And Mr. Brown Will Be Looking After the Pretty Horses
Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff announced today a singificant influx of disaster relief for FEMA head Michael Brown. Chertoff has designated Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen, the U.S. Coast Guard's chief of staff, as Chertoff's special deputy for Katrina relief, writes the WaPo's Josh White; Allen will "take over operational control of the search-and-rescue and recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast. The unprecedented task of coordinating the massive effort was handed off to a leader and expert who was described by colleagues as unflappable, engaging and intensely organized."
So it appears that Allen will be Brown's "deputy" in the same sense that same sense that, say, the surrogate who Ted Kennedy hired to take his Harvard Spanish final for him was "Ted Kennedy": i.e., someone to do the hard work, while the privileged, well-connected sinecure-holder tries to steer clear of his next Bertie-Wooster style scrape. Except, you know, that no one died when Kennedy blew off Spanish class.-- HOLLY MARTINS
Coast Guard's Chief of Staff to Assist FEMA HEad Brown [Washington Post]