question: was a first name Joseph/Joe head of FEMA recently?

[donsu]

Brown's first name is Mike

was there a Joseph before him? I'm not up on whose been running FEMA

[Uncle Joe]

1. I believe it was Joe Albaugh. n/t

[donsu]

2. is he a big man? not fat, but big. do you know?

nt

[Divernan]

3. Joe Albaugh was Bush's campaign mgr.& 1st appointed head of FEMA

Albaugh, like Brown, had zip experience in Emergency Response or Management. Bush appointed him to the then Cabinet level post of director of FEMA, with the assignment to shut the agency down, because Bush's attitude was, Hey, if you're too poor to take care of your own damn emergency, then it sucks to be you. Albaugh came in with a nasty attitude (what would you expect from Bush's campaign manager? And he also was Bush's chief of staff when Bush was Texas gov.) He would call in the very top level people at FEMA for meetings. As per usual, people would go around the table introducing themselves by name & title. So the first person introduced herself, "Good morning, my name is (name) and I am (title). . .At which point Albaugh started screaming (we're talking, roaring) at her that he knew who she was and did she think he was too stupid to know what she did, and how dare she insult him. . .rant, rant, rant. His rant was also laced with obscenities. The roomful of highly qualified, highly experienced civil service professionals sat staring at him in stunned silence. You see, part of the drill was for him to insult and outrage and terrify people into quitting or retiring. And that was the only part of his job that he did well. Anyone who had enough time in to collect a pension and many who didn't left FEMA to go to other federal, state or local govt. agencies. When levels of job satisfaction/morale at various federal agencies was measured by anonymous surveys, FEMA ranked at the very bottom. Everyone tried to keep a low profile and out of Albaugh's hair-trigger line of sight.

Then 9/11 happened and Bush HAD to rely on FEMA instead of gutting it. So Bush's plan B was to take away FEMA'S Cabinet level status and put it under Dept. of Homeland Security/Chertoff. Albaugh, your typical Bushite megalomaniac protested he'd be goddamned if he'd report to anyone but Bush, and left FEMA, naming the infamour Brownie as his successor. Then he started his own disaster consulting firm and has been raking in huge $$$ ever since.

So, why are you asking?

On edit:
Snark Attack!(from an April 4, 2006 New York Daily News gossip column)


Note to former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card: Next time you and your high-powered pals want to have a private dinner at a D.C. restaurant — as you did Saturday night with Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, FBI Director Robert Mueller and former FEMA chief Joe Albaugh and your wives at the Mexican eatery Lauriol Plaza — make sure the dark-suited Secret Service guys at the next table at least order guacamole and chips. Then again, they probably won't be there next time.

[donsu]

4. still gathering info on a situation

nt

[Divernan]

5. Be careful around him - he's vicious.

nt

[donsu]

7. yes, I'm being as cautious as possible

nt

[Uncle Joe]

6. This must be what Bush was referring to as "compassionate conservatism"

"Albaugh, like Brown, had zip experience in Emergency Response or Management. Bush appointed him to the then Cabinet level post of director of FEMA, with the assignment to shut the agency down, because Bush's attitude was, Hey, if you're too poor to take care of your own damn emergency, then it sucks to be you." :sarcasm: