Knight Ridder Exposes Horse Judge Background of FEMA Chief

[niceypoo]

During the 1990s, Brown served as judges and stewards commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. His job was to ensure that horse-show judges followed the rules and to investigate allegations against those suspected of cheating. "I wouldn't have regarded his position in the horse industry as a platform to where he is now," said Tom Connelly, a former association president. The reporter refer to Brown's stormy years with the horses as a "rocky tenure." Some have claimed that he was fired from his post.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054585

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509040342sep04,1,474800.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

His "horse judge" tenure was a "Rocky tenure"? He was forced out of his "horse judge" job.

Third world level incompetence from top to bottom.

[Cha]

1. Wow! I couldn't remember what

this idiot had done before so I just used "dog catcher" as an exaggerated example of what he did before bush appointed him.

When I was telling my son on Kauai about it..he said, "In other words ..it's the last person who should have been appointed?" I said, "yeah, as with all of the bushwa's appointees!"

[JoFerret]

2. Arabian horses

to boot.
Good to see the story of how the FEMA professionals were sidelined and replaced by incompetent political hacks and Bush/ GOP cronies.

[Cha]

4. Searing reminder of bolton to

the UN.

[Sugarbleus]

3. Don't leave out the ineptitude (or cruelty) of CHERTOFF either.

What a disgusting Putz he turned out to be.

[NJCher]

43. yeah, but there's one thing about Chertoff that I love

And that is that he is marvelously unphotogenic.

He looks as evil as bush is.




Cher

[DoYouEverWonder]

51. Whenever I see a pic of Chernoff

it always reminds me of Skelator. How appropriate is it that a guy who is in charge of keeping us alive, looks like death?

[niceypoo]

5. Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief `asked to resign'

The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows.

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=100857

[DrZeeLit]

7. Why are we not surprised? One more in a LONG string starting w/ Cheney.

[madmax]

6. Thanks for posting this

I was looking for info on his horse connection.

[Ronnie]

8. From the Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/12557181.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

''He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm,'' said Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade emergency management chief who oversaw emergency response during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

[short bus president]

11. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

A laugh in the midst of all this is welcome. So it looks like Brown will soon be history. I wonder if the guy who said "you're doing a great job, Brownie" will go down, as well?

[alfredo]

16. No he won't. incompetence is not grounds for firing. Disloyalty to bush

is. Brown will probably get the Medal of Freedom.

[Ravenseye]

52. Yeah my vote is for the medal

As long as he toes the line and reads the talking points, he'll be called a Hero of New Orleans and get a Medal of Freedom.

No Question.

[peekaloo]

29. LOL!

stick it to the bastards.

[goforit]

9. YAH!!!...Read it in the NYT. This a**hole has ZERO experience!

Should I be surprised?

Not.

[pippin]

10. So When Has Bush Appointed Anyone Qualified?

All the Bush appointments have been a joke--qualified for the job? You must be kidding. Ditto for the so called senate hearings that have simply been rubber stamps for the white house. The Bush adminsitration has ruined every single procedure and process that has been put into place to ensure we have checks and balances. Begining at the top, who in their right mind could have believed that a total moron could be president? Welcome to the banana republic of America.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. THIS is the key element to Bush's incompetancy,

and why he should be impeached. Time and time again, it's been proven that running the United States like a corporation leads to disastrous results.

Brown is less to blame in this mess than Dumbyass, who can't seem to "get" that changing a flat tire with another flat does not improve the ride.

[Peace Patriot]

23. "Who in their right mind could have believed..."? Wally O'Dell. n/t

[Peace Patriot]

27. Explanation of my comment...

Pippin said (upthread): "Begining at the top, who in their right mind could have believed that a total moron could be president?"

My answer: Wally O'Dell, Bush/Cheney campaign chair for Ohio, who promised to "deliver Ohio" to them in '04, and CEO of Diebold electronic voting machine company, who, with ES&S (funded by far rightwing billionaires) "counted" 80% of the votes in the 2004 election, using SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code--code so secret that not even our secretaries of state are permitted to review it.

THAT'S who "could have believed" that they could install "a total moron" as president.

And, if you are reading this for the first time, yes, it's true; yes, it's INSANE; and yes, corrupt Democratic election officials and top party bosses knew about it and DID NOTHING, and SAID NOTHING, about it.

We need a BIG BROOM, my friends. And the Republicans are not the only ones who need their house cleaned.

[Art_from_Ark]

36. "Who in their right mind could have believed

that a total moron could be president?"

I could have, after seeing the beta version, otherwise known as the Reagan administration.

[pursuivant]

46. Bush = "Reagan Lite" if that's possible.

If Reagan was a lightweight intellectually and ethically, then what's Shrub? Heliumweight? Hydrogenweight?

[peaches2003]

12. WHY IS HE THERE?

The ONLY important question is why is he there? (And also why is Chertoff where he is?) Because they are flunkies who will do what Bush wants. Because they (and anyone who cooperates w/ *) have sold their souls for their job and will do *'s evil for him.

[MissMarple]

54. I read on DU yesterday that Brown & Joe Allbaugh were college room mates.

I don't have a link for that, and I don't know how to confirm that. Sorry.

