EXCLUSIVE: Ex-FEMA Chief Says Tapes 'Speak For Themselves'

[sabra]

http://wusa9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=47249

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-FEMA Chief Says Tapes 'Speak For Themselves'

Michael Brown shared some very candid thoughts with me, not only about the videos showing President Bush and Homeland Security officials knew of the potential disaster of Hurricane Katrina, but about his life after the storm.

In an exclusive interview, he tells me that the tape simply confirms what he's been saying all along, that he did sound the alarm bells.

"I'm glad it's coming out because despite the media reports and the general perception that I was a dummy that didn't know what I was doing, I knew exactly what I was doing," he said in an interview at his home.

...

When asked if he’s feels vindicated by the video, Brown said: “It’s not for me to judge whether I’m vindicated or not...I know in my heart what I was doing. And what I was trying to do and the tapes speak for themselves."

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Aww, now I feel bad for Brownie.

Everybody was beating up on him.

[Erika]

5. Yeah, but he did have the elitist GOP thing

Worrying whether his clothes were "just right" for the
occasion.

[emulatorloo]

9. Did you see the vid? Brown is not the "clueless one" in them

Bush and Chertoff are -- brown appears to be engaged, understanding what's going on, etc while others are out of it.

Vid linked here - worth watching if you get a chance

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x551586

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. You obviously didn't see the video. Do that before you....

...make yourself look worse than you already have.

[Renew Deal]

6. I am more sympathetic to him.

Brownie is not perfect, but a lot has to do with leadership and the leadership is obviosuly a disaster. I wonder if Brownie would have performed better if he had the support he needed.

[alarcojon]

7. He's still a stooge

from the link:

As for the president who said he was never warned about the possibility of the levees breaking, brown says he holds no ill will towards his former boss.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. What do you expect him to say publicly about a man who....

...can make him "disappear" at the snap of his fingers?

[alarcojon]

16. Did he have to say anything?

and/or do you think Bush would have such a high profile figure "disappeared" for saying something like "the president was not as engaged as he should have been"?

[northofdenali]

17. No, he wouldn't disappear.

But with this administration, and this president, I sure as hell wouldn't rule out a plane/car wreck, staged suicide or "mugging" attempt resulting in death.

[alarcojon]

2. Could Brownie have leaked it?

[C_U_L8R]

3. "speak for themselves" ??

yeah.. Brownie leaked em

[sabra]

4. bingo.

[rodeodance]

8. DHS said Katrina tape was given to Congress "months ago"

I posted this earlier:

DHS said Katrina tape was given to Congress "months ago"



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katr...

.......The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Linked by secure video, Bush expressed a confidence on Aug. 28 that starkly contrasted with the dire warnings his disaster chief and numerous federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

.......


"I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said his department would not release the full set of videotaped briefings, saying most transcripts — though not the videotapes — from the sessions were provided to congressional investigators months ago.......

[alarcojon]

10. I also saw claims that the media has had this for months

Do you know anything about that?

[Blue_Tires]

11. i think brownie is covering his ass after the fact

he'll pass the buck along, and the next person will pass it back and so on until some time passes, and it ends up being no one's fault (see 9-11)...

and i still have next to no sympathy for him....despite his best efforts, and a taped call to bush, brown was STILL incredibly negligent in his duties, which were obviously far above his level of qualification

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. The video speaks for itself. Get over your hatred of Brown....

...and try to see who was really at fault in the Katrina disaster.

[buddysmellgood]

13. He knew in his heart? That's just great. I'm going to go in to work

tomorrow and fuck everything up, because in my heart, it's all okay.

[Rex]

18. Kinda figured this, Bush gave him a nickname.

Bush hates people who he perceives are smarter than him. That's why he hates every living person (and most sea life).

[alarcojon]

19. More of Brownie's thoughts

Brown described the president throughout the crisis this way: "I think he was engaged, but I think there was an overconfidence that FEMA had handled Sept. 11, we had handled the California wildfires, we had handled the 2004 hurricanes right in the middle of the presidential elections. Hey, we could do this, too."

