brownie did get the email…
April 30th, 2009 at 5:20 pmWhat an A**. Brownie should watch the HBO documentary “Trouble the Water” Residents chronicle the devastation of Katrina and the Bush admin response. Has he listened to the 911 calls from ppl begging for help while their trapped in their attics only to be told no one is coming?! Really, Obama is overreacting for attn!….Brownie has some nerve…what a weak and creepy and heartless man…..Unbelievable! Figures Cavuto offers him a tissue
April 30th, 2009 at 5:21 pmHow’re your horses hangin, dufus?
April 30th, 2009 at 5:24 pmNeil Cavuto’s voice sounds scratchy… wonder if it is the beginning of the “flu”.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:25 pmSo, what’s Brownie’s opinion of Mexico’s response ? Does he think they’re overreacting by closing stadiums and movie theaters ? Obama has already said he may need to implement simular measures, such as closing schools.
I reckon he just wants someone else to stuff-up a national emergency, so he doesn’t look as bad.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:35 pmBROWN: Well technically Chicken Little would be an avian flu scare. This is more of a “Pig Little.”
CAVUTO: Ha ha ha!
BROWN: Ha ha ha!
CAVUTO: You know what else is funny? Dead Mexicans!
CAVUTO: Ha ha ha!
BROWN: Ha ha ha!
April 30th, 2009 at 5:42 pmWash hands. repeat.
Same as last pandemic.
Same as next pandemic.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:44 pmBrownie’s just jealous that Obama’s administration is being praised for competence.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:44 pmThis absolutely sickens me.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pmIt’s Michael Brown – The Secretary of Failure himself
April 30th, 2009 at 5:53 pmThe English language simply doesn’t include the words needed to describe how relieved I am that Chimpy’s Faith-based “experts” are no longer in charge.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:59 pmChessmaster Says:
Brownie’s just jealous that Obama’s administration is being praised for competence.
He’s terribly concerned that competence might “give them more, you know, more legitimacy.” He’s right. It will.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:04 pmOne can only hope that Michael Brown (of FEMA fame) comes down with the worst case ever of the flu. Ditto for all the other clowns on Fox News.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:09 pmDoesn’t Brown have a Horse he should be fluffing or something.
F’k off Brown, you are not qualified to talk about JackSh!t.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:19 pmI think a man who screwed up Katrina so bad shouldn’t talk about emergency prepairedness
April 30th, 2009 at 6:49 pmBrownie never heard of the phrase better safe than sorry. If he did, New Orleans wouldn’t have been such a disaster.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:54 pmWhat a twit.
:::
have you found a
heckuva job yet, brownie?
???
April 30th, 2009 at 7:11 pmI guess in Brownie’s eyes, doing ANYTHING would be over-reacting.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:15 pmBTW, I’d welcome Brownie’s expert opinion if the country is threatened by the incompetence flu.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:25 pmThe crazy thing is I know lots of people saying the same thing. New, unknown virus is “no big deal”, already been around for a long time (or else it’s a new creation of the government, being unleashed on us as an experiment) it’s all a ploy to vaccinate us all, or for the pharm companies to make money, loads of conspiracy talk.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:28 pmHoly moly! Just for the heck of it I did a wiki search on Brown. How the hell can a guy who has lied on his resume, been fired from two companies have any credibility on anything?
Read this guy’s bio, guaranteed to raise your eyebrows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Brown
April 30th, 2009 at 7:33 pmThe fact that Fox was willing to give any airtime (never mind credibility) to a corrupt, deceitful, irresponsible, self-absorbed, twice-disgraced, infamously incompetent opportunist like Michael Brown only serves to demonstrate further that Fox is only pretending to be a legitimate news network — and not very convincingly at that. I very much doubt that any other major network would have been willing to touch him with a ten-foot pole while wearing rubber gloves — because they know that after his response (or more properly, lack thereof) to Hurricane Katrina, nothing that this man could possibly have to say regarding disaster preparation and response should or could even remotely be taken seriously.
Since when did Michael Brown have any expertise in medical science, anyway? Oh, right…silly me! How could I have forgotten? He must have acquired that, no doubt, at the same time that he acquired his expertise in disaster management.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:00 pmMike Brown holds no credibility, his comments are baseless and meaningless and he is just plain “dumb”!!
And, he has no moral compass. Great fit for FOX, I’d say.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:06 pmFrom the CDC link in the post.
I hope that real news organizations are pointing out that the alert is based on protocol which is based on fact which based on sound medical practice. I can see how all this would escape Brownie.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:08 pmNowhere but FOX – far beyond the pale.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pmI find Brown’s attack on the Obama Administration comforting.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:48 pmI have found that the right wings attacks contrast what we had for 8 years (dysfunctional government), to Obama’s efforts to have a federal government working effectively.
I just hope the Republicans can keep up the good work they are doing for this President!
I linked to Think Progress’ “Katrina Timeline.” Pretty comprehensive, but certain things are missing.
