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From a horse fancier forum, on the subject of former International Arabian Horse Association Judges & Stewards Commissioner — and current FEMA director — Mike Brown:

He’s not even a horseman. He was hired by IAHA because, as a non-horseperson, he had no dog in the fight, so to speak

So Brown went from a horse show commissioner who knew nothing about horses to a Federal Emergency Management Agency director who knew nothing about managing emergencies. At least he’s consistent.

So, what the hell am I doing reading horse fancier forums? Well, after breaking the story on our stunningly unqualified FEMA chief, I suddenly found myself in the middle of row between angry horse breeders, emailing me comments, links and press releases, from both sides of the Brown debate. For example I just received a copy of a press release from the IAHA’s successor, the Arabian Horse Association, attempting to rehabilitate Brown’s reputation:

Barbara Burck, executive vice president and chief administrator of the association added that “Mr. Brown had a long and successful career with IAHA and was regarded as upholding the highest standards of integrity and demanding excellence in all areas under his jurisdiction. His legal background and management skills enabled him to accomplish the rigors of the job with professionalism.”

“He dealt with issues related to enforcement of rules and regulations that often generated passionate dispute by advocates on both sides of his decisions,” she added. “Several of those enforcement issues resulted in litigation. Due to the nature of Mr. Brown’s duties as commissioner, he set up his own Legal Defense Fund Trust to supplement the IAHA Legal Defense Fund. Following his departure from the IAHA, the entire sum in the Michael D. Brown Legal Defense Fund Trust was transferred to the IAHA Legal Defense Fund.”

President Myron Krause stated, “Brown’s contract was not terminated by IAHA, he resigned. Furthermore, there was no due cause to terminate his contract.

Yeah… well… sure… that’s somewhat how some of my sources remember it, but certainly not the majority, and it’s contrary to how it was reported at the time. In a November 2000 newsletter, the president of the New Hampshire Arabian Horse Association specifically reported back from the national convention that Brown was “requested to resign.” And several IAHA board members, including its former president, have confirmed this account in the MSM. (Here and here.)

And according to an interview with IAHA Secretary Gary Dearth in the Nov. 2000 issue of Arabian Horse World magazine, it was apparently Brown himself who originally complained that the Executive Committee was forcing him out.

Q: Why do you feel that prior to his resignation, Mr. Brown repeatedly stated that he does “not have the support of the Executive Committee”?

A: This talk of lack of support for Mike Brown has become rather tiresome. The Executive Committee, approximately a year and a half ago, gave Mike Brown a three-year contract rather than annual contract extensions which had been the tradition in the past. When you look at concrete support and not just talk, there is no stronger support than a three-year contract. However, information that came to light at the August Board meeting

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“Politics makes strange bedfellows”… an adage confirmed by an apparent quid pro quo between the jail guards unions and Republicans on the King County Council… an episode of beneath the covers shenanigans that could end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

The deal involves an effort being led by soon to be unemployed council member and county executive wannabe David Irons to designate juvenile detention officers as “essential employees”, thus securing favorable “interest arbitration” for future contracts. In return Jared Karstetter, who represents both the adult and juvenile detention officers guilds, has apparently promised to run an initiative to make the county auditor an elected office… an initiative with dubious (if debatable) benefits, but an obvious political appeal to Republicans who want to continue to remind voters of past election controversies through the 2006 season.

Karstetter is no stranger to running Republican backed county initiatives; he and the King County Corrections Guild sponsored Initiative 18, which reduced the number of seats on the county council from thirteen to nine… and for which they eventually gave Tim Eyman a $20,000 “gift” as a thank you for his “free” help. It was the GOP hope that the subsequent redistricting might give them a shot at wresting control of the council from the Democrats… and no council member was more supportive of I-18 than Irons. (Which explains why his colleagues deservingly redistricted him out of a seat.)

