Comments on: At FEMA Your IQ Must Be Below This Line

Schieffer: Just Fire The People Responsible For The Disaster Agency's Fake News Conference

[samthetvcat]

How could Chertoff not have known that they were staging a fake news conference? Even if he wasn''t responsible for organizing it, he should have at least been in the loop about it as head of FEMA. Whether he approved it or whether he''s not in control of the organization he''s supposed to be heading doesn''t matter - the fact that it happened pretty much speaks for itself and his incompetence . . . the only exception being if the directive came from higher up the chain as people have been speculating . . .

PS Great comments from everybody :)

[tucano2]

Chertoff, "The Skull", ought to just find out what''s on the other side of suicide, and take his FEMA idiots with him

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush is pleased that his FEMA Department has learned how to handle "public relations" at their "news" conferences. The Emperor, of course, pioneered in this area by inviting only those news media that were sympathitec to his cause to his news conferences, and laying down "strict" rules to anyone who got out of line. This would insure that the Emperor would answer only very easy, elementary questions since the Emperor, as everyone knows, isn''t all that bright!

The Emperor is, however, somewhat upset that the "trick" was discovered at the FEMA "news" conference and has indicated that he wants greater secrecy at future conferences, as he does not want all the people he promised prompt FEMA aid to in California, to discover that they really won''t be getting one thin dime!

HAIL TO THE TRICKSTER IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE GREAT EMPEROR BUSH II !!!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[andor3]

what looks like incompetence on the surface is a deeper strategy. about 25 years ago some of the rich and elite realized their corporation could maker a lot more profit if they could stop the government from protecting people. They saw that attacking government directly would not work--that was a time when many government programs were doing very well and respected--NASA, the Interstate highway system, social programs.

So some smart guys came up with the idea of weakening the governement by getting inside and creating the conditions for public failures, so that people would begin to lose respect and question taxes more. So they cut funding (never entirely, just enough to cause problems). They put inexperienced and incompetent people in charge (easy when you have limited funds to compete with corporations for talent and experience).

Not just FEMA... look at cell phone companies and their burdensome contracts (and how they drop you if you try to talk to them about service or billing too much)... look at credit card companies and banks with outrageous fees and contracts that force you to waive your right to sue them if you disagree... look at the dangerous drugs that made it to market despite known problems...

[mscroggins3]

Why fire only the people at FEMA who gave the phony news conference?

News conferences in Washington are phony anyway. Stupid or lazy reporters ask softball questions; glib politicians give canned answers; there''s no meaningful follow up; everyone knows the "script" and no one in the mainstream media has the guts to call a lie a lie. (George Bush''s exaggerations about SCHIP for example).

By Schiffer''s standards, everyone in the mainstream media deserves to be fired, which, come to think of it, may not be such a bad idea....

mscroggins3

[sparks224]

The Corporate Media is dutifully pushing the idea that the Bush administration had nothing to do with this. Even though they have a clear track record of staged media events. Phony %u201Creporters%u201D in the White House press corps (Jeff Gannon), staged town hall meetings (where the audience has to take a loyalty oath), etc. The idea that FEMA did this, on their own, is ridiculous.

[rayuk-2009]

Why would anyone expect any real truth from a Republican? Clean house once and for all in 2007 and 2008. Everyone should vote a straight Democrat ticket.
No exceptions!

[libsluvsuvs]

I think its time to reconstruct this organization.

[wogerwabbit]

Our goverment has been taken over by ruthless marketing trolls who don''t let facts get in the way of their message. From the names they choose... Patriot Act, Dept. of "Homeland" Security, etc., to the inevitable happy face backdrops used during news conferences, they''re trying their best to sell us their mad visions. Between these subliminal suggestions and the alarmist propaganda machines like Fox News and the rest of their evil bretheren, the American public haven''t a clue as to what''s real anymore. They have us right where they want us... a scared and confused bunch of helpless a**holes biting each others heads off in forums such as this because there seems to be more than one version of the truth being circulated. Thus, they achieve their goal.. divide and conquer.

[josephp5]

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this story is that the press has actually reacted to it. Yes, now there''s plenty of scorn for FEMA from everyone, even including the White House and DHS.

But where was the outrage for the fake news conference that lead us to war? On March 6, 2003, thirteen days before the war, President Bush staged an dramatic event with the White House Press Corps (including CBS''s Mark Knoller). To viewers of the televised event, it appeared to be an authentic press conference, with reporters striving to be called on by the President, and the President fielding unrehearsed questions regarding the upcoming war with Iraq. Of course, all the questions were fully scripted ahead of time. The reporters knew who would be called next, and were merely acting when they were pretending to try to get called on by the President.

This may be only the most egregious example of a long history of cooperation between the mainstream media and the Bush Administration to produce fake news.

FEMA might think that it is the media with an IQ below a certain line, since historically the press has been completely willing to buy this type of spin. After all, both FOX News and MSNBC both carried this latest FEMA fake press conference live. There was no indication from those first news reports that this event was not genuine.

[prairiefox1]

HEAVENS FORBID IF THEY HIRED ANYONE WITH A IQ GREATER THAN BUSH!

[hungry1968]

This is what happens when you get inexperienced, stupid, unqualified political hacks appointed to jobs based strictly on who they know. It''s like in the article where it makes reference to "Brownie". He was in charge of the "Quarter Horse Association of America", which Bush apparently thought made him well qualified for the job. When Katrina hit, the guy was lost - because of incompetence. His replacement was the director of emergency management for the city of Philadelphia that had 35 years of experience as a firefighter, chief, battalion commander, etc, etc working his way up through the chain. Why wasn''t he appointed in the first place? Because he wasn''t a professional political hack.

Another black eye on the presidency of the US.