MIKE BROWN ADVISIES 'TAKE THE SCENIC ROUTE IN LIFE'

[Guest guest]

Mike Brown Advises

'Take The Scenic

Route In Life'

By Judith Moriarty

noahshouse

9-12-5

 

 

 

Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and Michael Brown Director of

FEMA, finally showed up days late, and a dollar short, to the worst

natural catastrophe this country. Rumsfeld, who calls those shredded

in Iraq, " collateral damage " , and " not counted " , can hardly be

counted on to elicit heartfelt compassion; for hundreds of thousands

of victims, dead, homeless, jobless, or left behind to die in flooded

nursing homes, charity hospitals, the Convention Center, the

Superdome, and ramshackle housing - without food or water. While the

media feigned outrage, and officials called for harsh measures; for

those caught looting stores, of foodstuffs, shoes, diapers, clothing

and, yikes, plasma TVs - all of it junk from China slave labor

factories, there was little outrage over the vans that pulled up to

Iraq's museum, and systematically looted the place of tens of

thousands, of irreplaceable artifacts - Baghdad being the Cradle of

Civilization. Apparently 'collectors' knew exactly what they wanted,

as those doing the looting knew what was of value. Vaults holding the

most valuable of items - had their doors blown off. Meantime U.S.

soldiers sat on tanks and guarded the Ministry of Oil. Defense

Secretary Rumsfeld, when confronted with this mayhem, benignly

shrugged and said, " Democracy is a messy business. Stuff happens. "

There's looting and then there's looting, it all depends on the

circumstances, the color of one's skin, and the message wished

conveyed to the mind - numbed populous.

 

Michael Brown's credentials for running the country's number one

disaster agency; was his stint directing the International Arabian

Horse Association, from which he was fired. But in the good ol' boys,

in-crowd, Brown replaced Joe Allbaugh of FEMA, his old college

roommate. Allbaugh went on to bigger bucks in the lobbying field for

corporate interests in Iraq.

 

But hey, they needed a fall guy, a stooge, for when the proverbial

crap hit the fan, and Brown is perfect for the job. Everyone seems

SHOCKED, that Brown proved so inept and out - to - lunch! Please!

Nobody in Congress or the media paid any attention when Brown

replaced his buddy Allbaugh. Heck lap - dog Senator Lieberman who's

not sure what party he belongs to, remarked at confirmation hearings,

that Brown had " particularly useful " qualifications because he had

worked in Edmond, Oklahoma, 30 years ago as an assistant city

manager. Hey, I worked at an A & P to earn money for my hospital

training; I wonder what cushy job I can get?

 

Out here in the real world try getting a job today without pissing in

a bottle for suspected drugs, taking a lie detector test - lest you

be tempted to steal some piece of imported trash, and a background

search, that takes you back to the night you were conceived! Chances

are, in this self - righteous - holier - than - thou environment; you

better hope it was in a proper bedroom, between dutifully married

people, and not in a car, on the beach, or some sleazy motel room.

All of this for a job a wigget factory, stocking shelves, a flagman

on a highway job, or collecting carts in some asphalt parking lot.

 

Now none of this is applicable if your aspirations are higher; like

becoming President, running a Savings and Loan Bank, becoming a TV

evangelist, running Amtrak, an airline company, or a corporation;

responsible for billions, and the job security/ pensions of thousands

of employees. Here you get a pass and go directly to Park Place. One

might think that a person entrusted with the nation's welfare in

times of catastrophe, might need a background in organizational

skills? With no Arabian horses - reported as floating dead and

bloated, in the muck and mire of the sewage, of New Orleans - maybe

Brown thought that was his assignment? No wonder the President said

he was doing a " heck of a job " .

 

It's been reported, that Mr. Brown's job as assistant city manager in

Edmond, was nothing more than an " internship " . The best that his boss

could say about Mike was that he was on time and always wore a " suit

and a starched white shirt " . That's good enough for me. I know that

if I were sitting out in the 100% humidity of 100 degree Louisiana

swamp heat; with dead bodies, rats, water moccasins, and alligators

waiting to chomp on me, as soon as I keeled over; that Mike in his

suit and starched shirt just might look like the second coming of

Christ . But then Mike wouldn't have appeared out of the scorching,

blistering haze; because by his own admission, he was totally unaware

of the tens of thousands of citizens left stranded at the convention

center for days - although that's all that was on TV hour after hour

after hour.

