Official Homeland Security Committee Brownie Bake – Thread 6

[Sydnie]

Thread 1

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=378137&mesg_id=378137

Thread 2

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=378593&mesg_id=378593

Thread 3

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=378909&mesg_id=378909

Thread 4

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=379113&mesg_id=379113

Thread 5
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=379372&mesg_id=379372

[CornField]

1. Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn) questioning now

[rodeodance]

4. dayton asking twice now What was requested by you to the WH.

[rodeodance]

9. msnbc is breaking in to talk over Dayton. guess i will switch.

[rodeodance]

14. msnbc--Townsend saying she was surprized to hear LA mayor say that

he was not informed of speech contents--as she says we have a good relationship with them. te he.

[CornField]

7. What did you request of the White House & did they follow through?

Brown: Good question. For the first time in this disaster, Andy Card replied to me "well, Mike, you need to feed that back through the chain of command." That told me that I needed to phone Chertoff and I did.

I was as frustrated as everyone else was about the slowness of this reponse.

Dayton: Again, what did you request and when?

Brown: Look at my emails to the military -- they will show you exactly what I was frustrated about.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

2. .

:kick:

[bettyellen]

3. Thanks Syd!! but why is brownie bringing up privilege now???

[dogday]

11. He can't speak of anything said between him

and the President, I believe, executive privilege applies...

[Nothing Without Hope]

18. What? But executive privilege was waived, I thought. He doesn't have

the right to avoid answering. It's not like this is top secret spy stuff, they NEVER would let THAT get out....

[rodeodance]

32. yes, it is confusing.

[dogday]

80. Sen Collins made a statement about it

have you heard him say anything that the president has said about NO?

[Sydnie]

15. I don't know, I thought they said it didn't apply

Go figure :shrug:

[dogday]

Nobody was shagging their asses

[Sydnie]

5. He was frustrated but he had to know if his shirt looked good on tv

And had to have time to eat his dinner!

[Catchawave]

6. Brownie was frustrated with slow response ....D'OH.

[dogday]

13. Now we know where the heartless could not give a shit

attitude came from ..... ROVE

[rodeodance]

17. that was his opening comment--he was slowed down by DHS buerocracy.

[951-Riverside]

21. BULLSHIT!

He was the responder its like the NYFD sitting on their hands during 9-11 attacks then the chief saying.... *garsh* the response was terrible but its not our fault we didnt recieve the proper orders on how to respond!

[Dunvegan]

8. About Mark Dayton (D)

Born January 26, 1947 , Mark is the eldest Mark Dayton with his dad and his boysof four children born to former Dayton Hudson Corp. Chairman Bruce Dayton and the late Gwendolen Brandt Dayton. He is the great-grandson of George Dayton, a one-time banker who opened a dry-goods store in 1902 that became a national retailing powerhouse.

While at college, he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, whose then-president was now-President George W. Bush! (exclamation mark his)

When Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter selected Senator Mondale as his running mate the following year, Mark joined the campaign. At the campaign headquarters in Atlanta, he worked as a driver, midnight-to-dawn telecopy operator, and all-around go-fer. Immediately following Carter's election victory, Mark returned to Minnesota to work for incoming-Governor Rudy Perpich and was asked to head the Minnesota Department of Economic Development. He served in that position for nearly two years.

In 1978, Mark married Alida Rockefeller, whose brother, Senator Jay Rockefeller, is currently one of Mark's Senate colleagues. They have two sons: Eric, age 23, and Andrew, age 20. Alida and Mark were divorced eight years later; however, they remain dedicated parents and close friends.

[rodeodance]

12. thanks.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Looks like this Tom Tomorrow cartoon from last September is still

about right for the GOPs

[LeftNYC]

16. I missed the Rove stuff...Can someone explain to me what was said? nt

[Sydnie]

19. I missed it too

:shrug: I feel very lost here today. Small headache isn't helping either.

[rodeodance]

20. msnbc is bored. they just cut me off

[rodeodance]

22. anyone know when Rhode left the gov?

[rodeodance]

26. Pryor, dem. Ak-asked if he felt like a scrapegoat?--B. says he feels

abandoned.

[bettyellen]

23. just that he was in on a conference call when they were trying to figure

out how to put the military into the work. this was friday, and they put together the "offer" that blanco rejected- (where she would give up control to the feds).