Indeed, the council coalition fronting Karstetter’s drive for interest arbitration looks awfully damn familiar: Irons, Jane Hague, Steve Hammond and Bob Ferguson… all of whom were vocal proponents of I-18. Hague was such a strong supporter of the initiative that she was the only council member to vote against an ordinance intended to supersede it… an ordinance that Karstetter vehemently opposed. Now Karstetter is reportedly bragging that he actually authored the motion that Hague introduced at the Aug. 23 meeting of the Labor, Operations and Technology Committee.

As for Irons, the Corrections Guild has contributed $2,600 to his campaigns since 2003, the most they’ve given to any candidate.

So… what is interest arbitration, and why should we care? Well it’s kind of complicated, but essentially, state law requires that those employees deemed “essential” are too essential to strike, so rather than negotiate, contracts are determined by an arbitrator. Wages are supposed to be based on a market survey of similar positions in surrounding jurisdictions, but in practice, the arbitrators almost always award higher wages than would have otherwise been achieved through negotiation. For example, a study conducted by the Association of Washington Cities of police and firefighter salaries between 1992 and 2002 found that wages rose 39% while the Implicit Price Deflator rose only 21%.

Of course, all you really need to know is that the Juvenile Detention Guild wants interest arbitration, because it will ensure them better contracts than they could achieve through collective bargaining. And it’s not just King County that would pay more; many cities contract with the county to house their adult prisoners and juvenile detainees, and the cost of higher salaries would have to be passed on. That’s why a majority of elected officials in both parties, from Rob McKenna to Ron Sims, have consistently opposed extending essential status to additional employment classifications.

That Irons and his cohorts would suddenly lead the charge on such a fiscally irresponsible motion would be baffling if not for a promise from Karstetter to do the Republicans’ bidding in return. And the fact that the Corrections Guild is the only union to contribute to Irons over the past two elections, is telling in itself.

So why are Republicans like Irons pushing a budget buster like interest arbitration? You’ll have to ask their union bosses.

UPDATE:
I just want to reiterate that interest arbitration is a complicated subject, and I’m not making a judgment on whether it is good or bad. Clearly, truly “essential” employees, who are forbidden to strike, require independent arbitration in order obtain a fair contract. And I don’t even want to address the question of whether juvenile detention officers are essential.

The issue here is that Republicans accustomed to attacking Democrats for being in cahoots with Labor are more than willing to trade off favors, at taxpayer expense, when it suits their purpose. It’s the irony thing.

From the NY Times:

Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy first mate Gilligan on the 1960s television show ”Gilligan’s Island,” made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 70.

In death, as in life, Gilligan serves as an oddly apt metaphor for the human condition, a disturbing reminder of both our isolation and our interdependence, our disconnect from nature and the fragility of our modern, technological world, and of course… our universal love of coconut cream pie. But most of all, he reminds us of our own mortality, for in Gilligan’s own memorable words:

“We’ll get off this island yet.”

So he has. And so shall we all.

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

I’ll be there tonight, looking for some hoppy beer and some hopped up conversation. So be there, or be… uh… elsewhere.

A couple weeks back I was asked by Jennifer McCausland to co-host an upcoming fundraiser for King County Executive Ron Sims. I reluctantly said yes, not because I’m reluctant about Ron, but because of some misplaced sense of journalistic ethics. But then, I’m not a journalist and I make no pretense of being objective… so I thought, what the hell.

Well, my few seconds of ethical wrangling proved unnecessary, because Jennifer just called to tell me that Ron has decided to turn the event into a fundraiser for the WA chapter of the American Red Cross, to help support their relief efforts for the 2000 Katrina refugees being evacuated to WA state.

Sure, Ron’s got a substantial money advantage over David Irons, but candidates simply don’t pass up fundraisers in the heat of a campaign. Who knows what kind of vicious “independent expenditure” Irons is coordinating, and Ron might need every last penny to respond. Ron’s decision is thus as selfless as it is generous, and both he and Jennifer deserve some applause.

