Legit governments don't do this

[TexasTiger 13,031]

FEMA sorry for fake news briefing

WASHINGTON - The Federal Emergency Management Agency's No. 2 official apologized Friday 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.

"We are reviewing our press procedures and will make the changes necessary to ensure that all of our communications are straight forward and transparent," Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr., FEMA's deputy administrator, said in a four-paragraph statement.

"We can and must do better, and apologize for this error in judgment," Johnson said, a view repeated Friday by press officers at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, who criticized the event.

FEMA announced the news conference at its headquarters here about 15 minutes before it was to begin Tuesday afternoon, making it unlikely that reporters could attend. Instead, FEMA set up a telephone conference line so reporters could listen.

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 was absolutely a bad decision. I regret it happened. Certainly ... I should have stopped it," said John "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's director of external affairs. "I hope readers understand we're working very hard to establish credibility and integrity, and I would hope this does not undermine it."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...,1,272790.story

[TitanTiger 20,511]

What the eff is wrong with people? Damn.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Bush should be impeached over this. Incedible!

I guess this was someone's idea of getting FEMA's side of things out to the Press. After 2 yrs of getting beat up over Katrina, as if FEMA really could have prevented that disaster, they wanted to put out the good word on what they were doing in Cali. The sad thing is though, it's an idea that backfired. They didn't need to pull a stunt like this.

[otterinbham 0]

What a bunch of incompetents. You'd think they would have learned SOMETHING.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Bush should be impeached over this. Incedible!

I guess this was someone's idea of getting FEMA's side of things out to the Press. After 2 yrs of getting beat up over Katrina, as if FEMA really could have prevented that disaster,

Prevented? No. And no one expected them to. Respond in something other than an utterly half-ass, mentally vacant manner? Yeah. People expected that at a minimum.

they wanted to put out the good word on what they were doing in Cali. The sad thing is though, it's an idea that backfired. They didn't need to pull a stunt like this.

Sad thing is that they tried to pull off the sham in the first place. It's dishonest and only makes them look more shady and incompetent.

[AURaptor 1,126]

I didn't see it, so I'm grasping at straws here, I admit. But wtf was the deal ? Was it a mock press conference or was it an infomercial, in the guise of a press conference? Sounds like a poor decision, regardless. But underhanded and shady ? Not seeing that in the least.

Was the Fed Gov't incompetent in its response to Katrina? In some areas, likely. But most of the blame lies squarely on the state and local Gov't, and to the citizens who stayed there and did nothing to help THEMSELVES in N.O. Even giving FEMA a D- in performance dosen't dismiss the personal responsibility of the citizens.

[TexasTiger 13,031]

Sounds like a poor decissin, regardless. But underhanded and shady ? Not seeing that in the least.

Of course you don't.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Sounds like a poor decision, regardless. But underhanded and shady ? Not seeing that in the least.

Of course you don't.

Hey, here's a fun idea. Why not trying to use your brain , for once. If FEMA calls a " presser " and then puts on this show, who the hell are they trying the con? The newsies? They're the ones who will clue in fairly quickly that when such events take place, they usualy attend and cover these things. So if all the news folks are sitting around and noticing none of their colleages are at this 'event', it should be fairly obvious that this ISN'T a real press conference. A poor idea. Goofy and somewhat unprofessional ? I don't know, having not seen it , but that's what it sounds like.

Now, explain to us dim bulbs HOW it is underhanded or shady. Please, enlighten us dullards with your insight.

[TexasTiger 13,031]

Sounds like a poor decision, regardless. But underhanded and shady ? Not seeing that in the least.

Of course you don't.

Hey, here's a fun idea. Why not trying to use your brain , for once. If FEMA calls a " presser " and then puts on this show, who the hell are they trying the con? The newsies? They're the ones who will clue in fairly quickly that when such events take place, they usualy attend and cover these things. So if all the news folks are sitting around and noticing none of their colleages are at this 'event', it should be fairly obvious that this ISN'T a real press conference. A poor idea. Goofy and somewhat unprofessional ? I don't know, having not seen it , but that's what it sounds like.