[Nothing Without Hope]

31. thread on that blackmail attempt - Blanco proved it with documents

and Rove was in charge of the blackmailing, using devastation and death to try to grab more power for his master/client Bush:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5518358

[bettyellen]

57. they didn't delve into that too much, and they should have.

interesting that brownie was concerned about putting the army out there to help w/ logistics, said they wouldn't want to put their guns down even if they weree assigned to hand out food. they wouldn't be okay with leaving law enforcement to the nat'l guard?

[rodeodance]

61. thanks, i am recalling some of that now.

[CornField]

24. Dayton is turning his attention to Rhode

LOL!! FEMA still being very slow in NO.

Dayton: Can you explain what has happened during this period of time? Tell us what the barriers are.

Rhode: The debris alone was on an absolute historic scale. FEMA tries to work very closely with the state and locals -- lots of challenges we have to overcome together. (Basically placing blame back on the local governments <-- that's my paraphrase)

[Norquist Nemesis]

25. Pryor: Do you feel like the designated scapegoat?

Brownie: Yes.

[robbedvoter]

27. Yes. I do feel abandoned by the WH

[rodeodance]

29. B. saying it can not work--FEMA being part of DHS.

[951-Riverside]

34. "Why don't you subpoena my wife and ask her that sir"

I never heard him say simply "Yes"

[CornField]

28. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark) now up

"Do you think you are the designated scapegoat?"

"I certainly feel somewhat abandoned."

"Do you think FEMA should be a part of DHS?"

"I want to really make it work the way the statute was written. I've come to the conclusion that it cannot function under DHS."

[951-Riverside]

30. What the fuck do they find so funny?

Seems like between every question they are cracking jokes and guess they don't take people lives seriously.

I'm pissed

[ncrainbowgrrl]

33. There's some nervous laughter there

Also some genuine laughter.

[dolo amber]

38. Nervous, definitely

I hate to think of myself in that position, I'd probably bust out singing the HMS Pinafore or something. :blush:

[rodeodance]

35. Brownie said he felt abandoned (left to swim this mess alone).

[janx]

40. And this is the first time he has been able to say so.

He doesn't have executive counsel breathing down his neck.

[rodeodance]

43. Does BRown think positively of Chertoff?--I think not (even before Kat.)

[Cerridwen]

37. Whistling past the graveyard - in my opinion - n/t

[porphyrian]

39. It's just how some people deal with stress and anxiety.

I don't think it's meant to trivialize the topic necessarily, although it may be for some of them.

[951-Riverside]

46. I could understand that if he was going to jail after this hearing n/t

[Sydnie]

36. Called me Brownie at the wrong time - thanks very much Sir

:rofl:

[janx]

44. Can you explain?

I missed it!

[Sydnie]

51. He was being sarcastic about blivet** calling him that

implying that he doesn't think it is very flattering! :rofl:

[janx]

OMG!

:rofl:

[CornField]

54. It was Brown's response after Pryor asked about his relationship with Bush

[CornField]

41. Pryor: "How involved was Pres. Bush?"

Brown: "I think we had a fairly good relationship. I felt like I really good relationship with Andy Card... Hagel... but there came a point where I recognized that I could no longer complain about what needed to be done without appearing to be a whiner. There was a new secretary there (DHS)"

[janx]

55. He was COWED by those guys.

He always hesitates before he says anything about the president. It's terrible.

[wtmusic]

42. Does anyone else sense that Brownie is coming a bit...unhinged?

:shrug:

[Norquist Nemesis]

45. No. Why do you think that? n/t

[wtmusic]

67. Doesn't appear to handle pressure well, IMO nt

[Norquist Nemesis]

91. Gotcha!

He does seem nervous. I would be, too with stuff he's saying. No doubt the WH is watching closely. Wouldn't surprise me to see him arrested on some drug charge or hooker scandal in the near future.

[porphyrian]

47. The hot seat will do that to you. - n/t

[rodeodance]

48. says sec. ridge let him do his job-but Chertoff 'inserted' himself into Fe

ma. whow!!! go brownie.

[rodeodance]

53. says dhs tried to move control of operations out of Fema. which B. did

not like.

[Sydnie]

59. Instead of having to rescue other people, he needs to attempt

to rescue himself. Yes, he is coming unglued.

[Dunvegan]

60. Catastrophic disaster is a hot seat, too. Brown's not well suited, eh?

[wtmusic]

63. I'm getting the impression he probably melted down

under the pressure, as he seems to be doing now.

[CornField]

49. Pryor: Had Ridge been in control, would you have went through him?

Long silence

Brown: I don't how to answer that. My experience with Ridge was that, in Florida, he left me alone to do my job. They stayed out of my way.

Sec. Chertoff ... the DHS apparatus now saw an opportunity to assert itself into FEMA operations.

