GOOD NEWS

Michael Brown, the FEMA head everyone loved to hate, is out. He resigned yesterday, ostensibly to "get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me." Good things like Michael Brown resigning.

He's not a scapegoat. I don't care that he's a Republican. As head of FEMA he should have been better prepared. As a government employee he shouldn't have confused "Assistant City Manager" with "Assistant to the City Manager."

Well, at least he can go back to the Arabian horses.

Bush instantly announced that career firefighter R. David Paulison would head the embattled agency. I don't know if R. is a Republican or Democrat, if he's ever even met the President, and I don't care. He's led fire and rescue in Miami-Dade County, and worked at FEMA heading their emergency-preparedness force. (Wait a second - should he have been more prepared too? For now we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.)

At least there's some logic here. Yes, you should have someone with experience in disaster relief heading the nation's disaster relief organization. It seems so simple, but G.W. sometimes has trouble with the simple concepts. No, you should not give emergency response jobs to people who supported you in an election. You should give them to men and women who've been there, who've put their lives on the line, who know what death and destruction look like. It's good to know there's a firefighter on the job.