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Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be asked to resign (Why FEMA Screwed Up)
Boston Herald.com Business Today ^ | Saturday, September 3, 2005 | By Brett Arends

Posted on 09/04/2005 8:43:56 AM PDT by holyscroller

The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position.

The Oklahoman got the job through an old college friend who at the time was heading up FEMA.

The agency, run by Brown since 2003, is now at the center of a growing fury over the handling of the New Orleans disaster.

``I look at FEMA and I shake my head,'' said a furious Gov. Mitt Romney yesterday, calling the response ``an embarrassment.''

President Bush, after touring the Big Easy, said he was ``not satisfied'' with the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

And U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch predicted there would be hearings on Capitol Hill over the mishandled operation.

Brown - formerly an estates and family lawyer - this week has has made several shocking public admissions, including interviews where he suggested FEMA was unaware of the misery and desperation of refugees stranded at the New Orleans convention center.

Before joining the Bush administration in 2001, Brown spent 11 years as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado.

``We do disciplinary actions, certification of (show trial) judges. We hold classes to train people to become judges and stewards. And we keep records,'' explained a spokeswoman for the IAHA commissioner's office. ``This was his full-time job . . . for 11 years,'' she added.

Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.

``He was asked to resign,'' Bill Pennington, president of the IAHA at the time, confirmed last night.

Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign. [more on URL]


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: fema; ignorantbureaucrat; incompetence; michaelbrown; peterprinciple; screwup; stupidlawyer
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To: holyscroller

LOL, you wish.


21 posted on 09/04/2005 9:13:14 AM PDT by roses of sharon
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To: MizSterious
I have seen his resume, and it looked to me as if he had nine years of related experience. Unfortunately, the dem war machine is in full force and trying to capitalize on this disaster to get Bush. I think it is sickening, but it is true.

Also, I don't see any dems or blacks offering to help. They want the white Republicans to do all the work, wait on the evacuees hand and foot, and spit in our faces while we do. I'll bet the people who are getting helped don't all feel that way, though.

22 posted on 09/04/2005 9:15:04 AM PDT by ClaireSolt (.)
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To: Doogle

Exactly and squishy conservatives and mad dog liberals are so racist they believe that a black man can't lead in a crisis and therefore shouldn't be held accountable. Malkin, deep in places she doesn't like to talk about,feels that Nagin should get a pass, because he was by virtue of who he is (a black man) in over his head from the start.

And Blanco gets the same thing. Maybe we are a racist and sexist country-- the liberals and the squishy conservatives certainly are.


23 posted on 09/04/2005 9:16:44 AM PDT by faithincowboys
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To: Clara Lou
Don't interrupt the emoting, its like Oprah in here.

I guess its like battered wife syndrome, you just rationalize that you deserve it.
24 posted on 09/04/2005 9:17:49 AM PDT by roses of sharon
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To: shadowman99
"How the f--- did Bush pick this winner?"

Somebody tells Bush who to hire but Bush must decide who to fire. The kiss of death is reserved for the likes of Shinseki and Lindsey.

25 posted on 09/04/2005 9:19:28 AM PDT by ex-snook (Protectionism is Patriotism in both war and trade.)
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To: HairOfTheDog

>>>The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

Saddle thread follow horse shows? Any background on this?


26 posted on 09/04/2005 9:22:03 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: holyscroller

I ask again..... what "specifically" has Brown done wrong?




27 posted on 09/04/2005 9:22:47 AM PDT by traderrob6
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To: ClaireSolt

Dear heart, they're not even willing to help themselves--unless it's to loot. There are a lot of good people who made New Orleans home, but it's hard to imagine that from the coverage. The media coverage is all about the looting and murders, and very little about the heroic efforts to actually help themselves and one another. Then they have the nerve to portray the worst of them as "abandoned" and "ignored."

But as for leadership, there was none, until the President stepped in.


28 posted on 09/04/2005 9:24:14 AM PDT by MizSterious (Now, if only we could convince them all to put on their bomb-vests and meet in Mecca...)
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To: roses of sharon

Thanks for reading my post, at least. My search skills are lacking, so I can't find the quote I was speaking of.


29 posted on 09/04/2005 9:24:40 AM PDT by Clara Lou (In this order: Read. Post comment.)
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To: holyscroller
Here's another article: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/politics/12554958.htm

From 1991 until 2000, Brown earned about $100,000 a year as the chief rules enforcer of the Arabian horse association.

