What do arabian horses have to do with hurricanes?

The White House finally sent FEMA director Mike Brown back to Washington, assigning Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen as commander of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Finally, they put someone qualified in charge. However, Mr. Brown has not been fired and is still the director. So just why is this guy keeping his job, and how did he get it in the first place?

Mr. Brown was an estates and family lawyer. At his previous job, he was forced to resign as commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado Springs. Reportedly, he was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures.

And this person, with absolutely no experience in disaster and emergency response was put in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency? In other words, he got the job through cronyism pure and simple.