Tonight, NBC Nightly News reported that Michael "Drownie" Brown, while relieved of his duties in the Gulf Coast, was still in charge of FEMA. In fact, he was going to plan for the next disaster.
Washington Post reports the same thing:
In Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that he has recalled Brown, the embattled director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, from his post as head of federal relief efforts on the ground in the Gulf Coast area and has replaced him with a senior Coast Guard officer.Holy Shit. So what do you have to do to get fired by Bush? And, here's the scary thought: can we expect Drownie to do the same heck of a job with the next disaster?
He said Brown, who has come under heavy criticism for what is widely perceived as a slow and inadequate initial federal response to the disaster, will return to Washington and will remain as head of FEMA....
Chertoff explained the recall of Brown and his replacement by Allen as dictated by a move to "the next phase of operations" in the hurricane relief effort. He said the FEMA director needs to be in Washington to carry out broader responsibilities, including potentially managing "other kinds of disasters" and dealing with additional hurricanes.
Be afraid. And plan ahead.
