Yeah, it's very disturbing stuff. I've had this debate recently with a liberal journalist friend of mine. I don't especially care about political cronyism, which is as old as civilization, but I do care about competence. At least they could have brought in competent people with relevant experience, especially in an organization like FEMA that is so critical to saving people's lives in a disaster.
What is even more disturbing is that there was a big brain drain of top managers from FEMA AFTER 9/11, exactly when they should have been focusing on retaining and attracting top people for these jobs. >Actually from what has been coming out from the various media outlets >about Michael Brown and the other top people at FEMA. Its becoming >quite obvious regarding the degree of Brown's incompetence. Apparently >he's really been padding his resume: >http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/sr.fri/index.html > >This snippet is quite revealing: > >FEMA's top three leaders -- Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and >Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to >President Bush's '00 campaign or to the White House advance operation, >according to the agency. Scott Morris, the third in command until May, >also had no disaster experience. Two other senior operational jobs are >filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska (David >Maurstad) and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a >political operative (Daniel Craig). > >Time Magazine also weighs in on Brown's experience, of lack thereof, >raising new questions about whether the White House bio for Brown >mischaracterizes his work in Edmond, Okla. Time reports that Brown was >assistant to the city manager in the '70's, not assistant city manager >as his White House bio says, and did not have oversight of emergency >services as the bio claims. > >"The assistant is more like an intern," a city spokeswoman told Time. >"Department heads did not report to him." > >More Time: Brown's lack of experience in emergency management isn't >the only apparent bit of padding on his resume. Under the "honors and >awards" section of his profile at www.FindLaw.comexternal link, he >lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State >University". But Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student >here," says Charles Johnson at the University of Central Oklahoma >(formerly named Central State University). "He may have been an >adjunct instructor," says Johnson, but that title is very different >from that of "professor," Time reports. > >A FEMA spokesperson said the Time report was "misleading" and said >Brown was unaware of what the White House bio said." >-- > >Love that integrity in the political appointments of the Bush >administration. It looks like its coming back to bite him in the ass. > >Time has a detailed analysis of the man's experience, or lack thereof: >http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:173639 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
