Michael Brown, disgraced FEMA head, can't be serious with Hurricane Sandy analysis: Jarvis DeBerry | NOLA.com

Michael Brown, disgraced FEMA head, can't be serious with Hurricane Sandy analysis: Jarvis DeBerry | NOLA.com:

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Heck of analysis Brownie

The next time Drew Brees throws for four touchdowns, we ought to ask former Saints quarterback Heath Shuler to play the expert and explain how come our $100 million man didn't throw for five. Oh, you don't think it would be smart to ask the guy with 3,700 yards and 15 passing touchdowns to critique the guy with 43,000 and 301? If only a Denver news outlet had made a similar calculation before asking Michael Brown to analyze President Barack Obama's performance during Hurricane Sandy this week.

Michael Brown, head of FEMA when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, speaks at the Garden District Book Shop in June 2011 about his book "Deadly Indifference: The Perfect (Political) Storm: Hurricane Katrina, the Bush White House, and Beyond."Rusty Costanza, The Times-Picayune

What expertise does Brown have regarding the proper response to an emergency? He was the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Hurricane Katrina glanced us, our levees slumped and fell, and our people waited days for rescue. So I repeat: What expertise does Brown have regarding the proper response to an emergency? If a reporter comes calling with a request for comments, why would he even answer the phone?

Not only did Brown respond to a request for comment from Denver's Westword.com, but he also gave an analysis that's as outrageous as the "heckuva job" President George W. Bush laid on him after Katrina. Brown said he thought the Obama administration moved too quickly as Hurricane Sandy approached. Brown would have advised the president to wait another day -- you know when the winds were really whipping -- before coming out to talk.

"My guess is, he wants to get ahead of it -- he doesn't want anybody to accuse him of not being on top of it or not paying attention or playing politics in the middle of it. He probably figured Sunday was a good day to do a press conference."

My guess is, he wants to get ahead of it..." -- Former FEMA Director Michael Brown on President Barack Obama

Being on top of things. New Orleans wants Brown to know that's a virtue, not a vice. Or as Obama's FEMA director Craig Fugate said in response to Brown's comments: "Better to be fast than to be late."

Originally publixhed here: http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/10/michael_brown_disgraced_fema_h.html