Jane Galt wants to know why the FBI background check on Michael Brown didn’t show up the holes in his resume. The Brad DeLong notices that Kevin Drum noticed that Laura Rozen noticed a story in the St. Petersburg Times suggesting that the background check almost certainly did find those holes.
At least, FBI agents interviewed one of Brown’s former employers, who was so down on Brown that he asked them if they were kidding about Brown’s being considered for a senior job.
There’s only one possible conclusion: no one in the White House cared, any more than they cared that the people hired from the Heritage Foundation job bank to run the CPA in Iraq had never been to or studied about Iraq, spoke no Arabic, and had no experience with public management, budgeting, contracting, or construction.
Brown was a loyal friend of Joe Allbaugh, a “made guy” in the Bushite Mafia. And Brown delivered, spending money freely and illegally to ensure that Bush carried Florida in the wake of the hurricanes of 2004.
No, Mr. Bush and his senior honchos weren’t fooled. They got exactly the FEMA Director they wanted. And I wish them joy of their choice.