Rhode Was Chief Of Staff Under Michael Brown

At least there are no hurricanes in space.

This week, NASA hired Patrick Rhode, former chief of staff and deputy director at the Federal Emergency Management Agency during its oft-disparaged response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, as a senior advisor to agency Administrator Michael Griffin.

The Associated Press states Rhode, a former TV reporter and advance man on the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2000, will advise Griffin on communications issues.

If Rhode's name sounds familiar, it is because of an August 29, 2005 email exchange between him and then-FEMA chief Michael Brown hours after Katrina brought devastation on New Orleans. Among the highlights of that email was a message in which Rhode asked Brown if he was available for a phone call, and Brown replied he was "sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair."

"Me too!" replied Rhode, agency watchdog site NASAWatch.com noted.

NASA spokesman David Mould was quick to defend Rhode's appointment to the space agency, noting "he's done a lot of things."

Rhode was selected to fill the position by both NASA and the Bush administration. His past experience also includes associate administrator of the Small Business Administration, and communications director for technology administration at the US Department of Commerce.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.fema.gov