Brown says White House wanted him to lie

[Dinner]

Not unexpected but still sucks that our President is urging his staffers to lie to the American people.

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency says the White House wanted him to lie about the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Former Director Michael Brown told ABC News` 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos' Sunday he stood by comments in a Playboy interview, and President Bush wanted him to take the heat for the bungling.

'The lie was that we were ready and that everything was working as a team. Behind the scenes, it wasn`t working at all,' Brown said. 'There were political considerations going into all the discussions. There was the fact that New Orleans did not evacuate and the mayor (Ray Nagin) had no plan.'

Brown said it was natural to 'want to put the spin on that things are working the way they`re supposed to do. And behind the scenes, they`re not. Again, my biggest mistake was just not leveling with the American public and saying, `Folks, this isn`t working.`'

The former FEMA chief cited what he called an e-mail 'from a very high source in the White House that says the president at a Cabinet meeting said, `Thank goodness Brown`s taking all the heat because it`s better that he takes the heat than I do.`'

Also on 'This Week,' U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the administration still doesn`t understand the magnitude of the reconstruction problem; but the president`s Gulf Coast coordinator, Don Powell, said the federal government`s No. 1 priority is to rebuild the area in a businesslike way.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1195176.php/Brown_says_White_House_wanted_him_to_lie

[Arrian]

"The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency..."

I thought Brownie was doin' a heckuva job?

-Arrian

[Dauphin]

Is Playboy considered to be a good place to start making political comments?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Arrian
"The ousted head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency..."

I thought Brownie was doin' a heckuva job?

-Arrian

Heck of a bad job.

When did we start asking fired employees for objective comments about either thier own performance or about thier employer anyway?

[Arrian]

Because we think the former employer is an incompetant oaf. Good odds this fellow will agree

-Arrian

[pchang]

How about

making sure that any reconstruction is concentrated on the land with the highest elevation and relocation of those on the land with the lowest elevation? We know it is only a matter of time before high water levels come back.

[Blaupanzer]

Listening to one incompetent fool discuss the actions of another one such will probably not lead to enlightenment. If you are in charge of an agency that gets gutted to the point that it can no longer do its duty, then you get the primary heat. IIRC Brownie did say everything was going great when he knew that to be a lie. Saying someone else asked him to do it doesn't absolve him of the sin. That he is apologetic now is utterly meaningless to the general public. "He made me do it," is an excuse we won't accept from five-year-olds. Adults need not apply.

[Elok]

Oh, I don't think anyone's suggesting we let him off. People are just excited over having one more thing they can justly accuse Bush of. Even though that's kind of like discovering a new carcinogen in tobacco.

[Sikander]

Re: How about

Originally posted by pchang
making sure that any reconstruction is concentrated on the land with the highest elevation and relocation of those on the land with the lowest elevation? We know it is only a matter of time before high water levels come back.

Yes, and the Feds shouldn't pay a penny to do anything but. If Louisiana's pols want to risk their people's lives and their own money in order to pander to their electorate, that's their business.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Is Playboy considered to be a good place to start making political comments?

Actually, it's an excellent magazine. I just also happenes to have naked girlies in it. The make a braile version, btw, sans nekkid girlies.

[chequita guevara]

Re: Re: How about

Originally posted by Sikander
Yes, and the Feds shouldn't pay a penny to do anything

You seem to have an odd idea about what the purpose of a community is. There is no part of the U.S. that isn't subject to possible disaster. We would all soon be greatly improvrished if we didn't pitch in and help one another when disaster strikes. If we all just cut each other loose to suffer on their own, what was the point of even leaving the savannah aside from better entertainment?

[Arrian]

That's totally miscontruing what he (and, by extension, QCubed) said.

New Orleans should receive lots of help, but help to rebuild in a SUSTAINABLE MANNER. That may mean rebuilding most, but not all, of the city. It also means working on repairing the barrier islands (?), which I expect will be rather expensive, along with beefing up the levees (or not... I hear the two are kinda mutually exclusive).

-Arrian

[pchang]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


Actually, it's an excellent magazine. I just also happenes to have naked girlies in it. The make a braile version, btw, sans nekkid girlies.

With today's technology, we should be able to come up with a braille version of nekkid girlies.

[chequita guevara]

I'll pay for that.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Blaupanzer
Listening to one incompetent fool discuss the actions of another one such will probably not lead to enlightenment. If you are in charge of an agency that gets gutted to the point that it can no longer do its duty, then you get the primary heat. IIRC Brownie did say everything was going great when he knew that to be a lie. Saying someone else asked him to do it doesn't absolve him of the sin. That he is apologetic now is utterly meaningless to the general public. "He made me do it," is an excuse we won't accept from five-year-olds. Adults need not apply.

Ohh this just begs Godwinization.