 

Cheney, tan and rested, from fly fishing in the pristine waters of

Jackson Hole, Wyoming; absent fecal matter, bodies, dead animals, oil

and poisonous vermin, remarked when he finally showed up, " I think

the performance in general at least in terms of the information I've

received from locals is definitely very impressive " . One has to

wonder at times, if the lot of these guys didn't arrive here on some

asteroid called Oz. I live in backwater NH, and I know more, than the

well paid Vice - President of the United State and the Director of

FEMA. What's wrong with this picture and me receiving no paycheck -

obscene pension plan - or out shopping for a multi - million estate,

like Lynn Cheney is on Chesapeake Bay. What with Halliburton getting

contracts for the cleanup down there - God know how many more homes

they'll be able to buy while citizens live at rest stops or in

Barbara Scarlet O' Bush's - Astrodome, " I think they're doing quite

well " .

 

One would imagine, that the President would have been more selective

( maybe not ), in this political patronage appointment, that was

responsible for the lives of so many, who naively believe that

government has their best interests at heart, and will be there in an

emergency. In fact, none of these clowns at FEMA are qualified except

in spin.

 

With a 47 billion dollar Homeland (American) Defense Agency it's

obvious that the real defense and response came from ordinary

citizens, who didn't show up in suits, or call a press conference, to

state how much they cared. They were there from the very beginning

and were hindered in many respects by officials.

 

Take Boss - Hog, Police Chief, Arthur Lawson; of the City of Gretna

that is across the bridge from New Orleans and remained dry. When

citizens tried to escape to some semblance of normalcy, this bozo had

the audacious gall (not surprising down there) to close the bridge to

foot traffic. Two paramedics, the Bradshaw couple, visiting New

Orleans, joined a group of people who had been turned out by the

hotels they were staying at. When they tried to reach the Superdome

they were turned back by National Guards.

 

Ms. Bradshaw stated that she asked, " What's our alternative? " The

guards told her that was their problem and that no, they did not have

extra water to give them. As they made their way to the bridge in

order to leave the city, armed Gretna (bedroom community to New

Orleans) police formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Ms.

Bradshaw stated on MSNBC Sept 10-05, that they began firing their

weapons over their heads. When they asked police why they couldn't

cross the bridge, they said that the West Bank wasn't going to become

New Orleans. The Bradshaw's said that there was no doubt in their

minds, that because there were few whites in their group, with the

majority being Black, that's why they were refused help. When the

Bradshaw's then set up a camp for the some 90 people, the police came

and took their food and water. This Hog - Boss Police Chief, Lawson,

said on MSNBC, that Grenta, had no food or places for people to stay;

that they were keeping people from crossing for their own protection!

If you visit the website of Gretna; you'll note that there are

numerous schools, churches, and hotels. The police were allowing cars

to pass. This is probably very alien to those who've never lived in

the South or in a large city. When I lived in CT, there were these

bedroom communities outside the large city where I lived. There were

no Blacks, unless they were the maids or groundskeepers. When a

veteran I knew, went back to visit the exclusive town, where he grew

up, he told me a police cruiser followed him every bit of the way.

Back from war and bedraggled and ill, there was no longer the

pretense of flags - ribbons - or supporting the troops.

 

New Orleans will come back, but it will be absent the multitudes of

poor folks and Black residents. They'll have themselves a Mardi Gras

theme town, complete with hotels and corporate businesses and we'll

be picking up the tab. It'll be Disney World Times Square. We'll be

made to pick up the tab for decades of ineptness and incompetence;

from the derelict levee system, to the barrier islands and marshes -

all destroyed from years of oil and gas drilling, and 8000 miles of

canals, dug through wetlands, by the Army Corps of Engineers. This

disaster was made and created by man and allowed to happen - much

like the Everglades, that we're now being billed billions to restore.