[Norquist Nemesis]

58. Did I miss something?

That doesn't make sense. First he says Chertoff wasn't doing anything for him, then he's in his way. Huh??

[Dunvegan]

50. Brown: (basically) Chertoff was usless, pushed DHS into FEMA. Ridge was OK

[flyarm]

52. wiait a minute..i thought rove was in hospital with kidney stones..

i thought i heard over and over that rove was in the hospital with horrible kidney stones he was passing...

well i have passed kindney stones..and the world could be falling around you ..and all you can deal with is the damn stones passing...

so what was it..was rove in the hospital or was he running this to make sure there was full failure in NO ..that is good casino property ..doncha know...

fly

[Nothing Without Hope]

62. Rove was well enough to drive the effort to blackmail Blanco

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5518358

and later be put in charge of the reconstruction, fer chrissakes.

[Sydnie]

70. What reconstruction? He must still be passing those stones! n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

76. THIS reconstruction:

[Dunvegan]

65. Bingo. We need Rove timelined against Brown's statement.

[Dunvegan]

68. What day did Brown say the Blanco Talk with Rove around took place?

[bettyellen]

86. i could swear he said it was friday the conference call took place

and the offer was formulated. he did not specifally say when they discussed it w/ blanco.

[flyarm]

103. we need to find that out..because i know they said on msm that rove was

in hospital passing kidney stones...

if that was really the cae ..he would have been heavy duty drugged..and would be in no shape to do confer. calls!

fly

[bettyellen]

111. it was when he was talking to warner- about 11:30 ish....

are they going to replay? you could ask someone to tape that. it went so fast.
but he did say they were all together in a conference room. i believe he said rove, card and a third i can't remember.
just before this he was talking about using the nat'l guard and the army at the same time, and concerns about how that might be problematic.

[flyarm]

74. this guy is an incompetant boob..he seems like a total doofus

and this man was put in charge of life and death situations..???

welli live on the gulf of mexico ( ocean) in fla..and watching this boob..my balls are sweating...watching this guy..

i sat through francsis..and i will tell you..they forgot to evac us until they closed bridges so i was stuck and scared to death...and now i see this asshole ..and know that this dip shit was in charge???

wow i am blown away...this guy is a total incompetant..clown

fly

[Norquist Nemesis]

81. Well, yes...but

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/09/15/BL2005091501098.html

<snip>
"Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort."

Rove's leadership role suggests quite strikingly that any and all White House decisions and pronouncements regarding the recovery from the storm are being made with their political consequences as the primary consideration. More specifically: With an eye toward increasing the likelihood of Republican political victories in the future, pursuing long-cherished conservative goals, and bolstering Bush's image.

That is Rove's hallmark.

Rove, Bush's long-time political adviser and the "architect" of Bush's ascendancy, was rewarded after the 2004 election with a position at the White House with overt policy responsibilities. But whereas in some previous White Houses, governance took precedence over campaigning once the election was safely over, Rove has shown no sign of ever putting policy goals above political ones. (See my Rove profile.)
<snip>

The piece also states that Rove was <u>briefly</u> hospitalized for kidney stones. Still, it's clear he was in the thick of it.

[wtmusic]

56. Everyone...take a moment to thank DHS for keeping us safe...

:puke:

[porphyrian]

64. They have successfully protected us from safety. - n/t

[rodeodance]

66. suggesting that Fema dealth differently with NO as opposed to Ms and Al

whow.

[displacedtexan]

71. Rhode says

"Very very different situation."

My question: Why?

[rodeodance]

collins up now. saying Officials expressed concern over him being

picked to head Katrina

[bettyellen]

after they hired him? wtf is that?

[bettyellen]

78. after they hired him? wtf is that?

[CornField]

69. Pryor now pointing out the differences in relief between Mississippi

and Louisiana, specifically New Orleans.

Of course, Rhode is slamming that line of thought down really quickly.

[CornField]

72. Pryor not letting it go -- saying Mississippi has received more trailers

"It seems there is unequal treatment."

Pryor wants to "fix" FEMA -- says he's heard enough about the problems.

[rodeodance]

79. umm.. so dismiss all past events. Bush likes to do that also (except like

yesterday he conjured up the West Coast plot to his benefit).

[Dunvegan]

73. FEMA Trailers sitting in Hope, AK while still needed in LA(!)

[Nothing Without Hope]

85. thread link for this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x377263
thread title (2-10-06 GD): LAT: "The Land of 10,770 Empty FEMA Trailers" & Katrina housing EXPLAINED

[CornField]

75. Back to Sen. Collins -- discussing "principle federal official"

[gimama]

110. "PFO"? "PFO"?? PF-freakin'O!, that would be Mr.BUSH.

