CNN Breaking, Brown resume discrepency EOM

[LeftyFingerPop]

[LSK]

1. heres the Time article

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html

Apparently his Edmond, Ok job was basically an administrative internship.

They have no recollection of him working at some other place in OK.

[intheflow]

10. Thanks.

I'm cable-impaired, so this was a very helpful link! :hi:

[LSK]

22. and i fall victim to cube-rat syndrome while at work

Glad to help.

[NNadir]

41. Holy shit. This kind of stuff is what I read DU for.

Thanx.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

46. Brown's resume is much more impressive than that of his boss

I would hire Brown to head something before I would even consider hiring Bush to sweep the floor. However phoney and padded Brown's resume might be, it is far more impressive than the resume of Bush. Bush can list cheerleading like he did in this photo from Andover,



going AWOL, ruining four companies, trading Sammy Sosa, and being a hands-off, do-nothing Governor of Texas.

[KoKo]

51. Time says the "FindLaw" site with his bio took off the Arabian Horse

Association Reference while the reporter was writing the article. Reporter says his association with the Horse Association has been "contested." If "Findlaw" wiped it off does that mean he lied about working there to? I thought the Horse Association head had already said Brown got in trouble for being a terrible manager, though.

This is just incredible. Did they think this would never come out? Even with Googling folks here couldn't find that his resume was doctored. Sheesh!

[progressivebydesign]

59. I figured that was the case, as he went to law school later..

..it seemed like a strange sequence for him. I didn't have the impression he was a latecomer to college.

[marbuc]

2. Yes? elaborate? nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. Why am I not surprised. Please read.

Just one part.. read the link for more
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html

Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975 to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact, according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him." Brown did do a good job at his humble position, however, according to his boss. "Yes. Mike Brown worked for me. He was my administrative assistant. He was a student at Central State University," recalls former city manager Bill Dashner. "Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt."

In response, Nicol Andrews, deputy strategic director in FEMA's office of public affairs, insists that while Brown began as an intern, he became an "assistant city manager" with a distinguished record of service. "According to Mike Brown," she says, "a large portion is very inaccurate."

[Tatiana]

24. Impeccable credentials!

1) He was loyal.

2) He was on time.

3) He wore a suit and starched white shirt.

(I wonder if that was a leisure suit....)

God save us!

[Mr_Spock]

45. Translation: HE WAS A REPUKE HACK!!!!

He's toast.

[stickdog]

49. He IS a fucking starched shirt! (nt)

[intheflow]

3. More details please.

For those of us without cable. What's the discrepancy?

[jalynn]

4. Yes

Watching it now on Aaron Brown

[Kire]

9. self delete

with apologies

Kire

[LSK]

13. and the 1st reply should provide details

Link to Time article: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html

[LeftyFingerPop]

17. Sorry, I do not get you.

Just posting what I saw.

[MisterP]

18. how?

[Kire]

5. some of us don't have CNN philboy

thanks LSK

[RamboLiberal]

6. Yep - watching now - I think they said it was the bio

posted by the WH. Not really a city manager. Served as an intern to the city manager.

[goclark]

86. Resign Brownie! RESIGN please!

[Zen Democrat]

7. He was an INTERN at emergency services in Oklahoma

from 1975-1978. The White House in 2001 listed him as the manager. Claimed to have run an old folks home in OK -- and the people there have never heard of him.

[cynatnite]

12. That sounds vaguely familiar, don't it?

never heard of him...nowhere to be found, but yet he served there. :eyes:

[LeftyFingerPop]

8. never a professor, and.....

never a director of nursing home, still listening.

"squishiness in resume" per Aaron Brown.

[lpbk2713]

14. The end is near for Brown.

The wheels have finally fallen off his wagon. His resume is packed with lies.

[marbuc]

23. Indeed

fired on a technicality. That way, the Bush Administration doesn't have to admit failure.

[dchill]

50. Sure they do:

Some people expect that an appointment at that level of government requires a fairly diligent background check. Meaning: Bush surely knew. You know, or SOMEBODY in charge - Cheney, Rove, etc.

[marbuc]

82. I meant operational failure in the Katrina response

They can simply let him go for deceiving our poor president.

