Michael Brown called "a little disingenuous" and "just baloney" the assertions by top Bush Administration officials that they were unaware of the severity of the catastrophe for a day after Katrina struck on Aug. 29. Investigators say Federal inaction delayed the launch of Federal emergency measures, rescue efforts and aid to tens of thousands of stranded New Orleans residents.

Brown's remarks were a striking contrast to his testimony during the House hearing in September, when he was still on the Bush Administration payroll.

At that time, he leveled his harshest criticism at Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Nagin, both Democrats, coincidentally, who Brown accused of failing to fully evacuate the city and establish a unified command.

"Doin' a heck of a job Brownie!"

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said as much in his backhanded compliment to Brown in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing on Friday. Lautenbergh said he thought Brown had become the "designated scapegoat" for the Bush Administration's botched response to Katrina.

Like Scooter Libby, in Jeano's article, Brownie has passed the buck back up the chain of command, is naming names and backing it all up with documentation.

Brown testified that "had there been a report that said 'Yes, we've confirmed that a terrorist has blown up the 17th Street Canal levee', then everyone would have jumped all over that trying to do everything they could."  He went on to note that natural disasters "had become the stepchild of the Department of Homeland Security." 

Several Republican committee members attacked Brown and the White House spin machine was purring, well, like a distraught cat on a marble floor.

Scott McClellan told reporters there were conflicting reports about the state of the New Orleans levees after the storm hit. "Some were saying it was over top, some were saying it was breached," he said. "We knew of the flooding that was going on. That's why our top priority was focused on saving lives."

"The cause of the flooding was secondary to that top priority and that's the way it should be," McClellan said. 

Even the Arizona Republic has seen fit to place coverage of Brownie's testimony on today's front page. I only glanced at the headlines of a paper on the rack, but I assume most readers are aware of Brownie's comments. So, whatever the Republic's spin, I won't attempt a reconstruction of Brownie's efforts to mobilize Federal resources.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Brownie's former superior, is scheduled to testify before the Committee next week. Think it will be informative?

I'll leave you with Representative Henry Waxman's (D-CA) comment after Brown's September testimony, "The incompetence is mind boggling and their refusal to accept responsibility for it is shameful. It's inexcusable that Bush, Cheney, Card and Townsend would not interrupt their vacations to prepare for the hurricane and that the lieutenant the left in charge, Ken Rapuano, would leave his post at 10 p.m. the day Katrina struck."