What job opportunities are available for former FEMA director Michael Brown?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the job opportunities available for former FEMA director Michael Brown, particularly in light of his actions and communications during Hurricane Katrina. Participants explore his perceived competence, the implications of his emails, and the nature of appointments in government positions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants reference emails from Brown during Hurricane Katrina, suggesting he was more focused on his image than on the crisis at hand.
  • Others express skepticism about the appropriateness of reviewing personal emails, questioning the invasion of privacy involved.
  • There are claims that Brown's eagerness to resign indicates dissatisfaction with his role, while some argue he was not competent for the position in the first place.
  • Some participants discuss the distinction between "hiring" and "appointing," suggesting that appointments often lack accountability for performance.
  • Concerns are raised about the implications of appointing individuals without relevant experience, particularly in critical roles like disaster management.
  • One participant questions the feasibility of Brown finding a job that pays as well as his former position, suggesting his connections rather than qualifications have driven his career.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on Brown's competence and the appropriateness of his actions during Katrina. There is no consensus on whether his resignation was warranted or what his future job prospects might be.

Contextual Notes

Participants discuss the implications of government appointments and the responsibilities of officials, highlighting the complexity of evaluating performance in such roles. The conversation reflects varying opinions on privacy rights concerning work-related communications.

rachmaninoff
What was Michael Brown doing when Katrina hit? A House panel released some of his emails from that day:

...The e-mails show that Brown, who had been planning to step down from his post when the storm hit, was preoccupied with his image on television even as one of the first FEMA officials to arrive in New Orleans, Marty Bahamonde, was reporting a crisis situation of increasing chaos to FEMA officials.

"My eyes must certainly be deceiving me. You look fabulous — and I'm not talking the makeup," writes Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs to Brown on 7:10 a.m. local time on Aug. 29.

"I got it at Nordstroms," Brown writes back. "Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?" An hour later, Brown adds: "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051103/ap_on_go_co/fema_brown

Spin on this, Scott McClellan!
 
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I've been having to say this more and more frequently in recent years:

"No, this is not a parody from the Onion. It's real."
 
I wonder why he was so eager to quit.. He was doing a great job, just as he said he would the day before the hurricane Katrina came ashore in the United States:

"FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do whatever it takes to help disaster victims." -FEMA Director Michael Brown, Aug. 28, 2005
 
haha so I guess we're hiring people to posts that they don't even want to do?

But actually, what are they doing leafing through his personal emails? I'm sure the ACLU will be all over this as it is seemingly a huge invasion of privacy.
 
Pengwuino said:
haha so I guess we're hiring people to posts that they don't even want to do?

No the word you are looking for is "appointing". To hire implies that you expect work to be done. Appointing is used to fill chairs with people who will laugh at your joke attempts.
 
Mental Gridlock said:
No the word you are looking for is "appointing". To hire implies that you expect work to be done. Appointing is used to fill chairs with people who will laugh at your joke attempts.

then he should have quit. Or in this case, "resigned". Nothign in the constitution saying you are forced to be a competant government employee :-p
 
Pengwuino said:
then he should have quit. Or in this case, "resigned". Nothign in the constitution saying you are forced to be a competant government employee :-p
The Constitution doesn't explicitly prohibit rape either. Does that make it ok? See, in the most basic sense, rape interferes with another person's rights. If the government official in charge of disaster relief is incompetent, he is interfering with people's rights to live. It's his job to (competently) supply people with relief after a hurricane hits, and when he can't do it because he was appointed in spite of his lack of experience, it's not just a matter of "oh, I screwed up. I'll just resign now." People die.
 
I think you're missing my point... if he didn't like his job... why didn't he resign sooner?
 
Pengwuino said:
haha so I guess we're hiring people to posts that they don't even want to do?

But actually, what are they doing leafing through his personal emails? I'm sure the ACLU will be all over this as it is seemingly a huge invasion of privacy.
Point to keep in mind - your 'personal' E-Mails are E-mails you send from your own computer. E-mails sent from your employer's computer using your employer's e-mail service are not your own 'personal' E-mails. Your employer has a right to ban the jokes that tend to make the rounds (they can theoretically clog up the server with worthless messages), to ban employees from surfing the net for porn, playing games on company computers, surfing the net to accomplish their own personal business, etc.

Technically, your employer can monitor and regulate just about anything you do on your computer at work, should they decide to do so. It's not exactly a great morale booster to take this as far as an employer could legally take it - especially if the alternative to allowing employees to take care of some personal business at work is having the employee take off of work to run to the bank, etc.
 
  • #10
Pengwuino said:
I think you're missing my point... if he didn't like his job... why didn't he resign sooner?
Where is he going to find a job that pays as well as FEMA director? Check out his background - he doesn't exactly have a stellar resume. For the most part, he's gotten by in life by who he knows. The transition from 'knowing important people' to being 'someone people know' isn't exactly going to enhance his job opportunities.
 

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