[LSK]

25. it should be the end for the guy who hired him

Bush.

[doublethink]

15. Uhhhhhhhh yea that's it .......

I was a professor, and yea I was a directory for an old folks home, and yeaaa that's it .... see more than just the fired horse thingy guy .............. yea ....... that's it. Yea that's the ticket. This shit if not in such a serious context could become a really great comedy skit. These guys are pathetic.

on edit: just clicked to CSPAN and there's Pickles "Get your kids in School, Get your kids in School, Get you kids in School" ... too much.

[Tatiana]

16. They really aren't being subtle at this point, are they?

Brownie will be outta there within a week. Unfortunately, Americans are going to demand a lot more than a sacrificial lamb for the pathetic Katrina response.

[LSK]

19. the hits just keep rolling dont they

Next thing I predict that Chertoff is really a part time gym teacher from Kansas.

[NYC]

73. Chertoff is real. I used to call him the cat food man.

Many years ago (can't remember how many), he was in Newark. He discovered a tuna fish scam. About 7 companies or brands were involved. (Fortunately, none of them were sold in NYC.) Tuna that had deteriorated to the extent that it was no longer fit for humans, and should have been cat food, was packaged as tuna for people. Additionally, some companies were replacing cat food labels with people tuna labels.

What he did was a good thing. From then on, I called him the cat food man.

[IndyOp]

20. What a tangled web they weave...

How Reliable Is Brown's Resume?

A TIME investigation reveals discrepancies in the FEMA chief's official biographies
<http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,00.html>

Posted Thursday, Sep. 08, 2005

Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." <snip> "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him."

<snip>

Brown's lack of experience in emergency management isn't the only apparent bit of padding on his resume, which raises questions about how rigorously the White House vetted him before putting him in charge of FEMA. Under the "honors and awards" section of his profile at FindLaw.com — which is information on the legal website provided by lawyers or their offices—he lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University". However, Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here," says Charles Johnson... <snip> Speaking for Brown, Andrews says that Brown has never claimed to be a political science professor, in spite of what his profile in FindLaw indicates. "He was named the outstanding political science senior at Central State, and was an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City School of Law."

[Fleshdancer]

28. FEMA is under HOMELAND SECURITY

At what point does hiring people who LIE on their resume become a valid security risk in this country?

on edit: I meant to reply to the original poster

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

36. Former Director of FEMA was Joe Allbaugh, a friend of Brown. He would

have known Brown's history.

[demgrrrll]

29. Hmmm. Shouldn't someone at the WH have checked his resume

before they offered him the position? Isn't that what you do before you hire someone? I thought this was the CEO administration, all about business. My but these are some hapless f*ckwits.

[blondeatlast]

79. I work in a library and handle donations on occasion. An FBI

check was run on me and I'm a paraprofessional.

Resume check, too.

This is sheer cronyism and the public needs to hear it over and over.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. My take is that Bush had some good times with Brownie. After all,

Brownie is a good friend of Albaugh (former director of FEMA) who in turn was a Yale buddy of the shrub. They must have partied big time together. Of course this is speculation, but who knows???

[marbuc]

31. Allbaugh went to Yale?

Go figure.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

34. Correction. I misspoke about Allbaugh and Yale. He went to Oklahoma

and I must have misunderstood and he met Brown there.

[marbuc]

48. That's funny

because OU was have been my first guess. No particular reason, he just seems like an Oklahoma kind of guy. Sorry Oklahomans!

[Mabus]

66. The #3 guy is also an OU law grad

From http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/politics/12575672.htm

The department's No. 3 official, acting deputy chief of staff Brooks Altshuler, also does not have emergency management experience, according to FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule.

He graduated from OU law in 2000.

