Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Fire Michael Brown - update #2
My position from two days ago is unchanged. In support, please read these observations from T. Bevan of RealClearPolitics, a blog notable for real clear thinking. First:
Katrina really was a perfect storm in that she struck a city that was extremely vulnerable to flooding; a city with significant crime, drug, and poverty issues that was effectively rendered lawless for three days causing a complete social breakdown, and a city (and state) government with a long and notorious tradition for corruption and incompetence. All of the tragedy resulting from these things was compounded by a less than perfect response by FEMA.Less than perfect is an understatement, a fault to which I also am guilty. But prior to that, Mr. Bevan states, with regard to Michael Brown:
He's got to go. The bottom line is that as the man in charge of coordinating federal relief efforts the results produced on his watch were simply not good enough. Again, we don't know all that went on behind the scenes so there may be a number of mitigating factors, but from what we have seen in the press Brown looks from the outset to have been extremely ineffective if not downright confused some of the time.Many in the administration and in the Republican party are saying that now is not the time for finger-pointing. Maybe so, but when the obvious is staring you in the face, what else can you do? It may be that Brown has been pushed aside and that competent administrators have taken over, but for way too many people, it's way too late.
The other reason Brown should be fired is because he didn't belong as director of FEMA in the first place. As everyone knows by now, Brown got his original job as the General Counsel for FEMA because of a personal connection with Joe Allbaugh. That's fine, because at least Brown was qualified to hold that position. But lives aren't at stake when you're FEMA's lawyer, they are when you're FEMA's director. Joe Allbaugh bears a great deal of responsibility for promoting Brown to deputy director and for (I assume) recommending his appointment to director to President Bush.
