And, thank you, I AM having a nice day!
Posted on 09/08/2005 12:22:12 AM PDT by Crackingham
The three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent experience coping with catastrophes, the Daily News has learned. Even if Bush were to fire embattled and suddenly invisible FEMA Director Michael Brown over his handling of Hurricane Katrina, the bureaucrat immediately below him is no disaster professional, either.
While Brown ran horse shows in his last private-sector job, FEMA's No. 2 man, deputy director and chief of staff Patrick Rhode, was an advance man for the Bush-Cheney campaign and White House. He also did short stints at the Commerce Department and Small Business Administration.
Rhode's biography posted on FEMA's Web site doesn't indicate he has any real experience in emergency response.
In addition, the agency's former third-ranking official, deputy chief of staff Scott Morris, was a PR expert who worked for Maverick Media, the Texas outfit that produced TV and radio spots for the Bush-Cheney campaign. In June, Morris moved to Florida to become FEMA's long-term recovery director.
"The Bush administration has apparently transformed FEMA from a professional, world-class emergency responder into a dumping ground for former campaign staff and political hacks," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan).
FEMA also is hampered by several midlevel and regional director's jobs currently held by acting directors.
"Just like our military, FEMA should be immune to this kind of political staffing. It should be run by career emergency response professionals," Maloney added.
Traditionally, the Commerce and Labor departments have long been Washington's dumping ground for presidential pals and campaign operatives - not the disaster relief agency.
Government sources blame Bush's first FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, with turning FEMA into a patronage shop.
He was chief of staff when Bush was Texas' governor and later headed the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign.
You're an idiot DBeers with your sleeper troll comment - and you and most of the freepers wouldn't know a critical thought if it crawled into your ear and bit you on the brain.
Well, I will try not to be a flaming jerkoff like you apparently are, but can you provide a dictonary definition for "baffoon" that comes from some other dictionary than "Luker's Illiterate Dictionary of Moronic Terms"?
I thought not. A$$hole.
I sure am sorry. I WAS a flaming jerkoff just like you. My apologies. I should not have descended to your level, low as that was. Liberal weenies with a lower IQ than either Al Franken and Bianca Jagger have a way of pushing my buttons. So sorry to call you bad names.
Only good deep cover sleeper trolls would not somehow feel empowered thinking themselves immune from outing with Brown's resignation -hmmm... Are you attempting to mimick a bad sleeper troll's behavior -calling me an idiot -nice touch! LOL
The basis of critical thought is the ability to communicate it to others, Luker. You can have all the seemingly important thoughts you want filling your peanut sized liberal brain, but if you can't communicate them effectively, that makes you a...oh, a LIBERAL!
If you cannot spell, and cannot be bothered to use the appropriate terms (which "baffoon" is not, this person is neither amusing nor a clown, assuming you meant "buffoon") how can you expect people to take you seriously?
You, unfortunately, cannot have a critical thought crawl into your ear and bite you on the brain. Fortunately, there is lots of air in there, so as least it won't die the death of most critical thoughts that enter the brains of liberals...that is, being suffocated by a lack of space.
I don't need a dictionary for this one rlmorel- I know a baffoon when I see one... when I called Brown a baffoon I was simply speaking figuratively, descriptively - not literally - therefore, I do not need to give you a strict definition. And by-the-way, in my last post I referenced my use of the word not to describe you, but in the past tense referring to my description of Mr. Brown from the other day - but now, since you chose to call me names I can see that you also are one. Have a nice day.
And, thank you, I AM having a nice day!
Why is it that any time a freeper disagrees with the majority of other freepers on any one issue and chooses to call it like he sees it with the truth in hand he is either a troll, a liberal, or a dupe of the media - forget the name calling rlmorel and answer that simple question. That question goes for you too DBeers.
Irrelevant. The Director is usually a figure head, with the staff that stays from year to year, as in any other organization, doing the work.
George Bush, unlike Ronald Reagan, did not come into office in 2001 with a huge agenda for change and a large number of committed activists who wanted to work for him to implement that agenda. So we got the usual gang of political hacks, children of wealthy contributors, folks from Texas, and congressmen and senators who lost elections. And when those people got burned out and left after the first term, we got their deputies who were even less capable. A guy like Mike Brown running FEMA was totally predictable.
Example - the new Federal Housing Commissioner at HUD was an advance man for President Bush. He is now running a $500 billion government mortgage insurance firm, has regulatory authority over the $1 trillion mortgage industry, and has zero housing, mortgage, or finance experience. The sum total of his housing background was being a PR flack for the Dallas Housing Authority. But he is a Texan and loyal to Karl Rove. Good luck to anyone who needs a home or a home loan after Katrina.
"Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, then they get elected and prove it." - PJ O'Rourke
Gimme a blankety-blank break!
Although Bush has left himself WIDE OPEN for criticism in the staffing of FEMA (he might as well be McGreevy putting his Israeli lover in the Homeland Security top spot in NJ)
no one has bothered to spell out exactly WHAT the obligations and duties of FEMA exactly ARE. He has given the Dems everything they could hope for in acting guilty
over the whole mess, "taking responsibility" for stuff that was probably not his obligation in the first place.
The REAL agenda behind the criticism of FEMA/Bush and ALSO FEMA's ill-advised linkage to Homeland Security is that
the Dems want to build an even BIGGER agency and bureaucracy as only they know how. See, folks? We need BIGGER government with BIGGER agencies, that will, um, of course respond FASTER and more EFFICIENTLY to disasters like Katrina. )sarcasm off/
Please post more, like #90==that is essential reading.
I will have to look up your previous postings/replies.
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