PADDING THE RESUME A BIT, EH, MR. BROWN?????

The new issue of Time magazine takes a close look at the biography and online resume of FEMA Director Michael D. Brown, who has come under increasing criticism for his agency's response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the results are most interesting. Padding the resume a bit is not as unusual as one would think, but considering that this is the head of the federal agency responsible for responding to natural and other disasters one would think that the administration would investigate much closer than it apparantly did.

Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management, according to his bio posted on FEMA's website, was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975 to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact, according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from 1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told TIME. "Department heads did not report to him."

Under the "honors and awards" section of his profile at FindLaw.com — which is information on the legal website provided by lawyers or their offices—he lists "Outstanding Political Science Professor, Central State University". However, Brown "wasn't a professor here, he was only a student here," says Charles Johnson, News Bureau Director in the University Relations office at the University of Central Oklahoma (formerly named Central State University). "He may have been an adjunct instructor," says Johnson, but that title is very different from that of "professor.". Carl Reherman, a former political science professor at the University through the '70s and '80s, says that Brown "was not on the faculty." As for the honor of "Outstanding Political Science Professor," Johnson says, "I spoke with the department chair yesterday and he's not aware of it." Johnson could not confirm that Brown made the Dean's list or was an "Outstanding Political Science Senior," as is stated on his online profile.

Under the heading of "Professional Associations and Memberships" on FindLaw, Brown states that from 1983 to the present he has been director of the Oklahoma Christian Home, a nursing home in Edmond. But an administrator with the Home, told TIME that Brown is "not a person that anyone here is familiar with." She says there was a board of directors until a couple of years ago, but she couldn't find anyone who recalled him being on it. According to FEMA's Andrews, Brown said "he's never claimed to be the director of the home. He was on the board of directors, or governors of the nursing home." However, a veteran employee at the center since 1981 says Brown "was never director here, was never on the board of directors, was never executive director. He was never here in any capacity. I never heard his name mentioned here."

His 11 year tenure as commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association --- a position he was forced to resign from --- has never been on his official FEMA biography, and the reference was removed from the FindLaw resume Thursday.

Let's put it out on the table: Michael D. Brown was simply an unqualified political hack when his former college roomie hired him to the agency, which is par for the course with this administration.

U P D A T E: Mr. Brown was, finally, sent back to Washington and a Coast Guard vice admiral named to head the on-site federal recovery effort. I originally said that he would be out of his job within 30 days; sounds like the first step to a quiet-as-possible resignation within the next week.

Brown is a friend of the President, and it is well known that Dubya is extremely loyal to his friends...to a fault. It's just too bad that that loyalty had to play a role in the death of hundreds of people across the Gulf South.