Anyway, since I’m a co-host, I’ve decided to invite all my readers (well… most of you.) So here’s the scoop:

WA Red Cross Fundraiser
Monday, September 19th
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

At the home of Jennifer McCausland
2601 Cascadia Avenue South
Seattle’s Mt. Baker Neighborhood

Jennifer has a lovely old house, and this is a great opportunity to meet Ron, have some good conversation and a glass of wine, and raise some money for a very worthy cause. If you can make it, please R.S.V.P. to me, so we have an accurate head count.

The refugees coming here from New Orleans have not only lived through a week of horror, but have lost absolutely everything. They need our compassion and our help to get back on their feet and move on with their lives. So please accept my invitation to attend this fundraiser… and don’t forget to bring your checkbook.

Ron, Jennifer and I hope to see you there.

Oh man… I wish I’d thought of this!

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff and FEMA director Michael Brown: make headway…

Chertoff: All I’m tryin’ to find out is what’s the guy’s name in charge of food and water.
Brown: : Oh, no, wait a minute, don’t switch ’em around. What is in charge of evacuation.
Chertoff: I’m not askin’ you who’s in charge of evacuation.
Brown: : Who is on food and water.
Chertoff: I don’t know!
Brown: : He’s in charge of media spin…now we’re not talkin’ ’bout him.
Chertoff: Now, how did I get on media spin?
Brown: : You mentioned his name!
Chertoff: If I mentioned the media spin guy’s name, who did I say is in charge of media spin?
Brown: : No…Who’s in charge of food and water.
Chertoff: Never mind food and water, I wanna know what’s the guy’s name in charge of media spin.
Brown: : No, What’s in charge of evacuation.
Chertoff: I’m not askin’ you who’s in charge of evacuation!
Brown: : Who’s in charge of food and water.
Chertoff: I don’t know!
Brown: : He’s in charge of media spin.
Chertoff: Aaah! Would you please stay on media spin and don’t go off it?
Brown: : What was it you wanted?
Chertoff: Now who’s in charge of media spin?
Brown: : Now why do you insist on putting Who in charge of media spin?
Chertoff: Why? Who am I putting over there?
Brown: : Yes. But we don’t want him there.
Chertoff: What’s the guy’s name in charge of media spin?
Brown: : What is in charge of evacuation.
Chertoff: I’m not askin’ you who’s in charge of evacuation.
Brown: : Who’s in charge of food and water.
Chertoff: I don’t know.
Brown: & Chertoff: MEDIA SPIN!!
Chertoff: You got someone in charge of fixing the levees?
Brown: : Oh yes!
Chertoff: The guy’s name?
Brown: : Why.
Chertoff: I don’t know, I just thought I’d ask you.
Brown: : Well, I just thought I’d tell you…

Last week I broke the story about FEMA director Mike Brown, whose ten-year tenure at the International Arabian Horse Association left him stunningly unqualified to lead national relief efforts. It has been a pleasant surprise to watch the story take flight, first on the national blogosphere, and now in the MSM. But none of the news coverage has been quite as gratifying as seeing a reference creep into a column by the New York Times’ Paul Krugman.

Mr. Brown had no obvious qualifications, other than having been Mr. Allbaugh’s college roommate. But Mr. Brown was made deputy director of FEMA; The Boston Herald reports that he was forced out of his previous job, overseeing horse shows. And when Mr. Allbaugh left, Mr. Brown became the agency’s director. The raw cronyism of that appointment showed the contempt the administration felt for the agency; one can only imagine the effects on staff morale.

That contempt, as I’ve said, reflects a general hostility to the role of government as a force for good. And Americans living along the Gulf Coast have now reaped the consequences of that hostility.

The administration has always tried to treat 9/11 purely as a lesson about good versus evil. But disasters must be coped with, even if they aren’t caused by evildoers. Now we have another deadly lesson in why we need an effective government, and why dedicated public servants deserve our respect. Will we listen?

