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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Brown Out, Allen In

Brown Out, Allen In

by John Cole|  September 9, 20052:07 pm| 58 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics

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Brown replaced by Coast Guard honcho:

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role in managing the Bush administration’s Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and is returning to Washington.

Brown, who has been under fire for the federal government’s slow response to the storm that devastated much of the Gulf Coast region, will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.

Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for a federal relief effort that has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: ”By the press, yes. By the president, No.”

I don’t know what practical effect, if any, this will have on the relief efforts, but it will ease some of the political tensions.

*As a bizarre side note, one of my friends growing up was Thad Allen (he is now a minister somewhere), but it just feels weird hearing his name even though it has been close to 15 years. Of course, it is a different Thad Allen, but still.

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58Comments

  1. 1.

    Capriccio

    September 9, 2005 at 2:10 pm

    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.
    but it will ease some of the political tensions.

  2. 2.

    Miller

    September 9, 2005 at 2:27 pm

    Michael Brown might have performed better if most of his senior staff (and his boss Chertoff) had not shared his lack of experience in managing disasters. He also had to deal with slashed budgets and uncertainty caused by FEMA’s mismanaged integration into Homeland Security. Brown is a convenient scapegoat but should not bear sole responsibility for the flat-footed federal response

    How many other senior staffers are similarly underqualified to protect us? Let’s not wait until it is too late to replace them.

  3. 3.

    Alan

    September 9, 2005 at 2:27 pm

    After September 11th, it was the Coast Guard that took charge and made the various competing Federal agencies cooperate (FEMA, OSHA, EPA, etc.). The CG is famous for its competence and organizational skill.

  4. 4.

    Ned Raggett

    September 9, 2005 at 2:28 pm

    That comment of Brown’s and the fact he’s still in charge in FEMA says it all.

  5. 5.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 2:30 pm

    Bizzarro World continues to engulf ours. I wonder what’s Brownie’s next FUBAR project. Hey, aren’t there wild mustangs prowling BLM lands?

  6. 6.

    Steve

    September 9, 2005 at 2:31 pm

    Sounds like someone in the administration is playing the blame game!

  7. 7.

    DougJ

    September 9, 2005 at 2:37 pm

    Don’t read too much into this: Brown just needs to spend more time with his family.

  8. 8.

    ppGaz

    September 9, 2005 at 2:37 pm

    Sounds like someone in the administration is playing the blame game!

    Yes, it’s a variant. The Blame Someone Who Isn’t Me game.

  9. 9.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 2:38 pm

    The CG is famous for its competence and organizational skill.

    What he said. Everyone should hear this report from NPR.

  10. 10.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 2:43 pm

    Any truth to the rumor that FEMA is being renamed the Federal Emergency Executive Branch Life-saving Ensurers?

    I know it’s feeble, but it’s the best I can come up with.

  11. 11.

    ppGaz

    September 9, 2005 at 2:44 pm

    I wonder what’s Brownie’s next FUBAR project.

    Well, he has a law degree, and there’s a SCOTUS seat open.

    I think it’s rather obvious where he’s headed …….

  12. 12.

    Matt

    September 9, 2005 at 2:49 pm

    It boggles my mind that he wasn’t fired outright, especially after his Gareth-ing on his resume.

  13. 13.

    SP

    September 9, 2005 at 2:51 pm

    Brown’s next project is the next natural disaster- he’s still head of FEMA, just not in charge of Katrina efforts any more (supposedly he was already going to retire from FEMA entirely in November). Sounds like a great plan, polically at least- leave an incompetent guy in charge until two weeks after a disaster, then replace him so it looks like you’re doing something.

  14. 14.

    db

    September 9, 2005 at 2:51 pm

    You all remember why McKinley was assassinated? It was over a system of political patronage that did not, at the time, result in a disaster that we see before us now.

    So should we demand that the same standards that apply to the hiring/firing of lower level civil servants apply to these high level civil servants?

    I say no (reason why is a whole other digression); but something certainly needs to be done in the Senate confirmation process. Joe Lieberman signed off on Brownie. But how can the Senate engage in a decent confirmation process with such pressure from the White House that doing so is nothing more than politicking?

  15. 15.

    SP

    September 9, 2005 at 2:52 pm

    politically, that is.

  16. 16.

    over it

    September 9, 2005 at 2:52 pm

    Michael Brown might have performed better

    Somehow, at least based on this, I doubt it.

