My thoughts exactly....
FROM: TMV
TO: Michael Brown, former FEMA Chief
RE: Our posts and the way we characterized you.
Dear Michael Brown:
We were wrong. And we owe you an apology.
In watching the recent videos of videoconferences immediately before and during Katrina, we were struck by one fact: in these tapes you are the one virtually clamoring for government action. In fact, at one point it seemed you were frantically hoping that the scope of the potential disaster was understood by everyone.
This didn't gibe with the image we had gotten from other news reports of what didn't happen, mistakes that were made, and your emails. All of that is still there...but it wasn't the whole picture which now becomes more clear with the videos.
Like most of the news media and many blogs, when the news came out about the controversy swirling around your resume during the Katrina crisis, it was a story we commented on — and not favorably. And since we can't resist an occasional "snark swipe" on posts where we express a stronger view, several times we even ran a graphic of a horse's behind as an editorial statement.
It still fits, but now it's what we see in the mirror.
This is not to say that say you, local and state officials are off the hook for some of the mind-boggling failures during the storm.
But it's not accurate to suggest that if you hadn't been there, a lot of what happened wouldn't have happened. Because the tapes and transcripts show you were trying to get the government to move faster.
From what we've recently seen and read, your chances of having gotten this government to move faster were about as great as if you had tried to push the Grand Canyon into New Jersey.
So, yes, we now do feel you were made a scapegoat for higher ups who either wanted to avoid getting some of the blame or perhaps any blame that could actually have real consquences. And others agree with TMV. So you got the boot and information came out or was perhaps leaked that created an image of you as a guy who had a background in dealing with horses, was a crony and simply didn't have a clue.
But the tapes showed something else — which doesn't erase the bungling that cost lives during Katrina. It will, though, erase part of the image that has been out there since Katrina when the name "Michael Brown" was spoken.
Ditto!
Posted by David A at March 3, 2006 12:10 PM
Filed Under
Hurricane Katrina | 417 Words
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» Re-Thinking Michael Brown from The WB42 5:30 Report With Doug Krile
As I noted in an earlier post, Michael Brown is looking better all the time. And I'm not alone in that thought. [Read More]
Tracked on March 3, 2006 02:19 PM
Comments
Perhaps the entire hurricane relief effort deserves the same apology. But I realize this doesn't necessarily fit with your seemed BDS.
Posted by: Marty at March 4, 2006 12:28 AM
Excuse me- the should have said Hurricane response effort. But I know- it's still not what you want to hear.
Posted by: Marty at March 4, 2006 12:30 AM
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