Brown (Brownie): E-mail shows Bush glad FEMA took Katrina flak

[sabra]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/09/katrina.email/

Brown: E-mail shows Bush glad FEMA took Katrina flak

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The former emergency management chief who quit amid widespread criticism over his handling of the aftermath Hurricane Katrina said he received an e-mail before his resignation stating President Bush was glad to see the Oval Office had dodged most of the criticism.

Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Friday that he received the e-mail five days before his resignation from a high-level White House official whom he declined to identify.

The e-mail stated that Bush was relieved that Brown -- and not Bush or Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- was bearing the brunt of the flack over the government's handling of Katrina.

The September 2005 e-mail reads: "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there, but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the president replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.' "

The sender adds, "Congratulations on doing a great job of diverting hostile fire away from the leader."

[pooja]

1. Bush hides behind all of the people he picks

[wordpix2]

18. he hides behind all the inept, dangerous morons he picks, you mean

[journalist3072]

2. Sometimes all I can do in shake my head

In digust of BushCo. There are no words. Just pure disgust.

[stevedeshazer]

3. The Leader (sic)??

<snip>

The sender adds, "Congratulations on doing a great job of diverting hostile fire away from the leader."

---

What kind of happy horseshit is that? :eyes:

These people are sick, sick, sick.

[Aviation Pro]

4. Asshole....

...meet Kim Il Jong, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Zung, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and a host of other "Leaders" that are currently frying or will be frying in Hell.

[Neecy]

5. The leader....

Not just a coincidence that in German this translates to "Der Fuehrer".

[tanyev]

7. Beat me to it. Sieg Heil!

Billboard proudly paid for by the Clear Channel Corporation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2736955

[kskiska]

12. Trujillo was "The Benefactor"

Another option.

[MadMaddie]

6. The buck stops.....wait....not at the coward Der Furhers desk...

but on all the lackeys....if they are stupid enough to work for him...then they are stupid enought to get burned....

[rodeodance]

8. Blitzer did a good segment on this tonight. Brownie said several times

that Chertoff is to step down

[wordpix2]

19. Brownie's been gunning for Jerkoff to go since New Year '06. IMO, they're

ALL to blame for the Katrina disaster and not shoring up the levees in the first place.

[rodeodance]

9. the WH says it is an old rumor:

.A White House spokesperson said in an e-mail to CNN: "This is an old rumor that surfaced months ago and we're not commenting on it. This story has already been reported and I have heard nothing at all that would substantiate it."

The e-mail was provided to CNN on the condition that the sender's name be redacted. Brown said only that the sender was a "good friend of the president," who has been with the president "a long time."

Brown said did he, too, considers the sender a friend.

While acknowledging that part of a political appointee's job is to "take the sword" for the president, Brown said he has grown weary of Chertoff making him a scapegoat for FEMA's failures in the wake of Katrina.

[rodeodance]

10. "I'm not willing to take that sword for Michael Chertoff," Brown said.

.While acknowledging that part of a political appointee's job is to "take the sword" for the president, Brown said he has grown weary of Chertoff making him a scapegoat for FEMA's failures in the wake of Katrina.

"I'm not willing to take that sword for Michael Chertoff," Brown said.

"I'm frankly getting tired of Chertoff out there, every time he testifies, talking about how Brown didn't do this or that," Brown said. "As long as Chertoff continues to criticize me, I think we need to recognize that I was doing everything I needed to do down there."

Brown also reiterated an earlier call for the resignation of Chertoff, whom he said suffers from "political tone deafness." Brown suggested that despite announcements to the contrary, FEMA is not prepared for the 2006 hurricane season, which began June 1.

"I want the White House in general, in particular Michael Chertoff, to stop dragging me through the mud every time the issue of FEMA comes up," he said. "There's a lot of things that need to be done to fix FEMA and continuing to throw that at me is not going to solve anything."

[wordpix2]

20. "political tone deafness?" Is that all Chertoff suffers from? How about

total ineptitude and incompetence that brought about the whole disaster in the first place? If Brownie thinks the Katrina disaster was the result of Chertoff's "political tone deafness," he's as big a numbskull as * and Chertoff.

[Evergreen Emerald]

17. I have a friend who does that with clothes she hides from her husband

He is concerned about finances. So when she spends too much money on clothes, she puts them in the back of her closet for awhile. When she does wear it, and he comments on it, she tells him that it is not new.

Bush: "what, that old news?"

[young_at_heart]

11. Taking real responsibility.......not one of Bush's attributes

I don't think they'll EVER say about Bush, the "buck stops here".

[Catrina]

13. True, no one could accuse him of ever taking responsibility for anything

he screws up.

I don't know why they think Bush got off the hook. Look at his poll numbers, a lot of that has to do with Katrina ~ people will never forgive him for the loss of life there, or forget those horrible images when the whole country felt helpless, and he did nothing.

That demonstrated so clearly what a fake he was, and any notion that he was the 'security president' went out the window for a lot of people.

Btw, I bet that email came from Karl Rove. Let's see if he's as willing as Brownie to take the heat for the Dear Leader when Fitzgerald is finished with him.

[quaoar]

14. Silly news media

A White House spokesperson said in an e-mail to CNN: "This is an old rumor that surfaced months ago and we're not commenting on it. This story has already been reported and I have heard nothing at all that would substantiate it."

Translation: It's not news unless we tell you it is.

[Moloch]

15. I don't feel sorry for Brownie.

He was sending emails days after Katrina asking if he looked fat on TV. Bush and Brownie are twins in incompetence.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. That's our Cowermander-in-Chief!

[IDemo]

21. Brown: E-mail shows Bush glad FEMA took Katrina flak

Sunday, June 11, 2006 Posted: 1607 GMT

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The former emergency management chief who quit amid widespread criticism over his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina said he received an e-mail before his resignation stating President Bush was glad to see the Oval Office had dodged most of the criticism.

Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Friday that he received the e-mail five days before his resignation from a high-level White House official whom he declined to identify.

The e-mail stated that Bush was relieved that Brown -- and not Bush or Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- was bearing the brunt of the flak over the government's handling of Katrina. (Watch how Brown fell from grace -- 4:00)

The September 2005 e-mail reads: "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there, but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the president replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.' " (Copy of e-mail )>

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/09/katrina.email/

[NewJeffCT]

22. Umm, doesn't FEMA report to the White House?

via the Dept. of Homeland Security...

Under the Unitary Executive Theory, blaming Katrina on FEMA should be just like blaming Bush, since they are one & the same. Right?

[Webster Green]

23. WTF?!....It was the chimp's FEMA....

He thought they did a "heck of a job".

[Johng333]

24. Katrina was a horrible debacle

No one passed the test that day on any level of government. I don't understand how you stay on vacation when you know a cat 5 storm is going to hit your nation.

Fly back to the White house just as a show of concern for goodness sake.
Isn't a time of crisis when we need a leader most? Vacation?


The fact that New Orleans re-elected Nagin as mayor is unbelievable. What are these people thinking?


Apparently common sense is an oxy moron.

[SpiralHawk]

25. "The buck stops over there, with some other guy." Commander AWOL Bush

For a former privileged preppy cheerleader, Bush sure is a shirker.

[Bake]

26. Fearless leader? More like a big pussy!

Bake

[Norquist Nemesis]

27. "A high-level White House official" he declined to identify

hmmm....Now WHO in the deep inner circle of the White House would be sending a "Congratulations" e-mail for keeping cover to "the leader's" incompetence....