Hey, but Representative Baker of Baton Rouge was overheard telling

lobbyists: " We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We

couldn't do it, but God did. " Yep - good old God, decided to flood

ONLY the poor sections of New Orleans, and protect the French

Quarter - and exclusive/business parts of town. It's just like these

hypocritical - self -righteous prigs, to shrug and tell the

folks, " Obviously you were the sinners in town - the ner' do wells,

and God kicked you all to the curb. Got problems go to Him about it. "

 

The Wall Street Journal reports, Sept 8 -05, that " The mostly

African - American neighborhoods of New Orleans are largely

underwater, and the people who lived there are scattered across the

country. But in many of the predominantly white (isn't God good - JM)

and more affluent areas streets are dry and passable. Gracious homes

are mostly intact and powered by generators. "

 

" The green expanse of Audubon Park, in the city's Uptown area has

doubled in recent days as a heliport for the city's rich - and a

terminus for the armies of private security guards who have been

dispatched to keep the homes there safe. Ashton O' Dwyer who lives on

the city's grandest street, has cell phone service and ice cubes to

cool off his highballs in the evening. By yesterday the city's water

service sprang to life. A pair of oil - company engineers, dispatched

by his son - in - law, delivered four cases of water, a box of

delicacies including herring with mustard sauce and 15 gallons of

generator gasoline. . Despite the disaster, the city's moneyed,

mostly white elite is hanging on and maneuvering to play a role in

the recovery. 'New Orleans is ready to be rebuilt. Let's start right

here, 'says Ashton, standing in his expansive kitchen, next to a

counter covered with a jumble of weaponry and electric wires. "

 

" High society is still dominated by these old - line families,

represented by prominent figures such as former New Orleans Board of

Trade President Thomas Westfeldt; Richard Freeman, scion of the

family that long owned the city's Coca - Cola bottling plant; and

William Boatner Reily, owner of a Louisiana coffee company. Their

social pecking order is dictated by the mysterious hierarchy

of 'knewes', groups with hereditary membership that participate in

the annual carnival leading up to Mardi - Gras. A few blocks from Mr.

O'Dwyer, in an exclusive gated community know as Audubon Place, is

the home of Jams Reiss, descendent of an old - line Uptown family.

When New Orleans descended into a spiral of looting and anarchy Mr.

Reiss helicoptered in an Israeli security company to guard his home

and that of his neighbors. "

 

" The power elite of New Orleans - insist that the city won't restore

the old order. New Orleans before the flood was burdened by a teeming

underclass, substandard schools and a high - crime rate. The new city

must be something very different, Mr. Reiss says, with better

services and few poor people. 'Those who want to see this city

rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way;

demographically, geographically and politically, ' he says, 'I'm not

just speaking for myself here. The way we've been living is not going

to happen again, or we're out'. "

 

The article goes on of about their plans for the rebirth of New

Orleans, taking place now in Dallas, to get the place - their part,

up and running in time for Mardi - Gras. With the billions being

thrown around by Congress and the President ( 60 billion thus far )

it's heartening to see that tax dollars will be rebuilding an

exclusive - Mardi - Gras haven; for these arrogant - elitist jerks .

As one can see, the TV media showed none of this hardship in the

exclusive sections of town - well guarded and suffering no

deprivations. Why one would think that all of New Orleans was a stew

of jonsing crack heads, pimps, whores, drug dealers, and white trash.

All of them looting and rampaging through the town. That's what you

were supposed to see. It's called managed news. Nah, these folks will

be scattered from Oklahoma to Maine. You won't see any settled in

Jackson Hole, Kennebunkport, Chesapeake Bay, Georgetown, the

Hamptons, Rye, N.Y, Greenwich, CT, etc.

 

Gentrification by Disaster - and it worked out perfectly for the

elites in New Orleans, who didn't move off their lazy asses to help

anyone (except themselves) while thousands of citizens from across

the nation collected water - gas - food - and clothing! But then they

don't do 'scut - work ', and darn, all the help was drowning or dying

of thirst at the Convention Center, or Superdome.

 

But our buddy Michael Brown of FEMA wraps it up nicely, " I believe

each of you has the world at your beckoning call, but I also believe

that you should take advantage of the 'scenic route' when the

opportunity arises. Remember to have passion for life and all that it

brings you on the scenic route, and continue to make those memories "

M. Brown, Commencement Address - Florida Institute of Technology

University, Dec 18, 04. Gosh, Mike sure gave the folks in New Orleans

and the entire Gulf some memories these past two weeks. As for

the 'scenic route' well that's debatable.