Fromhttp://jay.law.ou.edu/alumni/alumnidir2/Alumdir.cfm?lname=A
Altshuler, Brooks David 2000 Grad
United States President - Staff

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

84. So is the chief council. David Trissel.

Here is a link to all of the official bios. I can't go through them all now but it should be interesting to see how they might have pegged their positions.

https://www.fema.gov/about/bios/bio.shtm

Edited to add, that of course we know by now how accurate these bios can be, don't we????
:sarcasm:

[bigbrother05]

76. Neither one went to OU, much less the Law School

Looked this up online. Brown went to Central State in Edmond and Allbaugh went to Okla State in Stillwater. Allbaugh's resume says he thought about law school, but had been bitten by the political bug. Brown got his law degree from Okla City Univ. Nothing wrong with that, but is less selective and often the choice for folks going back to school and holding down a day job. Given their school backgrounds, kind of wonder where the "roommates" thing came in?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

78. The "roommate" thing was mentioned on the Today Show this AM. nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

80. According to Allbaugh's official bio he graduated from OSU.

Is it possible that at one point they both attended the same college, and either one perhaps transferring to another school? Only the schools where they recieved degrees would be officially listed.

http://www.usemb.se/cabbio/allbaugh.html

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. OK, now who was it who hired him without checking his references?

Anyone here know? ;)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

32. He was a friend of the former FEMA director, Albaugh, who is a friend

of the shrub. I do think though that he had to be confirmed as head of FEMA, right?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

70. ChimpCo also acted surprised when Gannon's credentials were revealed

Gannon had privileged White House access and made about 50 visits, for some of which he didn't log in or out (no pun intended). He was invited to two White House Christmas parties. Yet everyone in ChimpCo feigned surprise when his real identity as a male prostitute on the Internet and an individual with virtually no reporting experience or journalistic education came to light.

Of course they knew who both Brown and Gannon were. Allbaugh, previously appointed by Bush to head FEMA was Brown's roommate in college. As in the case with Gannon, they knew. But they just didn't care as long as they had a loyal toady and they thought they could get away with anything.

[NYC]

74. ChimpCo also acted surprised when Kerik's credentials were revealed.

See? I got to use the same sentence. They had no idea... Kerik was a crook.

Wouldn't you think that the Department of Homeland Security, who wants to investigate all of us, would at least investigate its own top employees?

[pa28]

71. You hire a fry cook without checking references.

But the director FEMA?

And the media. Nobody bothered to delve into this guy's background a little bit? Cronyism and corruption, lazy media, Democrats at the confirmation hearing not willing to rock the boat. Yeah, there is a price to be paid.

[TahitiNut]

72. If he lied, he should face immediate PERJURY charges.

The FBI should've performed a background check. Can we thank Ashcroft for skimming it??

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. Honestly. How can he have been confirmed by the Senate? They should

all be fired!

[Tatiana]

Lieberman is the one who chaired the meeting.

And who had no relevant questions regarding Brownie's qualifications at all. Let that be a lesson that being in control of the House and Senate will do us no good if we have dimwits for chairpersons.

[LSK]

37. yep

" COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
Susan E. Propper, Counsel
Jennifer E. Hamilton, Research Assistant
Richard A. Hertling, Minority Staff Director
Johanna L. Hardy, Minority Counsel
Jana C. Sinclair White, Minority Counsel
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk"

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_senate_hearings&docid=f:81311.wais

[Tatiana]

58. I'm getting pissed all over again! (This is public record.)

Prior to his current job, from 1991 to 2000, Mr. Brown was the Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, an international subsidiary of the National Governing Organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee. In his position there, he created ethical programs, enforcement policies and procedures, conducted investigations, and prosecuted fraud and corruption cases.

Before that, he served as General Counsel of Dillingham Insurance, Suits Drilling, Suits Rig, and Latigo Energy, in addition to Dillingham Ranch and Dillingham Enterprises. Earlier positions included 8 years in private practice, 2 years as an advisor to the Oklahoma State Senate's Finance Committee, and 3 years as Public Administrator for Edmond, Oklahoma, where he co-founded joint public-private partnerships for economic development.

<snip>

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Political Science from Central State University in Oklahoma. He got his Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law. He has also served as an adjunct professor of law for the school.

He was appointed as FEMA's General Counsel by President Bush in February 2001 and consequently appointed as Acting Deputy Director for the agency. As FEMA's General Counsel, he served as the principal legal advisor to the Director, led a staff of 30 attorneys, and provided legal services to all of FEMA's program and support offices. He also represented the agency in litigation matters.

