Brownie to the Rescue

When the nation is in need, there is one man who you can count on to rush in and save the day. Be it a catastrophic hurricane, or a devastating string of wildfires, wherever football stadiums overflow with desperate residents, Michael Brown will let it be known that he is ready to help. From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:

Washington Wire was a little stunned to receive a press release today hawking disgraced former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Micheal Brown as "available for interviews" to discuss the wildfire crisis in Southern California.

Just in the nick of time, Brown is camera-ready, and prepared to spill some of his expertise. Since leaving behind the Arabian horse world, and a top post in the Federal Government, Brown has parlayed his disastrous Katrina performance into a new gig as director of corporate strategy for Cotton Cos., a company that bills itself as a "leading provider of disaster recovery services."

Cotton Cos. is by no means running away from Brown's Katrina legacy. In fact, they seem intent on drawing a direct line connecting the map dots of New Orleans and San Diego:

"Currently, the brush fires are affecting hundreds of local businesses and have force more than 500,000 people out of their homes. Of these 500,000 people, an estimated 10,000 of them have taken shelter at the local NFL stadium, Qualcomm, vaguely reminiscent of the circumstances of Hurricane Katrina evacuees two years ago."

Ah, yes, Katrina. Brown's first big test, during which, as the hurricane lay waste to the Big Easy, the former FEMA chief mused aloud, "Can I quit yet?" Of course, he's learned a lot since then. Or, rather, in classic pass-the-buck-fashion the agency Brown used to run has.

"The agency has learned some hard lessons regarding the handling of mass evacuations, especially in regard to the bureaucratic red tape that is involved in such a process."

Note to the executives at Cotton, especially Michael Brown, don't hold your breath for that interview.


David Knowles is an author and musician. For more information please visit his website.

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