I have received emails or comments from more than a dozen IAHA members, and while a handful have taken issue with my reporting of the circumstances surrounding Brown’s resignation, it doesn’t really matter if he was forced to resign or his departure was mutual. It doesn’t even matter if his tenure was indeed “an unmitigated, total fucking disaster” as my original source contended. What matters is that his job experience left him totally unprepared to manage our nation’s disaster relief operations… a lack of preparation clearly evidenced by FEMA’s criminally inadequate response in New Orleans.

The issue here, as Krugman and others point out, is cronyism… cronyism that in this instance, may have turned out to have fatal consequences.

The story of Brown, the horse show commissioner cum FEMA chief, adds much needed color and context to accounts of the Bush administration’s disastrous disaster relief efforts, and its haphazard approach to political appointments in general. And the story of the story — how an angry email from a longtime HA reader moved international headlines — is a vivid example of how the blogosphere can amplify the voice of the people, so that any one citizen can speak as loud or louder than the most obstreperous talking head.

Truth is, I didn’t really even know what I had. I rarely cross-post to Daily Kos, but since this was a national issue, and I was angry, I thought, what the hell. My original headline was a profane rant, and the first few comments insisted that this was too important a diary to be lost due to a non-descriptive headline. I followed their advice, changed the headline, went to bed… and awoke the next morning to find the story featured on Kos, and the traffic flooding in. Then the calls and emails from the MSM started coming, and I knew we were going to move headlines.

So if any of you out there believe that you cannot make a difference, let this be lesson to the contrary. A single email from a horse breeder to the proprietor of an oddly named local blog provided the angle the MSM needed to expose the Bush administration cronyism that doomed thousands of Katrina’s victims to a week of unimaginable — and unnecessary — suffering, and which may have condemned thousands of others to an untimely death.

This is democracy in action.

Bush has nominated John Roberts to succeed William Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. I’m guessing Roberts’ confirmation has just been elevated from a contentious sure thing, to a real political drama.

When current FEMA chief Mike Brown is eventually forced to resign from this job too, chances are his old college buddy Joe Allbaugh will once again help him land on his feet, this time with a cushy job at Halliburton. That’s where former FEMA chief Allbaugh landed, and surprise… now Halliburton subsidiary KBR has started landing big contracts to participate in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

As reported last week by Halliburton Watch, the US Navy has asked Halliburton to repair naval facilities damaged by Katrina under an existing $500 million contract. Earlier this year the Navy awarded KBR and three other companies $350 million in contracts to repair facilities damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. And according to the New York Times, Halliburton is planning to profit further from Katrina:

Although Halliburton has not yet been asked to work on installations around New Orleans, it said on Friday that it would begin performing damage assessments there “as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.”

No doubt helping out with both the assessments and the bids will be Allbaugh, who Halliburton hired in March as a consultant and lobbyist. Allbaugh’s lobbying disclosure form states that he will “educate the congressional and executive branch on defense, disaster relief and homeland security issues.” And who better to educate Brown, the current head of FEMA, than Allbaugh, his predecessor, benefactor and college roommate?

[Cross-posted to Daily Kos]

Courtesy of Crooks and Liars, a truly heart wrenching interview with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard on Meet the Press. (Quicktime or WMP)

The prepared statement at the beginning is damning enough, but stick with it until the horrible, horrible end. And if you can’t get past the busy servers, here’s a transcript:

“The guy who runs this building I’m in, Emergency Management, he’s responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, “Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?” and he said, “Yeah, Mama, somebody’s coming to get you.” Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday… and she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night! [Sobbing] Nobody’s coming to get us. Nobody’s coming to get us. The Secretary has promised. Everybody’s promised. They’ve had press conferences. I’m sick of the press conferences. For god’s sakes, just shut up and send us somebody.”