As Acting Deputy Director, Mr. Brown serves as Chief Operating Officer for the agency and helps the Director oversee the activities of the agency. He offers the agency many years of professional experience. I think that is extremely important and I believe it will serve the agency well, especially when faced with the serious situations that call for the agency's response.

In the past, he served as a hearing officer for the Colorado and Oklahoma Supreme Courts, and as a special prosecutor appointed by the Police Civil Service Commission in internal affairs.

Mr. Brown, I believe, is a person of integrity. He has served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility. He also served as commissioner for an international sports and trade federation, during which time he created ethical programs, enforcement policies, and conducted investigations and prosecuted fraud and corruption cases. I believe that Mr. Brown has valuable experience and familiarity with insurance law, energy issues, land use, and environmental law, practical skills that have and will serve him well at FEMA.

Mr. Brown brings strong family values to this job. He lives in a community not far from where I live known as Longmont,
Colorado. He is a Coloradan. He has lived there for 11 years.
He has two children, Amy and Jared and he travels back to Colorado almost every weekend, as I do. I can understand the difficulty of flying all the time as official duties permit.

Based upon these qualifications (none of which have anything to do with EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND MANAGEMENT), if even a small portion of them are true, Bush should have nominated him for a spot on the Supreme Court instead.

And LIEBERMAN'S opening remarks:

"In the early 1980s, Mr. Brown served as staff director of the Oklahoma Senate's Finance Committee, while serving on the Edmund, Oklahoma, City Council. He ran for Congress in the sixth district, and, in what I think is particularly useful experience, early in his career, was assistant city manager in Edmond, with responsibility for police, fire and emergency services.

*But now we all know that was a lie, right?*

And here is more of Lieberman (yeah, the guy that's supposed to be on OUR SIDE) covering up for Brownie's OBVIOUS LACK OF EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE JOB:

"Mr. Brown, you have extensive management experience. For this job, you will need it. You will need to redouble FEMA's strengths, strengthen its weaknesses, and work with the reorganization effort to allow a seamless transition that only enhances our government's emergency response network."

[aquart]

68. Can CT DUers please get on his ass over this?

Do you have functioning newspapers in that state?

Lieberman, who lay down and LET this asshole get the job, is going to investigate him? SUUUUUUUUUURE.

[LSK]

35. ask and you shall recieve

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_senate_hearings&docid=f:81311.wais

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

44. Thank you. Can Sen. Allard of Colorado be arrested for perjury?

[Spangle]

53. I can't get the link to work. ... VERY intresting...

Is it just me. Or is it no longer able to be used.

[Douglas Carpenter]

30. just heard it on CNN International myself

this could be a REALLY big story

[OhioChick]

33. I just heard this myself.........

I'm not surprised.

[NRaleighLiberal]

38. Is Bush's resume any more truthful? Fire em all!

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. the story is right now being repeated on their worldwide network-CNN Int'l

[yellowcanine]

40. Uh Oh. " Brownie" has some 'splainen to do. Uncle Karl cannot be happy.

[Carla in Ca]

62. Or, it was Rove who put this out

They need a fall guy to counter *'s falling poll numbers. But if it is Rove, he has lost his touch. This won't work, it's gone too far and not even turd blossom will be able to control it.
As long as we keep up the pressure, it will eventually blow up in their faces.

[alfredo]

42. This is a horror story!

How can anyone continue supporting the bush junta.

[barb162]

52. tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts....

[alfredo]

56. Greed Greed Greed.

[alfredo]

43. Arrgghh! double post

I've been doing that a bit lately.

[jaysunb]

47. the sky is crying....

look at the tears rollin down my face.

[Mein Bush]

54. Sack Brown! Appoint Chalabi!!!

I pinched this concept from a blogger on AlterNet. If you get a chance, go over their and check out the L Files.

[Avalon Sparks]

55. Bush Campaign 2000 - Talking Points- Bush* Management Skills

Well, if he is chairman of the board, he's also the chief executive officer, without question. . . . He's a great boss. He gives you an objective and then turns you loose on it, holds you accountable for your performance. I think it'll make him a very effective executive."--Vice President Dick Cheney, on CBS's Face the Nation, Dec. 17, 2000.

