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October 27, 2007
FEMA's Potemkin News Conference
From a WaPo article titled FEMA Official Apologizes for Staged Briefing With Fake Reporters:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's No. 2 official apologized yesterday for leading a staged news conference Tuesday in which FEMA employees posed as reporters while real reporters listened on a telephone conference line and were barred from asking questions...
In the briefing, parts of which were televised live by cable news channels, Johnson stood behind a lectern, called on questioners who did not disclose that they were FEMA employees, and gave replies emphasizing that his agency's response to this week's California wildfires was far better than its response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
It's typical of the Bush administration's approach to governance, from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina. Instead of having competent people do their jobs and solve problems, they hire incompetent hacks whose only skills are spinning their failures.
October 27, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
I would be more circumspect about incompetence dodge. Forgiveness is easier to get than permission and all that.
Posted by: gregor | Oct 27, 2007 3:45:46 PM
Actually, this is the logical next step from the Jeff Gannon ploy: cut out the journalistic middlemen and let the government officials themselves do the reporting. We'll know we've reached the end state when a press conference consists of a press secretary asking questions and then answering them.
Posted by: Johnny Pez | Oct 27, 2007 4:30:02 PM
Too funny, no wonder they deserve to have our healthcare turned over to them!!
Posted by: Patton | Oct 27, 2007 7:56:35 PM
You left out the best part of the WaPo story:
The chief flack's "last scheduled day at FEMA was Thursday. He has been named as the new head of public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence..."
Posted by: allbetsareoff | Oct 27, 2007 11:34:40 PM
Just shows what the party that hates government can do to government. And with their no over sight policy they trash the private sector too.
Republicans. The loose / loose party.
Posted by: Pat Whalen | Oct 28, 2007 8:44:04 AM
I mean if your going to fake it, you should fake it in a bad black southern accent drawl.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsLHxja43iY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvlr0BNgWW0
Well looky there..Hillary next to racist Anti-semite Al Sharpton. What message do you think she's sending to the black community??
Posted by: Patton | Oct 28, 2007 12:55:10 PM