...snip...

Brown also said Bush and other top officials knew from those briefings there was a serious chance that New Orleans' levees would be breached.

"Everybody else knew and clearly on our conference calls it was being discussed," Brown said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060302/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_video_brown;

[paulthompson]

20. Before a Brownie-lovefest breaks out at DU...

...check out these articles from a few months back showing him worrying over getting into five star restaurants and looking good for TV appearances right in the middle of the crisis. Remember this is the guy who said "I am a fashion god" on the day of the hurricane.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/21/MNG3OFC26S1.DTL

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/

He wasn't as incompetent as previously believed, but he's hardly vindicated.

[Elidor]

23. I don't think the tapes vindicate him at all

They show that he was aware of the seriousness of the situation, but so what? That didn't spur him to cut through the red tape and bureaucratic rigamarole inherent in the way FEMA handles its operations. Resources that were critical to survivors were sitting unused, miles away from where they were needed, would-be volunteers trying to bring supplies into the region were denied entry for lack of a DHS billing number, etcetera, etcetera. Just because he was aware that all hell was going to break loose doesn't mean he was a capable administrator. His agency performed abysmally, and that kind of failure goes straight to the top.

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. The tapes prove that Brown didn't take charge

like he should have. He thinks his only role is to be a messenger boy. Brown should have been the one jumping up and down, saying this is what I needs, when, where and how.

They all acted like they were just bystanders and there wasn't anything, any of them could or should do.

They are all guilty of crimes against humanity.

[Up2Late]

21. Did they finally find the missing audio tapes?

I think they said, a few weeks ago, that the August 31st and September 7th teleconference tape were missing.:shrug:

[Disturbed]

22. Brownie foolishly accepted a job that he was not..

qualified to handle. As with many people he was in denial of that. Yeah, he was also way too concerened about his image, seeming to be a vain sort of person. He didn't come off as dumb in the Congress Hearings or this recent tape just out of his depth.

Shrub and Chertoff were Criminaly Negligent. Shrub should be charged with Depraved Indifference, a felony with at least a 20 years prison term. Yeah, I know that would never happen.

[central scrutinizer]

29. accepting a $160,000/year sinecure is foolish?

then getting re-hired at the same salary to be a "consultant" after you resign? I'd say he did "a helluva job" in feathering his own nest. He was foolish to think that Bushco wouldn't ask him to fall on his own sword if needed to cover asses farther up the food chain.

[OKNancy]

24. Kick

[barb162]

25. Brownie: I Told Ya So

Brownie: I Told Ya So

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2006

(CBS/AP) Former FEMA head Michael Brown says newly released tapes show that he did, in fact, know the danger Hurricane Katrina posed to the Gulf Coast and that he warned White House officials about it before the storm hit.

"I'm glad it's coming out because, despite the media reports and the general public perception that I was a dummy, that I didn’t know what I was doing, I knew exactly what I was doing," Brown told CBS Washington, D.C., affiliate WUSA in an interview.

The tapes show Brown on a video teleconference the day before the hurricane made landfall warning President Bush, Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff and other top officials of the looming danger.

"We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Brown warned in the Aug. 28 briefing. He called the storm "a bad one, a big one" and implored federal agencies to cut through red tape to help people, bending rules if necessary.
snip

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/02/katrina/main1362777.shtml

[central scrutinizer]

26. I love it when weasels fight

I wish them both luck. Bwah hah hah hah hah

[xultar]

28. His dumb ass isn't off the hook yet. AND better yet...

he better pipe down or get wipedout.

He should know those fuckers aren't playin'. This is some rea-time effed up shit.

I wonder if Brownie will be a guest on Bill Mahr. I hope he can get him.

[VegasWolf]

27. Once again, Bush Lied - People Died! This time here at home! nt

[Raine]

30. FINALLY someone who

isn't just going to take one up the ass for the regime like all the others have done.

[DoYouEverWonder]

32. Only because Brownie

thinks that by doing so he can save his own ass. Not a very honorable position to be in.