He was known as "The Czar" for the breadth of his power and the enthusiasm with which he wielded it, said Mary Anne Grimmell, a former association president.

The suspensions Brown delivered to those suspected of cheating resulted in several lawsuits. Although the association won the suits, they were expensive to defend, and Brown became a controversial figure.

"It was positive controversy," Connelly said. "It got word out that we were serious about enforcing our rules."

30 posted on 09/04/2005 9:24:44 AM PDT by bobwoodard
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To: traderrob6

Please read post #24. No facts required on this thread, apparently.


31 posted on 09/04/2005 9:26:05 AM PDT by Clara Lou (In this order: Read. Post comment.)
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To: takbodan

Did you hear the "damning with faint praise" the President Bush heaped on Brown. While he praised everybody else for the excellent job they've done, Bush just said that Brown was "working hard." Ouch!


32 posted on 09/04/2005 9:26:50 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Calpernia
Saddle thread follow horse shows? Any background on this?

FR Saddle club isn't really into horse shows.... heck... even when I was showing Arabian Horses, I don't think IAHA controversies ever made their way into my consciousness.

33 posted on 09/04/2005 9:31:47 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Join the Hobbit Hole Troop Support - http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/)
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To: shadowman99
****Are you serious? The head of our national emergency response was an idiot horse show judge in his previous career?****

Look at the bright side.
Brown could have been a "Grief Counselor".

(I don't know where they come from but I want that job!)

34 posted on 09/04/2005 9:33:14 AM PDT by Condor51 (Leftists are moral and intellectual parasites - Standing Wolf)
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To: shadowman99
How the f--- did Bush pick this winner?

It was a political favor to a friend of Brown and a HUGE mistake.

Granted that the Mayor and Governor are totally incompetent, add the extra bureaucracy of Homeland Security, and a political hack FEMA Director and you have a MANMADE disaster.

I predict that Katrina will be the #1 issue in the next election cycle and if Bush doesn't put some experienced people in charge, the South will go Democratic.

35 posted on 09/04/2005 9:34:02 AM PDT by vox humana
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To: holyscroller
Huh there was no criticism of FEMA in 2004 during 4 Flroida hurricanes, of course in that circumstance Brown was dealing with competant and professional state and local govts.

Yes let's just throw him to the wind becuase of the incompetatncy of the NO and LA govts.

36 posted on 09/04/2005 9:36:39 AM PDT by Dane ( anyone who believes hillary would do something to stop illegal immigration is believing gibberish)
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To: shadowman99

The first I heard about the convention center was yesterday, and I've been reading most of the FR threads.

All eyes were on the Superdome before then. I didn't even realize the convention center existed as a shelter until it was in the news as a big crisis.

First response is with the local people, and the local people could not have been more incompetent if they'd made a deliberate effort to do so. FEMA's supposed to come in after the local response, as it did. It does take time to get resources from outside of New Orleans, especially with the roads largely blocked.

I don't think FEMA did an exceptional job, but I'm not sure if they've done better in other crises; the sheer incompetence of the locals simply exposed pre-existing weaknesses.

I do think that if I werre head of FEMA I would do a detailed review to find out how performance could be improved and how things could have started faster.

The whole government of Louisiana, however, should be thrown out and replaced.

D


37 posted on 09/04/2005 9:36:45 AM PDT by daviddennis (;)
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To: faithincowboys

>>why do you think Giuliani is so praised. It's ALWAYS the locals.<<

This is absolutely the best comment I've see on FR in a LONG time -- and it illustrates PERFECTLY the issue. You can't on one hand praise Guliani for his efforts after 9/11 and on the other hand rail on a supposed lack of federal response to Katrina. Rudy took the lead and the Feds got in right behind him. There was no leadership in LA.


38 posted on 09/04/2005 9:41:08 AM PDT by 1L
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To: holyscroller

Re: Brown's departure from his previous position...

Can anyone really be expected to organize "Airheads" and their owners?


39 posted on 09/04/2005 9:41:43 AM PDT by Redcloak (We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singin' "whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!")
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To: HairOfTheDog

Ah, thanks.


40 posted on 09/04/2005 9:43:33 AM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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