Politics and Policy So Brown has his lawyer blaming the media again for making false attacks on his client. http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13236 http://www.horsesass.org/index.php?p=1459 Brown blames everybody but himself for the failed government's response to Katrina. First he blamed the governor and mayor. Then he blamed Goldie. Now he's blaming Homeland Security and the President. Katrina was going to be a property disaster to New Orleans regardless of what steps were taken beforehand, but it quickly became obvious to anyone watching the events unfold on television that the federal government was out of touch and completely unprepared to rescue the public, much more so than in previous disasters. Why was it unprepared? Because the Bush administration considered FEMA to be an "overgrown entitlement program" which needed to be dismantled. The Republican banner-carriers of the neo-conservative ideology were determined to put into effect two things simultaneously: (a) de-federalize FEMA, making disaster response a state, local, and private responsibility, and (b) out-source the few remaining federal responsibilities to private companies, on the theory that anything a government agency can do, a private company can do better. Brown was a minor-league crony, just the type of person who would not make too many waves while the department he directed was being dismantled. If he resigned in protest, who would listen to him anyway - he was a minor league player. Reminds me a lot of the "Bud Fox" character in the movie "Wall Street" (played by Charlie Sheen) - he is appointed as the figurehead president of the company while it is being dismantled around him. A more powerful person might have effectively objected, but that was the whole point of appointing such a nobody, wasn't it? In addition to being powerless to object, they were likely to be so impressed with their newfound importance that they were given every inclination to go along, in order to curry favor with their new "mentors", not realizing that they are just being used. At this point, I actually felt sorry for Browne. I could very well see myself being placed into such a position, and used in that manner. Yes, he allowed his ambition and ego to blind him to the real role which he was assigned to play, but many of us without a lot of political experience and an independent power base might also be so deceived. So that was the real effect of Goldie's revelation. It showed that competence in rendering essential government services had taken a back seat to ideology and cronyism. It showed that the government really didn't care what happened to people who weren't its supporters, until the national media forced them to make a show of "appearing" to do so. The Bush administration quickly threw Brownie to the sharks in an attempt to deflect blame from those that mattered - Bush, Cheney, Chartoff, etc. Now Brownie is trying to resurrect his reputation by throwing the blame back at them, plus also using the same trick Bush/Cheney/Rove used so often - attack the critic. What I find especially funny about Brown's attack on Goldie (as a "blogger" who's story was picked up by the national media) is that Goldie's efforts pale in comparison to the Republican use of bloggers to attack their enemies, especially during the 2004 presidential campaign. Example One: Kerry too much of a war hero? Have some blogs print defamatory comments about his service, have an "independent group" (i.e., "Swift Boat Veterans")publish a smear campaign, and then have the national media reports on the story as a "controversy"(facts be damned). Example Two: Bush's National Guard service (or lack thereof) becoming too uncomfortable? Then deliver a forged memo (the "bait" to CBS (funny how no one ever really revealed the source of the forged memo), then only hours after the Sixty-Minute broadcast, have a blog report in detail how the memo can be proven to be a forgery, and then have it picked up by the national media. Result? Everyone is afraid to touch the subject for the rest of the campaign, and as topping on the cake, the Republicans manage to get rid of their long-time nemesis Dan Rather, and damage CBS News also in the process. So while I initially felt sorry for Brown, I can quickly get over that. Now he is a denier. Having tasted what he felt was the long-deserved climb from obscurity to the road to power and high position, he lashes out at those he felt “robbed” him of that position. He attacks all around him – his former mentor Chartoff, the President, the Louisiana governor, Mayor Nagin. Everybody is at fault, but him. We would be more inclined to forgive him of his human failings if he would be willing to take responsibility for them himself. Posted by RHP6033        Copyright 2006-2007 - Brookridge Associates Inc. All rights reserved.