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Michael Brown still doesn't get it
The Oregonian ^ | September 28, 2005 | aging editors

Posted on 09/28/2005 1:00:53 PM PDT by crazyhorse691

Republican members of Congress haven't yet done enough to get to the bottom of problems surrounding the response to Hurricane Katrina. Only an independent inquiry can do that. But at least they recognize a fool when they see one.

Michael Brown, who quit as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Katrina, was back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, defending his response to the hurricane that killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands more trapped in the floods, cesspools and crime that followed.

He blamed everyone in sight except, of course, himself. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The "hysteric" news media.

"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown said in a display of arrogance and denial in Tuesday's House committee hearing that was nothing short of weird.

There are plenty of people to blame, including those at the state and local level, for the poor response. And Hurricane Katrina was an immense force of nature against which human efforts were bound to fall short.

But Brown and consequently his agency froze in the crisis. His biggest mistake -- aside from taking the job at FEMA in the first place -- was failing to lead the agency he was appointed to lead. That was certainly the case in the days immediately before the hurricane, during the storm and afterward. It was also true in the years before the storm, when FEMA's role was marginalized with little or no effective opposition from Brown.

To their credit, Republicans leading the hearing had no stomach for Brown's performance, either.

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Shays spoke for the nation.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: katrina; notrita; wrongstorm
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At least the editors have finally admitted that somebody else other than the feds screwed up with 'cain Rita. I am still laughing at their usage of a phrase, uttered by a scandel plagued Bob Packwood, to create a vision of another republican scandel.
1 posted on 09/28/2005 1:00:55 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
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To: crazyhorse691

Yeah! Brownie doesn't get it! He was supposed to make sure all the fellas had magic wands.


2 posted on 09/28/2005 1:01:55 PM PDT by RichInOC ("The coffee is strong at Cafe du Monde, the doughnuts are too hot to touch..." Save the Big Greasy!)
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To: crazyhorse691

OK, make that 'cain Katrina.


3 posted on 09/28/2005 1:02:15 PM PDT by crazyhorse691 (Diplomacy doesn't work when seagulls rain on your parade. A shotgun and umbrella does.)
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To: crazyhorse691

"Shays spoke for the nation."

...and rinos and press whores everywhere


4 posted on 09/28/2005 1:02:32 PM PDT by flashbunny (Do you believe in the Constitution only until it keeps the government from doing what you want?)
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To: crazyhorse691
I wrote Shays an email yesterday about his "sound byte" comments.

He is a pompous windbag of the worst kind, and has been in Congress way too long.

5 posted on 09/28/2005 1:03:56 PM PDT by lormand (...evacuated Lousyana before Katrina was even born)
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To: crazyhorse691

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."
____________________________________________________

How pathetic is Shays? How he LOOKED was what told him? What an utter moron. No wonder the GOP House accomplishes so little.


6 posted on 09/28/2005 1:04:42 PM PDT by JLS
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To: crazyhorse691

Just idiotic rhetoric: nothing specific about what Brown did wrong or didn't do that he should have.

To this day, there has not been one specific allegation that I know of. And it bothers me immensely that Bush would cower to these sh!theads and fire Brown.


7 posted on 09/28/2005 1:04:46 PM PDT by 1L
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To: crazyhorse691

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."
____________________________________________________

How pathetic is Shays? How he LOOKED was what told him? What an utter moron. No wonder the GOP House accomplishes so little.


8 posted on 09/28/2005 1:04:46 PM PDT by JLS
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To: RichInOC
And pass out five gallons of gas to each resident of New Orleans. These people are delusional.
9 posted on 09/28/2005 1:04:50 PM PDT by mlc9852
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To: crazyhorse691
"Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Shays is a prick. Brown should have said, "Well, frankly, I'm not very impressed with you, either; you've got a cartoon-character voice. Who does your voice?"
10 posted on 09/28/2005 1:05:08 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: crazyhorse691
Shays spoke for the nation.

GERE: Doesn't Shays understand I speak for the whole world?"

11 posted on 09/28/2005 1:05:13 PM PDT by frogjerk (LIBERALISM - Being miserable for no good reason)
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To: lormand

That's why these kinds of proceedings are worse than useless. They are just an opportunity for these windbags to get on TV, and the one who is the most outrageous get the most replay.
susie


12 posted on 09/28/2005 1:05:32 PM PDT by brytlea (All you need as ID to vote in FL is your Costco card...)
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To: crazyhorse691
How many hurricanes did Michael Brown and FEMA successfully respond to before Katrina? Michael Brown was right. The corruption in NOLA/Nagin/Blanco is worse than we thought. Was he supposed to fix that?
13 posted on 09/28/2005 1:06:35 PM PDT by manwiththehands
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To: crazyhorse691
"He blamed everyone in sight except, of course, himself. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The "hysteric" news media. "My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional,"

Sounds about right to me. He was kind to LA and NOLA by limiting his accusations to simply 'Dysfunctional'. I would add incompetent, corrupt, leaderless and a host of other less flattering adjectives to describe the cesspool NOLA and LA were BEFORE Katrina.

NOLA a 'Cultural Treasure'? My A$$! Rebuild it? Nope - Not with Fed dollars in any event.

14 posted on 09/28/2005 1:06:42 PM PDT by drt1
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To: crazyhorse691
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Brown: "I'm happy you left. That kind of look in the lights like a deer tells me you weren't capable of doing that job."

Shays spoke for the nation.


By mangling the "deer in the headlights" cliche? The more articulate members of "the nation" might object to that assumption, at the very least.

Even still, Brownie didn't really do a heckuva job.
15 posted on 09/28/2005 1:06:43 PM PDT by Egregious Philbin
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To: crazyhorse691
He blamed everyone in sight except, of course, himself.

Uh, he did blame himself as well. Liars.

16 posted on 09/28/2005 1:07:02 PM PDT by dirtboy (Drool overflowed my buffer...)
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To: flashbunny

That Shays guy really got my blood boiling for a bit. And then I realized he had to be grandstanding because anybody that rude would have been pulled into an alley years ago and have been kneecapped.


17 posted on 09/28/2005 1:07:16 PM PDT by crazyhorse691 (Diplomacy doesn't work when seagulls rain on your parade. A shotgun and umbrella does.)
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To: crazyhorse691

The piece is credited to 'aging editors'. I vote to change it to 'senile editors'. I am astounded to the lengths that people will go to blame the federal government for local officials' documented lack of will to act in the face of a looming natural disaster. Are these people brain dead? Hello?? Anybody home??


18 posted on 09/28/2005 1:08:11 PM PDT by GW and Twins Pawpaw (Sheepdog for Five [My grandkids are way more important than any lefty's feelings!])
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To: crazyhorse691

LA Gov Blanco nor NO Mayor Nagin (both dumb demoncRATS) understood their duties and responsibilities but heaven forbid, they should catch any blame because BUSH's FAULT mentality doesn't see that demoncRATS are to blame.


19 posted on 09/28/2005 1:08:16 PM PDT by lilylangtree
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To: crazyhorse691

If I recall, Blanco and Nagin also blamed everyone but themselves, but the MSM have not criticized THEM for doing that.


20 posted on 09/28/2005 1:08:48 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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