[SoCalDem]

13. seems like congress should have dug deeper before kissing his ass

and approving him..:puke:

[Opusnone]

14. Let me tell you about this government

People in the * administration are given jobs based on cronyism, partisan politics and political donations/favors.

The military, by contrast, is an efficient machine because it promotes from within, not without. You move up through the ranks based on your service, merits, and performance and learn not just your own duties, but those of all ranks under you. There is seldom a breakdown in command because of this structure.
You cannot run the government like a corporation (which the republicans want to do). Can you imagine if * said to a political contributor (pioneers - emphasis on the lower case p) "Hey howdya like to be a general? How bout the head of the navy?"
This is why government is failing right in front of our eyes. No efficiency. It's got nothing to do with conservative vs. liberal. Christ, I actually agree with that self-hating Andrew Sullivan.

[tabasco]

20. Great points !

Unfortunately the administration does appoint the top military leaders. Such as Rummy pulling a guy out of retirement to be the Army Chief of Staff (that should tell you something right there). And Bush appointed all former-CEOs to be Secretaries of Army, Navy, etc. So Bush is having a negative effect on the military by promoting yes-men and retiring the troops with the courage to disagree, and appointing buddies to the job without concern for merit.

[MrBenchley]

15. His incompetence made the show horse association GO BUST

Before we go any further on Judge Frenchfry and a replacement for the guy Nixon called "that idiot Renchberg", we ouhgt to demand an investigation into how "Brownie" got such an important post with no qualifications whatsoever.

[Tomee450]

18. And yet, Chertoff expressed

support for Brown today when questioned by Wolf Blitzer. Said Brown was well experienced. Blitzer wondered how that could be when Brown's last job was with the horse organization. Chertoff's reply? Brown had been through four hurricanes last year.

[MrBenchley]

60. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," said Chimpy...

And remember, the turd's first choice for Homeland Security was Bernie Kerik...who was derelict on 9/11 and cut and ran in Iraq when things got tough...

[sam sarrha]

17. he was the "COMMISSIONER & stwerd" for --- www.horsesass.com -- !!!.LINK>

:rofl: :applause: :applause: :applause:

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348

[drm604]

58. That's .org not .com

The link is www.horsesass.org, not www.horsesass.com which leads to one of those fake directory pages (complete with annoying popups).
By the way, whatever you do, don't try removing the middle 's' in that .com address. I did, to my dismay.

[daleo]

19. From "a pet goat" to a horse judge

Bush is an animal lover, that's for sure.

[brentspeak]

22. A horse could have done a better job than Brown

at least a horse wouldn't begin each statement by blaming the victims for being in the city.

[karlrschneider]

24. Maybe he taught Chimpy to milk stallions...

:eyes:

[shanti]

39. ROFL!

:rofl:

[kcass1954]

25. "...the progression from horse shows to hurricanes was natural."

WTF???

[pursuivant]

48. In both cases, if you're dumb enough . . .

you get your face kicked in.

[Miss Chybil]

26. Cronyism at its finest. nt

[sam sarrha]

28. was this guy a big Party $$ Doner, or maybe a coke head drinking buddy of W

how do you get to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of inocent people under your care... sounds like a friend of W, for sure

[Divernan]

32. Bush appointed Joe Allbaugh(campaign director)who brought Brown along

Brown and Joe Allbaugh went to some little Oklahoma college together. Allbaugh was one of what was referred to as Bush's "Iron Triangle" in Texas, along with KKKKKarl Rowe and Karen Hughes. Neither Brown nor Allbaugh had one iota of experience at running any kind of organization, let alone a (then) cabinet level agency. They had no experience or training in disaster/relief management. They were sent in to gut/privatize FEMA and have driven out the top level of experienced civil servants. Hundreds of jobs were left unfilled and other were filled with incompetent children/relatives of big Bush donors.

[Wilber_Stool]

30. This is a good story on FEMA

"Over the past three-and-one-half years, FEMA has gone from being a model agency to being one where funds are being misspent, employee morale has fallen, and our nation's emergency management capability is being eroded," he wrote. "Our professional staff are being systematically replaced by politically connected novices and contractors."





http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-09-28/cover_story.html

[daninthemoon]

31. When this mentions Arabian horses, is there also a Saudi connection?

[Tom Joad]

33. Brown insisted his relationship with the horse was consensual

Further, they were both old enough to make adult decisions about their life.

He still believes that it should not have led to being asked to resign. To this day, he still sends hay on Valentine's.

[goclark]

34. ROTFL

He does look like a horse to me.

And he has a way of saying "neigh,neigh, not me"

"Put the blame on anybody but me, neigh"

[xxqqqzme]

35. OMG he's qualified

2 B nominated 2 the supreme court!

[demo dutch]

37. That's what happens when the inadequate appoint the inadequate

[shanti]

38. whoa, he's REALLY qualified, ya think??

he was "vetted". :eyes:

[Boxerfan]

40. Lookie here....

http://pview.findlaw.com/view/2507976_1

Hope this full cut& Paste doesn't break the rules...


Michael D. Brown
Firm: International Arabian Horse Association Legal Dept.

