Petrelis Files

WPost: FEMA's Brown calls Mother Nature "Terrorist"

As many of us go over _everything_ we can find on FEMA's chief nincompoop Michael D. Brown, one December 27, 2004, Washington Post profile of him stands out for a number of reasons, beginning with this stunning quote.

"Florida was a giant terrorist event [...] It's just that Mother Nature was the terrorist," Brown said.

So this idiot looked upon the 2004 hurricane season as a terrorist event and the perpetrator, Mother Nature, as another Osama Bin Laden, and still he and his agency were woefully criminally unprepared for Katrina hitting Louisiana.

The Post also reported that "[e]ven before the first hurricane hit Florida's Gulf Coast, Brown dispatched people and equipment to the state, impressing the locals who had been frustrated by FEMA's slow response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992."

I'm sure one of the locals just happened to be Jeb Brush, concerned with getting his brother another four years in the Oval Office, and many others who just happened to be voters Dubya needed last year.

Then there's this outrageous claim: "Brown says that joining Homeland Security has given FEMA easy access to 'assets,' such as helicopters and boats, that can be invaluable whether disasters are accidental or intentional."

In light of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, I'd say FEMA's merger into Homeland Security has only brought us asses.

Those assets Brown referred to didn't quickly make it to the affected region when known terrorist Mother Nature and her daughter Katrina decided to wreak havoc.

Wondering what kind of records Brown has set in his previous hurricane relief work? Read this.

"Through Florida's four hurricanes, Brown set records for handing out checks -- not to mention ice, water, food, tents, tarps, medical supplies and portable toilets. On the first day of Hurricane Charley, Brown's crews delivered 560,000 pounds of ice and 200,000 liters of water. All told, the agency dispensed more than $926 million in assistance to Floridians."

Hey, $926 million buys a lot of votes, and, as we all know, it didn't go to waste in Florida.

Read this quote about Brown from Leo Bosner, vice president of the FEMA Headquarters Employees Union, to learn how FEMA folks looked on their boss last year.

"I don't think he has the qualifications for the job."

Damn, if only the White House and congress knew before Katrina struck that a respected newspaper was reporting someone really in the know questions Brown's qualifications, if he has any, you think they would have fired him?

This next sentence though, about what is of top concern to Brown in his Denver neighborhood, gives me grave concern for some Colorado school kids.

"He frets that a nearby school has not devised an evacuation plan should disaster strike and traffic gridlock result."

Guess we know Brown couldn't be bothered doing his job and fret about evacuation for New Orleans, and making sure the residents got out of that city.

Something in my gut tells me Brown probably has not helped that Denver school organize an evacuation plan, but if he has, the school officials may want to rethink it.

The full Dec. 27, 2004, profile is at this page.