Quote :

"Bahamonde contested former FEMA director Michael D. Brown's late-September testimony to a House committee, including Brown's account of the number of FEMA staffers sent to the city before the storm — "I was the only one," Bahamonde said. He was testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is investigating federal response. He portrayed Brown, who resigned Sept. 12, as having failed to grasp the enormity of the catastrophe. In an Aug. 31 e-mail that Bahamonde sent a co-worker, his frustration with Brown burst through. Bahamonde had just learned, as he huddled in New Orleans' Superdome with evacuees, that Brown's press secretary was fretting about blocking out time for the director to eat dinner at one of Baton Rouge's busy restaurants that night. "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!" Bahamonde messaged the co-worker. "I just ate an MRE" — military rations — "and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants.""

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fema21oct21,0,6160684.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=hppromobox

Video of the testimony here:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/20/FEMA.Katrina.ap/index.html

10/21/2005 1:49:52 AM

Quote :

"TGD: Teh G0P is going down!!1"

10/21/2005 2:09:21 AM

here are scans of the emails from Marty Bahamonde to FEMA officials including Mike Brown
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20051022_FEMA2.pdf

Here are some copy/pasted from the PDF, showing some progression of events and how Marty got omre and more desperate for help

Quote :

"From: .' Bahamonde, Marty Sent: To: 'Michael-Heath1 @dhs.gov' Subject: Re: Sunday, August 26,2005 4:40 PM There are c u r r e n t l y 2000 i n s i d e t h e dome with about 300 s p e c i a l needs. National guard Is s e t t i n g up cots. Oklahoma-1 DMAT is expected at around midnight t o supply medical needs. Medical staff a t the dome s a y t h e y expect to run out of oxygen i n about two hours and are looking for a l t e r n a t i v e s . There a r e s t i l l l i n e s o u t s i d e t h e dome waiting t o get i n CG has confirmed they w i l l pick me up at the superdome a t f i r s t light Tuesday morning weather permitting Contact: 202-041-1750 617-212-5149"

Quote :

"From: Sent: To: Subject: Bahamonde, Marly Sunday, August 28,2005 528 PM Wing, Deborah Re: NOMS Resource Status Report Everyone i3 soaked, T h i s is going to get ugly real fast. Everyone here at the EOC' is very concerned with what might happen over there"

Quote :

"From: .: Bahamonde. Marty Sent: To: 'michael.d.brown~dhs.gav' Subject New orleans Wednesday, August 31,2005 1120 AM Sir, I know that you know the situation is past c r i t i c a l . Here some things you might not know. Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water. Hundreds still being rescued from homes. The dying patients at the DMAT tent being modivac. Estimates are many will die within hours. Evacuation in process. Plans developing for dome evacuation but hotel situation adding to problem. We are out of food and running out of water at the dome, plans i n works to address the critical need. FEMA staff is OK and holding own. DMAT staff working i n deplorable conditions. The SQoner we can get the medical patients out, the sooner wecan get them out. Phone connectivity impossible More later"

and the series of emails leading to Marty's main outburst:

Quote :

" -_--_ Original Message----- From: Worthy, Sharon [mailto:Sharon.Worthy@dhs.govl Sent: Wednesday. August 31, 2005 2 : O O PM To: 'Valerie.Smith@DHS.GOV' Cc: 'natalie.rule@dhs.gov'; Andrews, Nicol D - Public Affairs; 'cindy.taylor@dhs.gov' Subject: Scarborough Please schedule Joe Scarborough this eveninq for 9pmCST period. Sooke with his producer and told him to call you. Mr. Brown wants to do this one. Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Gievn that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more that 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choise, followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you. Sharon Worthy Press S r w t r r y From: Sent: TO: Subject: Taylor. Cindy Wednesday, August 31,2005 227 PM Bahamonde, Marly; Widomski, Michael FW: Scarborough L e t me preface by saying I know he needs downtime, but ummm... how much time do each of you need for dinner, including travel time to the restaurants of your choice? From: Sent: To: Subject: Bahamonde, Marty Wednesday, August 31,2005 244 PM Taylor, Cindy: Widomski, Michael Re: Scarborough OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! NO won't go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along wirh 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy retaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move the pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don't stab me in the back while L try to sleep, but instaed I w i l l hope her wait at Ruth Chxist is short. But I know she is stressed so I won't make a big deal about it and you shouldn't either. "

and here's emails from and to Mike Browns address
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20051022_FEMA1.pdf
i can't copy/paste from that PDF, but the one that will get the most criticism (on page 17) showing that even on Wednesday August 31, Mike Brown was still quite aloof about the situation and Daniel Craig (Director, Recovery Division, DHS/FEMA) had to fight for meeting time with Brown, while he was busy making charts in powerpoint:

Quote :

" To: Brown From: Craig DEP PFO for Recover Cordination. We need someone overseeing all of the recovery now, so that we are not caught short or late after the resonar is done. From: Brown To: Craig Date: Aug 31, 9:14pm I'm working on an organization chart and staffing plan now....and yes, this is one of the slots. [note: one of the slots in a meeting or the staffing plan is to oversee the recovery, is how I read that] Reply from Craig: And I want it [note: the slot in the staffing plan] Reply from Brown: We're stuck.... ..... and are you serious...... Reply from Craig: Yes I am, we need to get this done right or neither of us are leaving on great terms....and we were days away "

10/21/2005 7:03:24 AM

Quote :

" "OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I just ate an MRE and crapped""

What kind of MRE was that? They're designed to keep you from crapping. Now, any other government food, I can understand, but not a MRE.

10/21/2005 8:00:55 AM

i think that was 2 seperate statements

as in, i ate an mre, and i also crapped in the hallway

10/21/2005 8:14:40 AM

MREs' taste like shit!!!!! but the roast beef ones arn't too bad.

10/21/2005 7:41:30 PM

they're better than nothing

and when you're out in the middle of nowhere and hungry as hell, they're like 5 star meals

10/21/2005 7:42:52 PM

^^^^ u damned skippey

10/21/2005 7:45:07 PM

#13 is key.

10/22/2005 12:09:24 AM

OK SO BECAUSE PEOPLE IN NEW ORLEANS WERE STARVING, THIS PERSON SHOULD HAVE GIVEN UP THEIR MEALS AS WELL???? WHERE IS THE FUCKING LOGIC?

10/22/2005 1:35:22 PM

If I'm working on a big project I generally substitute candy bars for meals, I think if lives depended on me and my quick actions I could manage to eat some potato chips in the car and skip the hour long meal in the nice resturant.

[Edited on October 22, 2005 at 1:44 PM. Reason : ]

10/22/2005 1:43:49 PM

Quote :

"OK SO BECAUSE PEOPLE IN NEW ORLEANS WERE STARVING, THIS PERSON SHOULD HAVE GIVEN UP THEIR MEALS AS WELL???? WHERE IS THE FUCKING LOGIC?"

not only did you NOT hit the nail on the head, it appears you aren't even holding a hammer

"Brownie" shouldn't have given up his meals
but selecting a restaurant should not have been a top priority for his key staffers

10/22/2005 4:37:17 PM

why not? that is their job.

[Edited on October 22, 2005 at 4:48 PM. Reason : ]

10/22/2005 4:48:41 PM

His job is to assess the situation and meet with key officials to coordinate relief.

Not to waste time eating out at nice restaraunts when others are waiting for aid from his agency.

10/22/2005 5:34:12 PM