You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.

Brown said officials need to “take inventory” of what’s going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.

I couldn’t make up a character as dumb as this!



  1. Sounds the Alarm says:

    I bet his #1 client will be the Feds, followed by every Republican run statehouse. Neocons take care of their own.

  2. Imafish says:

    I would have swore that was a joke. I first saw it on Fark and the link it provided seems to be a news parody site. But here’s the actual story from the AP. I can’t believe it, but it appears to be real!

    But Sounds is right, this is just his way of getting his job back. I.e., get a paycheck without actually doing anything. You watch, the Feds will pay him big money.

  3. Mike Voice says:

    Isn’t there an old saying for this: “Those who can’t do, teach”. 🙁

  4. Imafish says:

    God Mike, that was hilarious!

  5. RTaylor says:

    You didn’t expect him to get some payola for taking the bullet?

  6. Pat says:

    When I first heard of this I shook my head. Especially when Brown claimed to already have some interested clients. Because the story was a little lean, I searched on-line looking for more information. I came across this article on a conservative site. At first I thought it was sarcasm, then satire, then I realized that the writer actually believed what he was writing !!!

    http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_10290.shtml

    The writer actually believes that Brown is hard done by because of the embarrassment and discomfort his family feels because of the unwarranted critisism their husband / father got. A must read for those having a difficult time understanding the audacity of the Bush Administration.

  7. Pat says:

    Mike V

    Those that can, do. Those who can’t, teach. And those who can’t do or teach, become critics.

    Guess I’m a critic then.

  8. Jim Dermitt says:

    I once read that a consultant is a person who borrows your watch to tell you what time it is and then walks off with the watch.

  9. Mike Voice says:

    Thanks Pat,

    I knew I as only remembering part of a larger saying

    And Ima, you don’t need to address me as “God Mike”. Just plain “Mike” is sufficient. 🙂

  10. Jim Dermitt says:

    Maybe he can help the Chinese out.

    A 80-kilometre stretch of cancer-causing benzene was slowly winding its way down the Songhua River through Harbin, in China’s frigid north-east. What a mess this is.

    Punishments of irresponsible acts are on the way Xinhua said in a report aimed at easing growing concerns that officials have not done enough to address the crisis. “If information is not given in a timely, accurate and transparent manner, it will leave room for rumours to spread,” said a column printed in the China Youth Daily newspaper. Transparent manner in China is different than the U.S.. Don’t blame the private sector. China benzene spill heads toward Russia next. Maybe Brownie can pick up some biz in Russia. This way he can be a global consultant. Just blame everything on nobody.

  11. Awake says:

    Whatever happened to accountability? He quits his job, gets retained as a consultant for a while, and then moves right on. As badly as things went in FEMA when it was most needed, we need this guy on trial for criminal negligence, which resulted in pain and suffering (and probably death in some cases) for thousands of people. And put the governor and mayor on trial for the same thing also. We probably would not be able to convict and of these idiots, but these trials have a way of exposing the truth behind this kind of massive failures.
    With authority comes responsibility (or at least it should). If you want the power and authority, you should be ready to accept responsibility when things go wrong. And those inpower, those we have elected to manage our country, should demand accountability. But we have no leadership, or what leadership we have has no ethics.

  12. Brent Wagner says:

    http://www.despair.com/consulting.html
    http://www.despair.com/incompetence.html

    I go here and poke around just for giggles. These two seemed very appropriate.

  13. Lenny E. says:

    You’re doing one heck of a job, Drownie!

  14. gregallen says:

    If you want an insight into the mind and prioritied of Michael Brown during the crisis, you should check out his emails on Smoking Gun.

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1103051fema1.html

    Here’s one example:

    “Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt… all shirts. Even the President rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow. In this crisis and on TV you just need to look more hard-working… ROLL UP THE SLEEVES!”


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