(These are just some of the things I’ve come across during and since Hurricane Katrina):
Early last year, former Gov. Blanco of Louisiana finally talked about some of the behind-the-scenes things that happened. On the day the levees were breached and New Orleans flooded, she was at the FEMA command center in Baton Rouge with other state and FEMA officials, including the Bush-designated FEMA disaster coordinator for Louisiana, a twenty-year veteran. Blanco said that the command center was besieged by phone calls about NO flooding, even as state and FEMA officials were trying to ramp up rescue efforts, calls that interfered with their job. Plus, that same day the Republican smear campaign against Gov. Blanco (D) and Mayor Nagin (D) of New Orleans began…not later at the end of the week…one of the reasons the phones rang off the hook at the command center…and I’m quite sure I read or heard a comment by a Republican on either Tuesday or Wednesday already stating that Gov. Blanco hadn’t requested federal disaster assistance…which prompted me to do a Google Search which uncovered the official Louisiana request and official White House response that occurred 48 hours before Katrina hit, the White House response that sent a FEMA disaster coordinator to Baton Rouge to setup a command center.
Furthermore, Gov. Blanco stated in the interview that when Bush flew into the area on Friday, she was escorted aboard Air Force One where Bush demanded again that she turn over her state’s security to the federal government, federalizing Louisiana. She once again refused. A year later, the Republican-controlled Congress, on orders of Bush/Cheney, passed a law stripping state governors of authority over their state’s security during a disaster as declared by the Bush/Cheney administration. ALL 50 state governors (Republicans and Democrats) protested vehemently, but to no avail. Subsequently, when Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast last year, Gov. Rick Perry stopped being governor of Texas during the crisis, replaced by DHS head Chertoff and by extension George W. Bush, essentially making Bush governor of Texas again for a short time.
Other tidbits of information:
1) Late in the week, a report surfaced that U.S.A.F. helicopter pilots flying out of Pensacola FL were reprimanded for rescuing stranded folks from rooftops in the New Orleans. They had been sent on a resupply mission to an airbase near the city, received an urgent call from local authorities to help rescue people, had enough fuel in their tank to run dozens of rescue missions and then make it back to Pensacola.
2) Several hundred Good Samaritan Louisianan boat owners were turned away from rescuing people from rooftops in NO.
3) Which Bush administration official ordered the off-shore hospital ship to stand-down?
4) The day after NO flooded, I read a short report on-line (a blog post by a NO Times-Picayune reporter?) in which he stated that he’d been holed up at the FEMA command center in Baton Rouge (since the Times-Picayune’s NO offices were flooded and everyone had fled) and said that he saw the FEMA disaster coordinator for Louisiana get very, very frustrated that his orders trying to get FEMA relief into NO were being countermanded (by someone) and that supplies/personnel he was trying to send into NO to help rescue people were being redirected elsewhere. Only someone higher up the DHS chain of command (possible as far at the White House) could have been doing this.
So, this is my take on what happened during “Katrina week.”
As soon as NO flooded, the Bush/Cheney administration began a smear campaign against Democratic leaders in Louisiana (primarily Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin).
FEMA director Brown and the FEMA disaster coordinator for Lousiana, based in Baton Rouge, were cut out of the loop…causing Brown to appear clueless and making the FEMA disaster coordinator for Louisiana angry and frustrated.
At the same time, the FEMA disaster coordinators for Mississippi and Alabama, two Gulf Coast states also hit by Katrina but with Republican governors, received all the federal aid they needed (probably some even diverted from Louisiana), and hardly a peep was heard about these states having anywhere near the same problems Louisiana, or the flooded NO, experienced.
But why? Besides the obvious answer that the Bush/Cheney administration deemed helping the Republican governors of Mississippi and Alabama to be a much higher priority than helping the Democratic governor of Louisiana or the Democratic mayor of New Orleans?
The answer is that Bush/Cheney/Chertoff/Rumsfeld/Blackwater wanted control of Louisiana’s security infrastructure (with the flooding of NO being the trigger event)…and Democratic Gov. Blanco was unwilling to cede control, including refusing the “request” on Air Force One on Friday, face-to-face with President Bush.
Thus, the Republicans launched their smear campaign within hours of NO flooding, while over the ensuing days top officials in the Bush/Cheney administration did everything they could to block federal rescue efforts in Louisiana…essentially to make matters worse…so that their smear campaign would have a better chance working…increasing the pressure on Democratic Gov. Blanco to relent in her refusal to hand over Louisiana to the feds.
In other words, while Hurricane Katrina was a devastating natural disaster, everything that followed Katrina’s landfall and the flooding of New Orleans was Republican (and Bush/Cheney administration) caused.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:31 pmHey Brownie,
You jerk off, 1800 people drown to death in New Orleans, and you and Cheney and his boy toy bush jr., had three days warning about an incredible hurricane headed to New Orleans. Go get yourself a new tie and hang yourself with it.
President Obama is being proactive, rather than reactive.
Note to former bush jr. officials: It does no good to react to a storm days after it hits land, other than to pick up the dead bodies. No different to 9-11, reacting to planes hitting the twin towers, is a little late when you were warned repeatedly about the system “blinking red” months in advance, but your boss decides to remain on vacation.
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Damnit Brownie, when you’re on TV you need to roll up your shirt sleeves so people will think you give a sh!t!!!
May 1st, 2009 at 10:40 amWait. So the guy who had to resign from FEMA amidst allegations of imcompetence and lack of action about Hurricane Katrina – is criticizing the Obama Administration for overreacting on the swine flu outbreaks?!?
#1 – Gotta love a man who can’t learn from his own mistakes.
#2 – Does Fox even care about credibility?
May 1st, 2009 at 1:45 pmStill doing a “heckuva job”……………
It should scare the pants off us that there are still people who buy into Faux Snooze.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:27 pm