Former FEMA Administrator Michael Brown, being interviewed on MSNBC's Hardball, was asked by host Norah O'Donnell about his interview with Playboy Magazine in which he admitted that it was a 'mistake' for him to 'play along with the White House message during Katrina' saying that it was a 'lie'.

"What was the lie?" O'Donnell asked. Brown replied, "The lie was that we were working as a team and that everything was working smoothly. And how we could go out, and I beat myself up almost daily for allowing this to have happened, to sit there and go on television and talk about how things are working well, when you know they are not behind the scenes, is just wrong." Asked if "someone in the White House was telling you to lie," Brown said, "Well, yes. They give you the talking points."

Update [2006-3-4 10:9:55 by Tom Ball]: Looks like Chertoff might only have a few days left:

"In the aftermath of the public revelation of the presidential 'teleconference' and mounting criticism of the performance of Michael Chertoff, Administration sources told Human Events today that the secretary of Homeland Security has 'only a few days left' in the Bush Cabinet." Said one source: "They will give him a little time so it won't hurt his reputation too much, but he's probably got only a few days left."

As Ex-FEMA Director Michael Brown calls for Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff's resignation, rumors are making the rounds that Brown just might get his wish.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff "suddenly canceled his keynote speech at an American Bar Association conference in San Francisco, fueling speculation that he was about to resign." A Department of Homeland Security spokesman dismissed the rumor, claiming Chertoff "had to change his schedule because of urgent preparations for a Friday trip to San Antonio, Texas" to meet with government officials in Mexico.

Of course the fire has been stoked by two recent media revelations:

As a rule, I don't usually do commentary. I more prefer trying to tell funny stories or create phony pictures to get a point across satirically. That being said, every once in awhile you run across a picture that, like the old cliché, paints a thousand words. No Photoshopping needs to be done. It's like the spirited stallion that can't be broken.

This picture, released yesterday, is one of those rare moments in my humble opinion. The sheer power and depth of the unconscious and subconscious metaphor that was unleashed upon an apparently unaware American public is mind-boggling. I refer to a still capture of the just uncovered, and, dare I say "leaked" video depicting the briefings of President Bush, Chertoff, Brown and the rest of the apostles prior to Hurricane Katrina's landfall.

"Don't blame Republicans" who voted for the Iraq War!  Don't blame Democrats for voting for the Iraq War.

Don't Blame the Bush Administration for: 1) 2,245 U.S. service personnel dead; 2) Nearly 15,000 U.S. service personnel injured; 3) As many as 100,000 Iraqis dead by some estimates.

During his State of the Union message, Bush dramatically declared his theme song since the Iraq War began, "We are bringing democracy and freedom to the people of Iraq.  This will spread to all the Middle East!"

A triumphant smile sweeps over Bush's face as he mouths this familiar mantra.  The tragic reality, however, is something quite different.  Since George Bush's leap into the Iraq War on the 100 percent false "weapons of mass destruction" propaganda, Middle East nations have rushed to hard line extremist Islamic religious views.

I don't understand why Michael Brown's new venture -- arranged for him by the same cronies who engineered his disastrous stint at FEMA -- surprises anyone on the Left; ignoring or even rewarding failure is what the extreme right-wing has always done.

Ardent Bushies detest any allusion of hated France.  They are the stalwart coiners of the term "freedom fries" while Air Force One served "freedom toast".  All the same, the recent FEMA contretemps involving Michael Brown brings one historical allusion to France prior to the days of the French Revolution into crystal clear focus.

Marie Antoinette became infamous by revealing herself as a cold and heartless French aristocrat with one frequently quoted comment that has reverberated through the pages of history.  When reminded that there were starving peasants in the streets of Paris she was alleged to have chillingly replied, "Let them eat cake."

While scholars and analysts attribute the cake comment to French philosopher and humanitarian Jean Jacques Rousseau seeking to make a completely different point, it has been regularly repeated to represent the quintessence of callous neglect and to buttress a fundamental reality. There is an underlying reality that people revolt when pushed too far, and starvation falls into this distinct category. Regrettably this same kind of crass materialism was revealed recently in the conduct of FEMA Director Michael Brown when he was informed of the urgency of the situation in Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of a devastating hurricane.  

While many citizens of ravaged New Orleans stood at death's door Brown expressed concern about his sartorial style and how important it was to look good on national television.  The unfolding tragedy was a tasteless example of spoon-feeding vanity from a bureaucrat with an ultimate sinecure received from loyally supporting George Bush.