  17. 17.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 2:59 pm

    Alan Says:
    After September 11th, it was the Coast Guard that took charge and made the various competing Federal agencies cooperate (FEMA, OSHA, EPA, etc.). The CG is famous for its competence and organizational skill.

    Another agency that performs very well, I hear, is the National Interagency Fire Center, IIRC. They do great work every year on a small budget. I’m surprised something like that was allowed to survive. Their “plan”, or whatever it is called, is NIIMS. DHS took NIIMS to created NIMS. They made significant changes. NIMS is what state and local agencies have to satisfy to get fed money for first responders.


    Here


    Here

    BTW, remember way back in 2000, maybe 2001, Rummy said he thought that military hardwear under goes too much testing? He wanted to reduce testing and take more data in the field to evaluate the gear there. I guess Katrina’s a live fire excercise. I guess Worst POTUS Ever was expecting Pelosi to supply him with an after action report. “What went wrong?”

  18. 18.

    Steve S

    September 9, 2005 at 2:59 pm

    It’s interesting how this dismissal comes out the same day the newspapers are reporting that Brown padded his resume and is really quite incompetent.

    They’re not firing him because he’s incompetent. It’s because they got caught. And as Cole notes, it lesson the political damage.

    It strikes me that had they had someone like Thad Allen in charge of FEMA to begin with, they wouldn’t have had political damage to clean up.

  19. 19.

    stickler

    September 9, 2005 at 3:00 pm

    People, please review your US history textbooks.

    You all remember why McKinley was assassinated? It was over a system of political patronage that did not, at the time, result in a disaster that we see before us now.

    No, no, no. McKinley was shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, in 1901. This put Theodore Roosevelt into the White House, much to the horror of conservative Republicans.

    Charles Guiteau, frustrated seeker of a civil service position (Ambassador to France: he was nuts), shot James Garfield in 1881. This did not get him the ambassadorship he had desired.

    Georgetown has Guiteau’s papers in its collection:

    http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/cl133.htm

  20. 20.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 3:01 pm

    over it:
    Brilliant find. Not that Time is hard to find, but good job anyway.

    What really caught my attention was this:

    “He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt.”

    This shows up the liars who claim Brown was unqualified. How in the world can can anybody question qualifications like those?

  21. 21.

    Caroline

    September 9, 2005 at 3:03 pm

    Arrrgh. Are we going to have to have a citizen’s revolt to actually get rid of people like Brown? Why should we allow the Bush Administration to risk the safety of our citizens with inept political cronies?

  22. 22.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 3:04 pm

    They’re not firing him because he’s incompetent.

    Of course not. He did a heckuva job, the President said so. I really hate to see the administration appeasing the Bush-bashing critics.

  23. 23.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 3:07 pm

    It strikes me that had they had someone like Thad Allen in charge of FEMA to begin with, they wouldn’t have had political damage to clean up.

    I believe they did prior to 2000.

  24. 24.

    Trent

    September 9, 2005 at 3:10 pm

    First of all, i DO think that all senators that vetted Brown should be held responsible, on both sides of the aisle. I’m not going to defend the particular Democrats on this. However, it’s easy to see why this rubberstamping occurred.

    From the American Prospect, regarding the Bolton nomination:

    “[T]he results of the 2004 election give the president the responsibility and the right to nominate like-minded representatives and to define who a like-minded representative is,” [Lugar] said.

    The Bush Administration has the expectation of instant approval off all of their appointments and that’s what the Republicans have bellowed with every controversial appointment.

    “I think we have to defend the discretion and the judgment of the president to make that choice,” Coleman said before the Thursday vote.

    Remember how un-American Democrats were in opposing Bolton? Well, we now see the result of blindly trusting the PResident’s discretion and judgement in making these appointments.

  25. 25.

    jg

    September 9, 2005 at 3:12 pm

    The whole thing has been blamed on the liberal media. When will blaming everything that you don’t want to hear on a phantom ‘liberal media’ get old to conservatives?

  26. 26.

    Trent

    September 9, 2005 at 3:16 pm

    The whole thing has been blamed on the liberal media. When will blaming everything that you don’t want to hear on a phantom ‘liberal media’ get old to conservatives?

    Never, because the defining trait of conservatism is to avoid all change and make time stand still.

  27. 27.