It's a management style that the new president himself happily describes. "Accountability" is a favorite word; so is "delegate," as in "I understand how to.

Management skills, says presidential scholar Charles O. Jones, also come in handy during transitioning and budgeting. No panicky presidential all-nighters and midnight pizza deliveries as this White House readies its first budget blueprint. <<< or during National Disasters >>


http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/010129/archive_006454.htm

[gauguin57]

57. Assistant city manager vs. assistant to the city manager? It's THE OFFICE!

On the TV show, "The Office," Dwight (in the American version) or Gareth (British version) always call themselves "assistant office manager," and the boss immediately corrects them that it's "assistant TO the office manager."

Is "Brownie" on a sitcom, now?

BTW: My favorite moment on the news today was seeing Terry Moran asking Scottie McClellan: "So, is Brownie STILL doin' a heckuva job?" I about peed myself!

[Raydawg1234]

60. Some of my friends call me a slacker....Maybe FEMA will hire me

[SammyWinstonJack]

85. Maybe you could run for U.S. President.

:yoiks:

[lady lib]

61. According to the final paragraph of the Time article, he was fired

from a law firm. Wasn't he also fired from the Arabian Horse Show job? Hmmm...and now it's time for a third firing.

[Carla in Ca]

63. And if true, how about the part where it says

he was a professor, but he was only a student...WOW!


Oh and BTW, let's make him pay back all his FEMA salary and donate it to the Katrina victims. THAT would be poetic justice!

[kster]

64. * knew Brown was doing a horrible job

when he went to NO,and then promptly refused help from all over the WORLD, including the United States of America. Nice try CNN. It was still *'s fault.

[BrightKnight]

65. Everyone wants to cook this turkey. -- n/t

[snot]

67. Find if any other connection to *,

so Brown's fall will take * down at least another little notch.

[shamrock]

69. tactics

These are the same tactics bush used about Iraq, remember? It's not his fault, he got faulty information, etc. I still hear this excuse being used by people who support bush. So, in other words, they will say that Brown lied on his resume, so it's not bush's fault.

[lindisfarne]

75. Bush lied about his background, too. n/t

[magellan]

77. Not to burst anyone's bubble

...but I saw a CNN segment around 2 a.m. this morning and they had Brown's Press Sec or something on the phone, asking her about this. She was laughing, saying the FINDLAW site had the wrong information, and she corrected it on air. Now, to the anchor's credit, she pushed about the info also being on the WH site, but Brown's press sec insisted the WH site had the correct info. I haven't checked either site myself to compare them...probably the WH has changed theirs by now?

But it hardly seems to matter, considering the WH/congress quotes some DUers have dug up here about Brown. It appears there WAS some misinformation in Brown's resume, and no amount of site updating or spin from his office is going to change what people are quoted as saying about his experience at the time Bush** hired him.

[Roland99]

81. Here's info at whitehouse.gov re: Brown's nomination:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011203-6.html

The President intends to nominate Michael D. Brown to be Deputy Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Brown was appointed FEMA General Counsel in February, and Acting Deputy Director in September, where he has served as the Chairman of the Consequences Management Working Group. From 1991 to 2001, Brown was the Commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, an international subsidiary of the national governing organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee. From 1988 to 1991, Brown was General Counsel to Dillingham Insurance, Suits Drilling, Suits Rig, Latigo Energy, Dillingham Ranch and Dillingham Enterprises, and from 1980 to 1988, he was an attorney in private practice. In 1978 to 1980, he worked for the Oklahoma State Senate Finance Committee, and from 1975 to 1978, Brown worked for the City of Edmond, Oklahoma, overseeing the emergency services divisions. Brown is a graduate of Central State University and Oklahoma City University Law School.

[moobu2]

83. Brown himself posted the bio @ fundlaw

individual attorneys or their law firms themselves post the info at FindLaw. I could understand one mistake, maybe, but not multiple mistakes and everyone of the “mistakes” making Michael Brown out to be much more qualified than he was. That's fraudulent.