Mr.bush is responsible. And Congress is responsible for holding HIM responsible. "PFO", my aunt fanny.
I said it before, all these new beaurocracies & abbreviations & re- defining is devil-stuff! DHS used to be Dept. of Defense, & they handled NATIONAL SECURITY.. I want chertoff hauled off in 'cuffs, for criminal neglect & IMPEACH BUSH&CHENEY,et al.

[Dunvegan]

77. Look out...Swiftboating Brownie!

[Dunvegan]

82. Brown: We've done a great job of bad buracracy as Reps...doesn't work

[rodeodance]

84. brownie says PFO' see they role as managerial only but there are

operational things to do.

[wtmusic]

83. We've done a great job as Republicans of creating a LARGER BUREAUCRACY

Schweet! :rofl:

[rodeodance]

89. well, it was dems who were pushing for DHS also--but then Jr took

control and dumped his cronies in it. and zap=we have an ineffective bunch of crapola.

[CornField]

87. Brown: PFO established more and more bureaucracy

Paraphrasing Brown:

We've taken a plan that worked and have created a vacuum. We've turned it over to military guys who have no consensus on how to deal with state and local officials who have authority during a disaster.

I was designated the PFO and was instructed by Chertoff to plant my rear end in Baton Rouge and not leave -- you can't run a program that way. I was told not to go back to Mississippi. How can I know what is going on as FEMA director?

[dogday]

92. My Hands Were Tied

How can I assess the area if I cannot go into the area? Something stinks to high heaven...

[wtmusic]

88. "My hands were tied by Chertoff" nt

[Dunvegan]

90. Brown: Chartoff told me to park in Baton Rouge. My hands were tied.

[CornField]

93. If I had requested active duty military and Katrina had moved

one way or the other, you would have me back up here to discuss why I wasted so much money. I wish I would have just rolled the dice and called the troops in before it hit. ~Brown

[Dunvegan]

94. Brown: Do I stand out on a limb prior to landfall do I bring in military?

Wish I had rolled the dice and said, go ahead.

[Nothing Without Hope]

98. That decision is for Chertoff & Bush, not Brown. Clear in the DHS

National Response Plan.

[CornField]

100. Even if Brown was named PFO?

[Nothing Without Hope]

Check it out - it's Chertoff, Rumsfeld & Bush. Thread with some analysis:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4668155

Sounds like it's up to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, under the orders of the President:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4668155

(There's a link to the whole thing there too, but the excerpted parts in that post are telling)

And don't forget, CHERTOFF DELAYED THE RESPONSE BY NOT MAKING A KEY TRIGGER DECLARATION FOR DAYS:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4777642
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12637172.htm

[Dunvegan]

95. Joe-mentum: Hammering on Brown asking Hagen for specific things or not.

Late night phone call with Hagen, and e-mail with Card.

E-mail (in the record) is same as talk with Hagen.

[CornField]

96. Back to Lieberman -- discussing conversations with WH

[Norquist Nemesis]

97. Waiting for more Rove reference

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[Dunvegan]

99. Brown: Talked with WH before landfall at least 30 times (due to NOAA)

[CornField]

101. The Video Teleconferences (VTC) were happening before Katrina hit

[dogday]

102. It sounds like they had a lack of troops

they had to ship in some soldiers, I guess LA guard is in Iraq......

[flyarm]

105. lieberman ask why FAA was in charge of the busses..ask why

the guy in charge of the busses..in fla called nyc limo company for buses for NO

come on you guys are the congress people ..don't they know this stuff???????

[flyarm]

109. the nyc limo company thought it was a prank..why was the FAA

in charge of getting buses???????? and not fema????????????

federal aviation does not do buses!!!!!!!!!!!!

fly

[Catchawave]

107. but what took food and water so long ?

has that been asked?

[Sydnie]

104. THREAD 7 is UP!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=380079&mesg_id=380079

[CornField]

106. Lieberman: Why didn't FEMA deliver buses on Monday?

Brown: I wish I knew the answer, Senator. I knew FEMA was broken and couldn't do some of those things. Those nights I would sit in my room and cry because I couldn't get those done.

Lieberman: You asked someone for those buses on Monday?

Brown: Yeah, that's right.

[wtmusic]

108. Now he's so "dad gum jealous he could scream"

:scared:

[Lex]

112. Locking. See Thread #7 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x380079

Thank you,
Lex
DU Moderator