Ex-FEMA Director Michael Brown ~ A Lying, Incompetent DUMBASS

Despite the inequity of blame following Katrina, it has to be said that disgraced former FEMA Director Michael Brown has turned out to be well-deserved of his national bashing.

Let me just preface this with the fact that both N.O. Mayor Nagin and LA Governor Blanco (our "DUMBASS of the Month" for September, by the way) are also MAJOR DUMBASSES who seem to have somehow ducked national anger. But this week is not about them.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA regional director and the ONLY FEMA AGENT to ride out the storm on location in New Orleans, told a Senate panel that is investigating the federal response to the disaster that he gave regular updates to people who were in contact with Michael Brown as early as Aug. 28, one day before Katrina made landfall. In turn, they turned a deaf ear.

This is in direct contradiction to Brown's testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, during which he stated that he was "not fully aware of the dire conditions" until days later!

In e-mails to various FEMA officials, (one of which went to Brown), Bahamonde described a chaotic situation at the Superdome. He had e-mailed FEMA officials and noted also that local officials were asking for toilet paper, a sign that supplies were lacking at the shelter. He was stunned when evacuees continued to arrive by the thousands, despite his frantic e-mails to forestall this.

Later on, Bahamonde sent and urgent e-mail to Brown, telling him that thousands were gathering in the streets (outside the Super Dome) and that "estimates are many will die within hours...Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical."

Less than three hours later, Brown's secretary wrote an email to manay FEMA operatives, including Bahamonde, saying "Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Gievn (sic) that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc.

Less than an hour later, an incredulous Bahamonde to Public Affairs: "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! No won't go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move my pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don't stab me in the back while I try to sleep."

What a GREAT RANT! (wish I had written that email...brilliant!). But more importantly, if this Bahamonde was FEMA's only man on the ground in New Orleans, and sending such a flurry of e-mails (not all of which have been included here), how is it possible that Brown could not have known about them? Well, the only way is if Brown had a broken organization beneath him, which falls under his responsibility anyway...rendering him a basic DUMBASS regardless of which holds true. ;-)

Add to this mess that Mr. Brown was ill-qualified for the job in the first place. No, it wasn't like JFK appointing his own brother (RFK) to be Attorney General, but a bad choice nonetheless -- so in addition he was a REAL DUMBASS to accept the job in the first place.