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. . . And You Shall Know Them By Their Trail of Dead

Posted By Matt On 20th October 2005 @ 16:35 In New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, FEMA, Michael Brown | 2 Comments

Crooks and Liars has the video of a story about New Orleans that aired on NBC and MSNBC last night. It’s a must-watch report.

In testimony to the Senate, FEMA official Marty Bahamonde revealed that on August 31st, he had sent urgent messages from his blackberry, telling FEMA Director Michael Brown about the deteriorating conditions in New Orleans. The situation is “past critical,” Bahamonde wrote from the Superdome, where he was reportedly Brown’s “eyes and ears.” “Estimates are many will die within hours.”

He never got a response from Brown, but someone did forward to him an email written on the same day by Brown’s press secretary; it reveals where FEMA’s attention was as thousands struggled for their lives in New Orleans:

. . . It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Given that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more than 20 or 30 minutes.

Bahamonde’s response?

OH MY GOD !!!!!! Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and [went to the bathroom] in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends, so I understand her concern about busy restaurants.

It’s gratifying to see that people like Bahamonde have the courage to speak up about this. But you know it’s just a matter of time until the administration starts to slime him, and distance itself from the press secretary.

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2 Comments To ". . . And You Shall Know Them By Their Trail of Dead"

#1 Comment By Suzy Shedd On 20th October 2005 @ 17:11

Meanwhile, Chertoff is testifying that HE’S not an emergency management expert and that he was relying on the “decades of experience at FEMA.” Nope, he’s not blaming Blanco and Nagin, he’s putting it all on ol’ Brownie. And we know he did a good job because he relieved Brown of “command.”

Chertoff, Brown, Bush — they all belong in jail. They’re killers. Why didn’t Brown’s press secretary just put in a standing order for fava beans and a nice Chianti?

#2 Trackback By Lance Mannion On 25th November 2005 @ 09:58

Heckuva job, Brownie!

At first glance, I thought, Some people just have no clue. The you would think disgraced ex-head of FEMA, Michael Brown, whose chief worry as New Orleans drowned in the aftermath of Katrina was where he was going to eat dinner in Baton Rouge—the rest…

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