If you've forgotten who Michael "Brownie" Brown is in the decade since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, perhaps this descriptor from The Washington Post, written on September 6, 2005, will jog your memory: "Michael Brown has been called the accidental director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, caricatured as the failed head of an Arabian horse sporting group who was plucked from obscurity to become President Bush's point man for the worst natural disaster in U.S. history." What's more, Bush famously told Brown, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," in the midst of the federal government's botched handling of a hurricane that put 80 percent of New Orleans under water, cost $81 billion in property damages, and took 1,833 lives.
But, 10 years on, Brown is tired of your scorn. The former FEMA head explained in Politico Magazine (in a piece appropriately titled, "Stop Blaming Me for Hurricane Katrina") that the blame really lies with his higher-ups, the failed local government who made it impossible for him to do his job, the Constitution, and the media:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks groundSpeed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resignsSpeed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rainSpeed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
-
EPA limits carcinogenic emissions at 218 US plantsSpeed Read The new rule aims to reduce cancer-causing air pollution in areas like Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'
-
Strong Taiwan earthquake kills 9, injures hundredsSpeed Read At magnitude 7.4, this was Taiwan's biggest earthquake in 25 years
-
EPA sets auto pollution rule that boosts EVsSpeed Read The Biden administration's new rules will push US automakers toward electric vehicles and hybrids
-
More than 150 people dead following earthquake in NepalSpeed Read The death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers continue digging through rubble
-
Nearly 1,000 birds dead in one night after striking building in ChicagoSpeed Read The birds died after colliding with the McCormick Place convention center next to Lake Michigan
-
At least 1 dead at Burning Man as thousands remain stranded from floodingSpeed Read
-
Earthquake rattles Southern California as Tropical Storm Hilary hitsSpeed Read
