10.27.07
“Bush touts federal response to wildfires”
Umm… I guess somebody’s got to say it.
Excuse me???!!!
FEMA’s most notable response to the wildfires has been to stage a fake news conference with 15 minutes of notice, and when no reporters showed up (surprise, surprise!), plant FEMA employees to pose as reporters and ask the questions that FEMA wants to answer.
FEMA’s fake press conference: are you surprised? (Crooks and Liars)
US agency apologizes for news conference on fires (Reuters)
This is something to be proud of?
“We can and must do better, and apologize for this error in judgment,” FEMA deputy administrator Harvey Johnson, who conducted the briefing, said in a statement.”
Error in judgment?
But with no reporters on hand and an agency video camera providing a feed carried live by some television networks, FEMA press employees posed the questions for Johnson that included: “Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far?”
According to Friday’s Post account, which Walker confirmed, Johnson replied that he was “very happy with FEMA’s response so far.”
Clearly, so is President Bush.
A spokeswoman for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has authority over FEMA, called the incident “inexcusable and offensive to the secretary.”
Yeah, sucks they got caught, doesn’t it?
