1481 Michael Brown at FEMA

One of the myths going around liberal blogs and newspapers is that Michael Brown had no previous experience before becoming head of FEMA. Now, that wouldn't actually surprise me, since as I've noted, the Librarian of Congress has never in the history of the office been a "real Librarian." This irritates Librarians, but as you can see from the name, The American Library Association represents "libraries" and not librarians. But I digress. So I looked him up. Here's his resume:

"Under Secretary Brown has led Homeland Security’s response to more than 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies, including the 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster and the California wildfires in 2003. In 2004, Mr. Brown led FEMA’s thousands of dedicated disaster workers during the most active hurricane season in over 100 years, as FEMA delivered aid more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law."

So for four or five years he's been working with FEMA and that doesn't count? I'm not saying here he's done a good job--there's not enough evidence yet that anyone other than the local and state authorities failed miserably. I'm just sort of wondering what would qualify as "experience."

FEMA was highly praised I recall in 2004 for its response to a very hectic hurricane season. Same guy was in charge as near as I can tell.