Address: PO Box 1307
Lyons, CO 80540


Phone:
Fax: [phone]

E-mail: Contact Us

Web site:
Blogs:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Position Areas of Practice Bar Admissions

Education Honors Affiliations

References Representative Clients

Current Employment Position(s):

Of Counsel


Areas of Practice:

Estate Planning
Family Law
Real Estate Law
Employment Law -- Employee
Employment Law -- Employer
Labor Law
Legislative Practice
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Bar Admissions:

Oklahoma, 1982
District of Columbia, 1987
Colorado, 1991
U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, 1982
U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 1982
U.S. District Court Northern District of Oklahoma, 1982
U.S. District Court Western District of Oklahoma, 1982
U.S. Federal Court, 1982

Education:

Oklahoma City University School of Law, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1981
J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence

Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma, 1978
B.A., Bachelor of Arts
Honors: Outstanding Pol. Science Senior, Dean's & President Honor Rolls

Representative Clients:

Dillingham Insurance
Farmers Home Administration (Bond Counsel)
HARSCO Corporation (Oklahoma Counsel)
Suits Drilling Company

References:

Northwest Bank of Enid

Honors and Awards:

Who's Who in American Law

Who's Who in Emerging Leaders

Who's Who in South and Southwest

Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University

Professional Associations and Memberships:

National Health Lawyers Association, 1986 - Present
Member

Oklahoma Republican Party
General Counsel (Associate) Rules Chairman, Congressional Nom.

Oklahoma City University School of Law, 1987 - Present
Adjunct Professor in State and Local Gov't. Law, Legislation

Chairman, Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, Edmond, OK, 1980 - Present


Director, Foundation for Enid Education & Economic Develop., 1988 - Present


Director, Oklahoma Christian Home, Edmond, OK, 1983 - Present


Birth Information:

1954, Guymon, Oklahoma, United States of America

West Practice Categories:

Estate Planning, Family Law, Real Estate Law, Employment Law -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Labor Law, Legislative Practice, Sports



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When viewing a listing, consider the state advertising restrictions to which lawyers and law firms must adhere, as well as our West Legal Directory disclaimers.

[A Brand New World]

42. Sure don't see any disaster preparedness/emergency mgmt.

experience there. I contend my local fire chief is more qualified as the FEMA head than this numbskull. Another poor example of **'s cronyism but this one had deadly results.

[tabasco]

41. So whoever got to review this guy's resume' thought this was ...

"qualifications."

Just how much money did this weasel give to GWB?

Did they think this was not an important position?

CRONYISM at its very worst and the consequences have been severe.

[nolabels]

44. You got to be joking

Like where are the rest of the professionals who actually make a living doing something constructive and worthwhile

Like shouldn't somebody have smelled this and ratted this fake out much earlier or..............opps just remembered it's the same kind guy they got as the POTUS :shrug:

Nothing like that good ole non-existent congressional oversight :rofl:

P.S. I have to laugh, the alternatives don't help as much :cry:

[Shallah Kali]

45. Call your Sens. & Rep. to get him fired or we are all screwed if terrorist

attack. Even if they don't give a damn about NOLA they will want their own behinds protected and this idiot won't be saving their relatives in case of a strike.

[CityDem]

47. Not qualified

This guy is not qualified to clean the bathrooms at the Superdome. He must be related to Jeff Gannon.

[UpInArms]

49. another of Brown's "qualifications" here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html

excerpt:

For one thing, the undermining of FEMA began as soon as President Bush took office. Instead of choosing a professional with expertise in responses to disaster to head the agency, Mr. Bush appointed Joseph Allbaugh, a close political confidant. Mr. Allbaugh quickly began trying to scale back some of FEMA's preparedness programs.

You might have expected the administration to reconsider its hostility to emergency preparedness after 9/11 - after all, emergency management is as important in the aftermath of a terrorist attack as it is following a natural disaster. As many people have noticed, the failed response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a terrorist attack today than we were four years ago.

But the downgrading of FEMA continued, with the appointment of Michael Brown as Mr. Allbaugh's successor.

Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr. Allbaugh's college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown became the agency's director. The raw cronyism of that appointment showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only imagine the effects on staff morale.

...more...

[jimbot]

50. Someone please post this on freep

Oddly the freepers show no mention of this story on their site :)
Any of you dual wielding account folks want to post this their and watch the excuses pile up?

--JT

[conservdem]

53. It's posted there.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477705/posts

[conservdem]

56. Its not all excuses.

Fortunately some agree that the guy should not have been appointed to head FEMA.

[drm604]

59. And, predictably, some of them bring up Clinton.

Sigh.:banghead:

[msgadget]

55. The NYTimes also reported it

and this is a perfect opportunity for the dem party to highlight how the president has been working more for his party and industry than the people both terms. If you take a good look at his appointments - OSHA for example - it's so obvious their ability to do a good job wasn't the top requirement.

[struggle4progress]

57. FEMA chief fired from previous job: Michael Brown oversaw horse shows,

had no significant disaster experience
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46155

I feel some (limited) extra optimism whenever a story like this breaks into the Bushista press ...