    SP

    September 9, 2005 at 3:16 pm

    They’re not firing him because he’s incompetent.

    Read a different way, that says a lot about the Bush administration. They’re NOT firing him, as I said above, just relieving him on this hurricane. Why are they not firing him? Because he’s incompetent. Just the kind of person Bush likes around- incompetent, as long as he’s loyal.

  28. 28.

    docG

    September 9, 2005 at 3:17 pm

    N.Y. Times:

    Asked if the move was a demotion, Brown said: ”No. No. I’m still the director of FEMA.”

    And after my dog was neutered, he was still a dog, but . . .

  29. 29.

    ppGaz

    September 9, 2005 at 3:17 pm

    When will blaming everything that you don’t want to hear on a phantom ‘liberal media’ get old to conservatives?

    Never. It still works, their base still believes it.

  30. 30.

    Trent

    September 9, 2005 at 3:21 pm

    Read a different way, that says a lot about the Bush administration. They’re NOT firing him, as I said above, just relieving him on this hurricane. Why are they not firing him? Because he’s incompetent.

    Do you have any idea how much trouble someone that incompetent could get into in the real world? Bush is just fulfilling his duty to protect the American people.

    You’re so ungrateful.

  31. 31.

    docG

    September 9, 2005 at 3:21 pm

    ppGaz Says:

    When will blaming everything that you don’t want to hear on a phantom ‘liberal media’ get old to conservatives?

    Never. It still works, their base still believes it.

    Yep. Reminds you of the Harlem Globetrotters and the bucket of water into the crowd routine, doesn’t it? Everybody is in on the gag, but it works anyway.

  32. 32.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 3:33 pm

    Well said, Trent, as usual. :)

    I can’t wait to see Lugar and Coleman eat their words.

    The idea of the dullest tool in the shed hiring the sharpest tools in the shed never made sense to me.

  33. 33.

    db

    September 9, 2005 at 4:13 pm

    F*&@!!!! I meant Garfield!!!

    It’s not that I am that bad on history; I know that Garfield’s VP was Heathcliff.

  34. 34.

    croatoan

    September 9, 2005 at 4:18 pm

    My Pet Scapegoat

  35. 35.

    db

    September 9, 2005 at 4:19 pm

    Garfield, McKinley, Lincoln,…..

    My point was about requirements for high level civil servants and the role of the Senate in the messed-up process; senators, I imagine, trust the paperwork they receive from the White House on the nominees; it is the job of the Senate to verify this stuff.

    But if I get caught padding my resume, I get fired outright because I lied to my employer and not just a simple demotion. Did Brownie lie? Did White House conveniently overlook? Both? Inquiring minds really don’t care in the big picture, I wager to guess.

  36. 36.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 4:42 pm

    croatoan Says:

    My Pet Scapegoat

    LOL. Perfect. :)

  37. 37.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 4:43 pm

    And this years Ollie North Award goes to (big fart sound plz.): BROWNIE!!!!!!!!!

  38. 38.

    ppGaz

    September 9, 2005 at 4:44 pm

    Inquiring minds

    If people had wanted inquiring minds to run the country, they would have voted for them.

    In the Spud world, only loyalty counts.

  39. 39.

    jobiuspublius

    September 9, 2005 at 4:44 pm

    Actually, My Pet Fallgoat is more accurate but doesn’t ring.

  40. 40.

    danelectro

    September 9, 2005 at 4:49 pm

    the situation is the gulf coast is under control and it’s obvious the administration cannot waste the talents of the head of fema by requiring him to administrate the small details of the cleanup.

    mr. brown is needed in washington d.c. with the president, in case they are needed to make another catastrophic disaster worse by gross incompetence.

  41. 41.

    John S.

    September 9, 2005 at 6:22 pm

    DougJ-

    So I guess you won’t be voting Republican in 2006 as promised? Since Bush didn’t fire Brown, that is what you claimed you would do.

    I won’t hold you to it, though.

  42. 42.

    DougJ

    September 9, 2005 at 7:00 pm

    John S.– I’ve got until January 1.

  43. 43.

    DougJ

    September 9, 2005 at 7:00 pm

    John S.– I’ve got until January 1.

  44. 44.

    DougJ

    September 9, 2005 at 7:01 pm

    Sorry about all the double posts, but I’m using the duplicate post to communicate secret messages to Darrell, ppgaz, and the other members of my cell.

