Michael Brown has tried hard. He has worked long hours on this, and I'm sure he must be tired. He took the calculated risk of criticizing the Bush administration and his boss, Michael Chertoff, accusing them of not paying attention to his messages on Katrina; he lambasted the Department of Homeland Security; and to his credit, he created an opening for himself to appear on any talk show that would have him. He worked very, very hard at resurrecting his image, but, alas, somethings are just not meant to be, Brownie.

Even before The Center for Public Integrity released its in-depth expose of Brown's obsession with his media image in the meanest days of Katrina, I knew the former Federal Emergency Management Agency boss was not going to succeed in his desperate attempt at a makeover. He had worked so hard at it, and yet the respect just wasn't following. He was being shuttled into that room in Animal House where Mohammed and Jughead await, only Brownie gets to spend eternity with Kenny Boy Lay and Scooter Libby.

If Mr. Brown took time out of his busy schedule to rest this Sunday and catch up on the Sopranos, his heart must have fallen when Tony told Paulie, a capo who had botched a certain assignment, that "you're doing a heckuva job, Brownie." Now you can't just pad your resume to make that go away.

Our country is run by this type — entitled white boys. And for the rest of us, our victories are few and far between. But when victory does come, it is sweet. No amount of mousse can remake Brownie after the Center's report. ("Sitting in the chair, putting mousse in my hair...." reads one of his emails sent on August 29; there are 928 pages of his corrrespondences in this report, a 55MB pdf.)

Mr. Brown is Brownie forever now. And the others will get their turn. When they do, let's enjoy every moment ... like this one, Stephen Colbert's keynote speech at the recent White House Correspondents Dinner. Enjoy our president's body language as he squirms in his seat while listening to an employee of Comedy Central. Our fearless leader.