Two *important* guests will be on Al Franken's show today

[CatWoman]

Howard Fineman and Karen Tumulty -- to discuss the following:

Howard Fineman from last night on Countdown:

Good evening, Howard.

HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Keith.

OLBERMANN: Let me start with these blasts from our past, first, this

the word that Mike Brown is back after having seemingly signified everything that went wrong there, it‘s just beginning to heal and now we find out he‘s been a consultant to FEMA all this time? Are they standing in waste-high toxic water at the political end of the White House? How could they let that happen? How could they let that out?

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

FINEMAN: I‘m waiting for them to announce that Jack Abramoff will be in charge of investigating the corruption of lobbying on K Street.

You know, I know there‘s an innocent bureaucratic explanation for it. He made the mess. He can examine it and help clean it up, perhaps. I think, politically it‘s asinine. And it‘s just further evidence that they‘re still kind of off their game.

I mean, no situation room in the world is safe from George Bush right now, certainly none within a few states of the disaster area. I talked to a White House official tonight who was very proud about the president‘s statements about using the military in future disasters. But, as David Gregory pointed out, they‘re dialing back from that slightly.

What the president needs to do is show that he‘s serious about trying to get the budget in line to pay for all this and maybe even do the “Nixon goes to China” thing of a president from Texas and declare that the federal government is going to build a couple of oil refineries to refine that crude oil. That‘s what we need in this country, in addition to conservation, are refineries.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9503326/

Karen Tumulty's latest article in Time Magazine:

How Many More Mike Browns Are Out There?
A TIME inquiry finds that at top positions in some vital government agencies, the Bush Administration is putting connections before experience

SUSAN WALSH / APHECK OF A JOB? Bush and Brown before the FEMA head resigned
From the Magazine | Nation
How Many More Mike Browns Are Out There?
A TIME inquiry finds that at top positions in some vital government agencies, the Bush Administration is putting connections before experience
By MARK THOMPSON, KAREN TUMULTY, MIKE ALLEN / WASHINGTON
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORTIME: How Reliable Is Brown's Resume?

Posted Sunday, Sep. 25, 2005
In presidential politics, the victor always gets the spoils, and chief among them is the vast warren of offices that make up the federal bureaucracy. Historically, the U.S. public has never paid much attention to the people the President chooses to sit behind those thousands of desks. A benign cronyism is more or less presumed, with old friends and big donors getting comfortable positions and impressive titles, and with few real consequences for the nation.

But then came Michael Brown. When President Bush's former point man on disasters was discovered to have more expertise about the rules of Arabian horse competition than about the management of a catastrophe, it was a reminder that the competence of government officials who are not household names can have a life or death impact. The Brown debacle has raised pointed questions about whether political connections, not qualifications, have helped an unusually high number of Bush appointees land vitally important jobs in the Federal Government.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1109345,00.html

[Inland]

1. "No situation room is safe from Bush", lol! nt

[CatWoman]

2. I'm surprised at Howard Fineman

he is getting more and more critical of *

[CatWoman]

3. Fineman is on now

let's see what he has to say.........

[Pirate Smile]

4. I'm listening. I can't take the Brownie crap on C-span anymore.

It was making my head want to explode.

[CatWoman]

5. I understand the Dems boycotted that hearing

as it's nothing but a whitewash.

Good!!

they (Al and Howard) are discussing Frist.

[Pirate Smile]

6. Two Dems showed up because Pelosi let Dems from the disaster

areas go if they felt the need - Rep Jefferson on NOLA and Rep Gene Taylor of Miss. but mostly it was just Republican lies and smears toward Louisiana.

Brownie let a few things out - FEMA has been emaciated for the last 3 years and had a brain drain.

He also said Bush didn't declare NOLA and the southern Parish's disaster areas because the Governor didn't request it.

Luckily, we have the documents that prove that to be a lie.

It was a pathetic joke and I can't take any more - arrrggghhh.

[CatWoman]

7. Thanks.

now Fineman is talking about how Katrina unmasked Bush, to show he's been lying all along (Iraq, etc.)

[CatWoman]

8. Wow!!! Fineman is TRASHING Brownie's testimony today

talking about his lying, and being misinformed.

[Pirate Smile]

9. The State and Locals need to defend themselves but, of course, they

have multiple disasters to deal with right now.

[CatWoman]

10. Fineman says Brownie even being before this committee

is a travesty!!!

[SlowDownFast]

11. Fineman says Brown hearing

and Brown's response to it bodes even worse for *.

[confludemocrat]

12. How many more? lots, like the FEMA press officer who attacked firefighters

People who are committed to sacrificing their lives for their fellow citizens having their patriotism questioned by this piece of crap when they didn't like being used only for photo ops.

[CatWoman]

13. Tumulty will talk about that when she comes on

[CatWoman]

14. OK -- Karen's on now

[CatWoman]

15. she said that while the rest of the country was fighting about

hanging chads, Cheney was sitting at his kitchen table with an organizational chart, plotting where to install their cronies.