And when you’re done drying your eyes, wet them again with this clip of Sen. Mary Landreau threatening to punch President Bush… before she breaks down in tears herself. (Quicktime or WMP)

I’m heading off to Yakima for a day of u-pick and me-drink. So here’s a special Open Thread, Sunday Edition. Have at it.

… Chief Justice William Rehnquist is dead. May he rest in peace.

After dismally failing to adequately respond to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA Director Mike Brown must now prepare to weather the full fury of the MSM. The Boston Herald struck first, corroborating my post that reported Brown was forced to resign from his job at the International Arabian Horse Association. And now Knight-Ridder further exposes the stunningly unqualified Brown with a scathing bio that is sure to hit sunday papers across the US.

From failed Republican congressional candidate to ousted “czar” of an Arabian horse association, there was little in Michael D. Brown’s background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane Katrina.

“He’s done a hell of a job, because I’m not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm,” said Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade emergency management chief. “The world that this man operated in and the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not have the experience.”

As Josh Marshall explains in his coverage on Talking Points Memo, Brown’s main qualification for the post — perhaps his only — is the fact that he was a college roommate of former FEMA head and Bush political fixer Joe Allbaugh. And as Knight-Ridder points out, Brown’s prior experience with disaster was a disastrous run for Congress.

Brown ran for Congress in 1988 and won 27 percent of the vote against Democratic incumbent Glenn English. He spent the 1990s as judges and stewards commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. His job was to ensure that horse-show judges followed the rules and to investigate allegations against those suspected of cheating.

“I wouldn’t have regarded his position in the horse industry as a platform to where he is now,” said Tom Connelly, a former association president.
…
“He just wouldn’t follow instruction,” said Bill Pennington, another former association president. “Mike was bullheaded and he was gonna do it his way. Period.”

It was Pennington who confirmed to the Herald that Brown was indeed asked to resign, and even Connelly, who speaks positively about him, calls Brown “abrasive.” This is consistent with emails I’ve received from a number of horse breeders — even those who respect him — who call Brown a “tough bastard” with a quick temper.

No doubt Brown had many enemies at the IAHA, and while there are conflicting stories as to the direct circumstances surrounding his resignation, he clearly fell victim to inside politics. Some say Brown was forced out by breeders angry at strict rules and enforcement, others say it was the burden of costly litigation. But the most convincing explanation I received was this inside report:

To help pay our mounting legal bills, there were people raising money for the IAHA Legal Defense Fund. Mike was suppose to be helping to raise some of the money. Mike it seems was trying to raise money for his own legal defense fund as well as IAHA’s and some people were willing to donate to him. There were two major problems with this. First, ALL of Mike’s legal bills including any personal ones were to be paid by IAHA. So he had NO legal bills so there was no reason for him to need this money to pay legal bills. Second, Mike was in a position that he needed to be seen as never playing favorites or having any loyalty to any individual. Many felt that taking this money would look very bad.

I was not personally at the IAHA Board of Directors Meeting when this occurred however I have been told about it by several people that were there and they all give the exact same story. There are many other things that people did not like about Mike’s job performance at IAHA but this is why he resigned.

Essentially, Brown was raising money from the very breeders he was charged with regulating, and that was the straw that broke the horse’s back.

But I don’t think the reason behind his resignation really matters. The point is, nothing in his IAHA tenure prepared him for running FEMA. Indeed, the fact that he fell victim to the inside politics of a horse breeders association, calls into question his ability to function amidst the high stakes political gamesmanship of the nation’s capitol.

The other issue that has become abundantly clear is that the misleading reference to the Olympics that was in the White House press release announcing Brown’s nomination was no accident. The transcript of Brown’s confirmation hearing shows virtually the identical wording used in the opening statement from Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

Prior to his current job, from 1991 to 2000, Mr. Brown was the Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, an international subsidiary of the National Governing Organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Yet a number of IAHA/AHA members have made it abundantly clear that the organization is not in any way associated with the Olympics. Indeed, Arabians are not part of any Olympic competition. This was clearly an attempt by the White House to gussy up the resume of a man lacking the experience necessary to lead a major disaster relief effort… a lack of experience Brown has shown in his mishandling of the response to Hurricane Katrina.

