The Federal Emergency Management Agency acquired a tarnished image after Hurricane Katrina, and it has not distinguished itself with its performance after Hurricane Rita. The retention of former director Michael Brown shows the administration still doesn't grasp the cause of FEMA's impairment.
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Americans were treated Tuesday to the spectacle of ex-FEMA director Michael Brown leading off a televised congressional investigation of the botched federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Brown laid down a barrage of blame for just about everybody involved but himself and the president. Brown, the longtime buddy of the previous FEMA director, Joe Allbaugh, and a former supervisor of Arabian horse shows, has something in common with President Bush: a reluctance to own up to failure.
After criticizing Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Brown even took a potshot at the Homeland Security bureaucracy for failing to budget for needed disaster response equipment. As for his own responsibility for the delay in getting federal manpower and assistance into the storm zone, the best Brown could come up with was not recognizing that Louisiana authorities were dysfunctional and not calling enough media briefings.
Although the president relieved Brown of his responsibilities and named an acting director of FEMA earlier this month, the man he nicknamed "Brownie" continues to draw his full salary, and his resignation will not take effect for at least two weeks, according to Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke. The official rationale is that Brown can provide federal officials with his expertise and views on his experiences during Hurricane Katrina.
If Brown's expertise has helped during the subsequent Hurricane Rita episode, it has not been apparent in East Texas. An angry Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith blasted the federal relief effort for failing to deliver promised fuel, food and generators. He even suggested that local law enforcement should seize the supplies from the feds if necessary.
In Washington, both Republicans and Democrats criticized Brown. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., contrasted Brown's performance as FEMA director with that of New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani during the 2001 terrorist attack.
Brown responded, "So I guess you want me to be the superhero, to step in there and take everyone out of New Orleans."
"What I wanted you to do was do your job and coordinate," Shays answered.
It seems Brown's continuing FEMA duties include pointing fingers everywhere except where the blame for the woeful federal response belongs. He and other unqualified political appointees failed to provide necessary leadership for an agency crucial to the safety of millions of Americans. For that, they and the president who hired them must accept ultimate responsibility.