Brownie's Revenge

Nobody is ever "officially" fired inside the Beltway. When a federal official departs it is invariably announced that s/he has "resigned," usually to "spend more time with his/her family" and most likely to cash in on his/her tenure by writing a tell-all book about his/her experiences. Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill come to mind in the Bush43 context.

But then there are the rare exceptions when a director or secretary or commissioner or special assistant has the suffix "under fire" clipped onto the verb "resigned." Former FEMA Director Michael Brown is such a rare exception.

The Bush Administration may, sooner rather than later, come to regret its foolish decision to "resign" Brown "under fire." Because "Brownie" is already beginning the process of self-defense that the White House denied him:

The former FEMA director who became a lightning rod for the sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina puts the blame on state officials.

Michael Brown tells the New York Times that within hours of Katrina's attack on New Orleans he told the White House that state officials couldn't get their act together.

Brown says he called Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and White House chief of staff Andrew Card to let them know the situation was out of control.

His account suggests the White House knew right away that the storm was leaving the coast in shambles. [emphasis added]

I was with the Administration when Clarke and O'Neill turned heel on them. But not this time. Michael Brown got railroaded for no other purpose than to try and appease the character assassins of the left who were themselves trying to cover up the very state and local incomptence that got blamed on FEMA. Instead of doing the right thing by loyally standing by "Brownie" - something for which this President and his whole family are famous (hell, look how long and vigorously Bush backed up Clinton CIA Director George Tenet) - and simply letting him depart in November, as he originally planned, the White House made a scapegoat out of him. And it was completely unnecessary.

Don't be surprised if this isn't the last uncomfortable quote from Mr. Brown that shows up above the fold in the Extreme Media. And when they come, don't feel any more pity for the President than the quantity of loyalty he showed to the man whom, just a week ago, he told publicly was "doing a great job."