More to come. The Denver Post is preparing a piece for Sunday, and the NY Times is working the story as well.

[Cross-posted to Daily Kos]

Update:
The NY Times article is online… third paragraph:

Mr. Brown has come under fire from critics of the federal government’s hurricane response, who describe him as a political appointee who had no disaster experience before joining FEMA.

Though he once worked as a municipal official in Edmond, Okla., Mr. Brown’s major previous job was as commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, from which he resigned under pressure in 2001 after a controversial 10 years.

Not much, but it makes the point that Brown was a political appointee who had no disaster experience.

The LA Times has a nice lead:

The leader of the U.S. government’s much-criticized handling of hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf Coast came to Washington in 2001 with scant background in dealing with natural disasters. But he had an important connection: His new boss was an old friend who had managed George W. Bush’s successful campaign for the White House.

Michael D. Brown left his job in Colorado supervising horse-show judges to work for Bush’s longtime political aide, Joe Allbaugh, who was heading the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the new administration.

Brown had been a lawyer active in Republican politics whose most relevant emergency response experience was a stint supervising police and fire departments as assistant city manager in an Oklahoma City suburb.

But within two years, he rose from FEMA’s general counsel to deputy director and, when Allbaugh left, he moved to the agency’s top spot.

That’s the MSM’s take on this story: cronyism. And it’s a pretty good take.

The Denver Post weighs in, and with new information!

Former association board member Karl V. Hart of Florida alleges that in 2000 Brown improperly accepted a check for nearly $50,000 from a prominent breeder and put it toward his own legal defense for his work as commissioner. Board members thought this was improper because Brown already had protection, from the association’s legal team, Hart said.

Because of the money dispute, Brown was asked to resign, Hart said.

One of my sources had hinted at this, but was not a board member and only had hearsay, so I couldn’t use it. Nice reporting by Jeremy Meyer to follow this up.

And finally, my favorite take on this story comes from Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo:

So let me see if I understand this. Brown’s a Republican from the southwest. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress when he was thirty-three. Then he bounced from job to job, finally getting into the sports business in mid-life, before getting canned. And then he used connections to land himself a high-powered position in the federal government for which he had no apparent experience at all.

How could such a fellow possibly be in the Bush administration?

Hmmm.

My 15 minutes of attention from the national blogosphere is bringing quite a few newcomers to HA, some of whom are apparently unfamiliar with the peculiar etiquette of discourse we’ve established here. For example, I just got the following email from Robert:

Oh, oh.. I can’t wait till we finally get into the streets and start the great purge. Horses ass piece of shit liberal opportunists will rue the day.

Fuck you shitface.

Um… in the future Bob, crypto-fascist, obscenity laden threats of violence belong in the comment threads, not sent via email. And oh… thanks for stopping by.

An absolutely must view video clip courtesy of Crooks and Liars:

Horror Show

Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera were livid about the situation in NOLA as they appeared on H&C. When Hannity tried his usual spin job and said “let’s get this in perspective,” Smith chopped him off at the knees and started yelling at him saying, “This is perspective!” It was shocking.

Video-WMP-very big file so I had to compress it

Video QT

This is Fox News, for chrissake…! FOX FUCKING NEWS!!! (And don’t you trolls dare snipe back at me with your vicious, hate-filled comments until you watch the clip… the whole damn clip!)

I’m speechless… I’m literally crying. Six days later this isn’t a natural disaster… it’s a human tragedy created by callous and incalculable incompetence! This is a moral outrage!

If we were like Japan, a nation that at least feigns a deep respect for honor… then President Bush would be keeled over on the floor of the Oval Office with his sword in one hand and his guts in the other.