At
least we can be glad that “Cronyism” has never been evident in previous
administrations.
Harry
********************************
Henry
George School
of Social Science
of Los Angeles
Box 655
Tujunga CA
91042
818
352-4141
********************************
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Karen Watters Cole
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005
8:41 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Futurework] Right here
in the United States of Halliburton
None of the
criticisms about FEMA Director Brown or of the slow and erratic FEMA
response/organization should in any way degrade the managers and workers down the
line who have done their jobs. No one is saying First Responders have not
performed beyond the call of duty and heroically, especially the Coast Guard
which was on the scene quickly.
But as everyone
knows by know, FEMA director Michael Brown was a college roommate of the former
director, Joe Allbaugh, who earned his appointment because he had been Gov.
George Bush’s campaign manager. As Allbaugh departed for more lucrative
pastures shepherding private firms to gov’t contracts in Iraq, he
recommended his unemployed friend to replace him. So Brown’s best
qualification was that he was a personal friend of the director. But the worst
of it is, he was appointed!
Cronyism runs deep
in this administration, more so than most of us remember in our lifetimes, and
this time it has been costly, in lives lost and resources squandered.
Under Bush/Cheney, governance has been used as a pyramid reward system.
It’s created a brain drain not seen since the Reagan scandals of agency
turnovers. The Buck stops where?
kwc
Brown, More Unqualified
Than You Thought
Astoundingly, FEMA Director Michael Brown is even more unqualified for his job
than previously believed. The reason: he's been
lying on his resume. A 2001 White House press release states that
"from 1975 to 1978, Brown worked for the City of Edmond, Oklahoma, overseeing
the emergency services divisions." Brown's official government
biography says he served "as an assistant city manager with
emergency services oversight." Time Magazine contacted Claudia Deakins,
head of public relations for the city of Edmond
and got the real story. Deakins revealed that Brown "was an 'assistant to
the city manager' from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no
authority over other employees. 'The
assistant is more like an intern,' she told TIME. 'Department heads did not
report to him.'" It's just one of several fabrications Brown has made
about his professional experience.
Brown Falsely Claims He Was Named
"Outstanding Professor": In a profile on Findlaw.com,
Brown claims he was named "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University."
Charles Johnson, a member of the university's public relations office, said
Brown "wasn't a
professor here, he was only a student here." (Johnson added, "'He
may have been an adjunct instructor' ... but that title is very different from
that of 'professor.'") Johnson said the chair of the Political Science
Department at CSU was not aware of the "Outstanding Political Science
Professor" award.
Brown Falsely Claims He's A Director At A
Nursing Home: On his Findlaw.com profile, Brown "states that
from 1983 to the present he has been director of the Oklahoma
Christian Home,
a nursing home in Edmond."
An administrator at the home told Time that Brown is "not a person that
anyone here is familiar with." The nursing home doesn't have a board of
directors anymore and when it did, no one remembers Brown being on it.
According to a veteran employee Brown "was never
director here, was never on the board of directors, was never executive
director. He was never here in any capacity. I never heard his name
mentioned here."
Brown's Conduct May Jeopardize His Law
License: Brown is a member of the Oklahoma State Bar. According to
the "Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct," conduct involving
"dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation" is a violation
constituting "professional
misconduct." Oklahoma
state law specifies that "any lawyer violating these Rules of Professional
Conduct shall
be subject to discipline." Discipline includes "disbarment,
suspension of a respondent from the practice of law for a definite term ...
public censure or private reprimand." Note to other members of the
Oklahoma State Bar: According to Rule 8.3 of the Oklahoma Rules of Professional
Conduct, "A lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has committed a
violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial
question as to that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in
other respects, shall
inform the appropriate professional authority."
Incompetence At FEMA Runs Deep:
The Washington Post reports that "[f]ive of eight top Federal Emergency
Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually
no experience in handling disasters." The top three officials --
Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D.
Altshuler -- "arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to
the White House advance operation." Because of high turnover in recent
years, "nine of 10 regional directors are working in an acting
capacity." The result: "[E]xperts inside and out of government said a
'brain drain' of experienced disaster hands throughout the agency, hastened in
part by the appointment of leaders without backgrounds in emergency management,
has weakened the agency's ability to respond to natural disasters."
source: American
Progress 090905
