"Congratulations on doing a great job of diverting hostile fire away from the leader."

...from an email from the President's Office to FEMA Director Micheal Brown after Katrina:

The September 2005 e-mail reads: "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there, but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the president replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.' "

The sender adds, "Congratulations on doing a great job of diverting hostile fire away from the leader."

Here is the story - here is the email.