Michael Brown Wins the Lottery

The way Tessie did in the Shirley Jackson short story. Or, perhaps it's more like Sargeant Howie in the Wicker Man who found out the true meaning of sacrifice; the righteous sacrifice the virgins in the strange rituals of Washington DC.

It looks as though Time Magazine misreported Brown's resume:

"It's horrible," said Mary Ann Karns, an Oklahoma lawyer who once worked with Brown in the Edmond, Okla., city government. "He does not deserve this as a human being."

....Brown was born in 1954 in Guymon, an Oklahoma panhandle city. At Central State College in Edmond, he studied public administration and political science. He earned a law degree from Oklahoma City University in 1981.

While studying to become a lawyer, he worked in the administration of the small but fast-growing city of Edmond.

Years later, Brown's official White House biography would list the position as "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." Karns said his actual title was more modest: assistant to the city manager.

In its online editions Friday, Time magazine pointed out that and other alleged discrepancies, accusing Brown of "padding" his resume and emergency services credentials when he was nominated for a job at FEMA.

City spokeswoman Claudia Deakins told Time that Brown's job gave him no authority over other employees and that the assistant position "is more like an intern." She declined to comment Friday, but issued a clarification by e-mail saying she did not work for the city when Brown was there and that she could only speak about the city's current organization.

Despite Brown's lower-level position, Karns said he did help the city improve its emergency communications system following a disastrous flood in 1977.

"I know Mike was involved in putting together preparedness and response after that," she said.

As was predicted here even Brown's former employment at the Arabian Horse Association and its conclusion were misrepresented:

Brown moved to Colorado in the early 1990s to join the International Arabian Horse Association. As its commissioner, he enforced strict rules governing the association's lucrative horse show circuit. His decisions often resulted in investigations and contentious lawsuits by people protesting sanctions against them.

....One high-profile case involved charges that a prominent trainer used cosmetic surgery to give a horse an edge. The trainer fought back with a lawsuit. Although the association eventually prevailed, the costly litigation reportedly caused friction between Brown and board members, according to an account in Arabian Horse World magazine.

.... In a written statement, current officials described Brown's departure as amicable, saying Brown turned over his legal defense fund to the organization when he left and that he was temporarily retained as a consultant.

"Mr. Brown had a long and successful career with IAHA and was regarded as upholding the highest standards of integrity and demanding excellence in all areas under his jurisdiction," said Barbara Burck, executive vice president and chief administrator.

And, we'll later probably find out that FEMA performed admirably during Katrina too--after all the death toll is only about 1% of what was predicted from the simulated hurricane 'Pam". As a friend is quoted in the Rocky Mountain News put it:

[He] has become a scapegoat because people are emotional over nature's fury. "You can't lay blame on the hurricane - so let's find a person,"