  45. 45.

    slide

    September 9, 2005 at 7:40 pm

    Another Bush supporter “gets it” now.

    THE COST OF CRONYISM [Rod Dreher]
    It would be very wrong, I believe, to let the ignominious Michael Brown be the scapegoat for FEMA’s sins. Check out this front-pager from the WaPo. Turns out that a raft of FEMA’s top leaders have little or no emergency management experience, but are instead politically well connected to the GOP and the White House. This is a scandal, a real scandal. How is it possible that four years after 9/11, the president treats a federal agency vital to homeland security as a patronage prize? The main reason I’ve been a Bush supporter all along is I trusted him (note past tense) on national security — which, in the age of mass terrorism, means homeland security too. Call me naive, but it’s a real blow to learn that political hacks have been running FEMA, of all agencies of the federal government! What if al-Qaeda had blown the New Orleans levees? How much worse would the crony-led FEMA’s response have been? Would conservatives stand for any of this for one second if a Democrat were president? If this is what Republican government means, God help the poor GOP Congressmen up for re-election in 2006.

    Still waiting for Cole.

  46. 46.

    pleonastic piranha

    September 9, 2005 at 7:45 pm

    ah, the fall guy has been marked, but left in possession of his position and salary for now.

    forgive me, but *retch*. i am gonna turn into a real bush hater any moment now.

    now to see who’s on the US house panel on government reform since they’re going ahead with hearings.

  47. 47.

    ppGaz

    September 9, 2005 at 8:28 pm

    Sorry about all the double posts, but I’m using the duplicate post to communicate secret messages to Darrell, ppgaz, and the other members of my cell.

    Darrell is one of us?

    Christ, I have to start going to the meetings.

  48. 48.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 10:13 pm

    What if al-Qaeda had blown the New Orleans levees? How much worse would the crony-led FEMA’s response have been?

    He doesn’t get it. If al-Qaeda had done this, FEMA’s execution would have been immediate and flawless. That’s what they’ve been preparing for all this time.

  49. 49.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 10:16 pm

    DougJ Says:
    Sorry about all the double posts, but I’m using the duplicate post to communicate secret messages to Darrell, ppgaz, and the other members of my cell.

    Hey, DougJ, why use posts, use cell phones.

    What abominable crime does one have to commit to get thrown into your cell?

  50. 50.

    Sojourner

    September 9, 2005 at 10:27 pm

    He doesn’t get it. If al-Qaeda had done this, FEMA’s execution would have been immediate and flawless. That’s what they’ve been preparing for all this time.

    Huh?

  51. 51.

    B. Ross

    September 9, 2005 at 10:43 pm

    Bubble Boy’s hubris does not allow him to fire anyone, least of all himself, for sheer incompetence much less criminal negligence.

    I mean, who cares? It just matters if they’re connected.

    Quoth Bubble Boy: “How do you suppose I got into Harvard after being rejected by a tin-horn Texas law school?

    Can you say ‘born with a silver spoon’ up my nose? Yes? Thanks.”

  52. 52.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 11:20 pm

    Huh?

    Sojourner –

    I’ve asked John for a sarcasm tag, but until he provides one, all readers will have to figure it out for themselves.

  53. 53.

    Narvy

    September 9, 2005 at 11:22 pm

    ‘born with a silver spoon’ up my nose

    I haven’t heard that one before. I like it. May I use it?

  54. 54.

    Sojourner

    September 9, 2005 at 11:32 pm

    I’ve asked John for a sarcasm tag, but until he provides one, all readers will have to figure it out for themselves.

    Whoops! Time for me to call it a day.

  55. 55.

    John S.

    September 10, 2005 at 5:40 am

    John S.—I’ve got until January 1.

    Duly noted. =)

  56. 56.

    mike

    September 10, 2005 at 12:31 pm

    who cares if you knew someone named thad allen

  57. 57.

    goonie bird

    September 10, 2005 at 3:19 pm

    Kind of reminds me that when us here in califirnia wanted to get that idiot JERRY(MOONBEAM)BORWN voted out we had bumper stickers reading CALFORNIA NEEDS A BROWN OUT

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. The Moderate Voice says:
    September 9, 2005 at 4:33 pm

    Brown Is Relieved Of His Hurricane Relief Post

    The other shoe –or rather, the FEMA director — has dropped in the controversy over the federal government’s performance …

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