Now, explain to us dim bulbs HOW it is underhanded or shady. Please, enlighten us dullards with your insight.

Don't assume others here are as stupid as you are. An ill-conceived attempt to deceive is still an attempt to deceive. Normal, non-koolaid drinkers recognize that as shady.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Don't assume others here are as stupid as you are. An ill-conceived attempt to deceive is still an attempt to deceive. Normal, non-koolaid drinkers recognize that as shady.

How ? You're dodging my question. I'm far from a 'kool-aid' drinker on this one. I give you that it was a poor decision and quite likely unprofessional, though I've not seen it 1st hand. Have you ? If so, provide a link.

[TexasTiger 13,031]

Don't assume others here are as stupid as you are. An ill-conceived attempt to deceive is still an attempt to deceive. Normal, non-koolaid drinkers recognize that as shady.

How ? You're dodging my question.

No, the answer is just flying over your small head.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Re-read my post. If you still have the same response as before, then you're an gutless idiot.

[TexasTiger 13,031]

Re-read my post. If you still have the same response as before, then you're an gutless idiot.

Spoken like a brainless one.

[AURaptor 1,126]

Re-read my post. If you still have the same response as before, then you're an gutless idiot.

Spoken like a brainless one.

So, you didn't see the press conference either, huh?

Didn't think so. You're just spoutin' off at that which you have no clue.

Par for the course.

[TexasTiger 13,031]

Re-read my post. If you still have the same response as before, then you're an gutless idiot.

Spoken like a brainless one.

So, you didn't see the press conference either, huh?

Didn't think so. You're just spoutin' off at that which you have no clue.

Par for the course.

I saw the replay.

[Tiger Al 0]

Raptor admits he hasn't seen it and is 'grasping at straws' to discuss it, wondering 'wtf was the deal?', all the while he's defending and minimizing this 'infomercial' (that he hasn't seen!) and accuses TT of 'spouting off' at that which he has no clue but reaffirming that he's not a Bush kool-ade drinker!!!

This is truly amateur hour!!!

[AURaptor 1,126]

Raptor admits he hasn't seen it and is 'grasping at straws' to discuss it, wondering 'wtf was the deal?', all the while he's defending and minimizing this 'infomercial' (that he hasn't seen!) and accuses TT of 'spouting off' at that which he has no clue but reaffirming that he's not a Bush kool-ade drinker!!!

This is truly amateur hour!!!

A kool-aid drinker would wholly defend the press conference, and simply leave it at that. What I'm being is HONEST, a concept you're not too comfortable with being, it seems. You, on the other hand, simply want to accuse the Bush administration for something FEMA did, as if that Dept. doesn't do anything on its own w/ out W's explicit approval.

Seriously now, who's the amateur here ?

TexasTiger, you claim you " saw the replay ". And now, so have I. It was as I suspected. FEMA suits trying to put a good face on what they were doing w/ respect to the California fires.

"Our intent was to provide useful information and be responsive to the many questions we have received."

It's clear that both Homeland Security and the White House weren't amused by this stunt.

A spokeswoman for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has authority over FEMA, called the incident "inexcusable and offensive to the secretary."

"We have made it clear that stunts such as this will not be tolerated or repeated," spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. She said the department was considering reprimands.

The White House said: "It was just a bad way to handle it."

I'm left with little more than 'what were they thinking' ?

[Tiger Al 0]

A kool-aid drinker would wholly defend the press conference, and simply leave it at that. What I'm being is HONEST, a concept you're not too comfortable with being, it seems. You, on the other hand, simply want to accuse the Bush administration for something FEMA did, as if that Dept. doesn't do anything on its own w/ out W's explicit approval.

Seriously now, who's the amateur here ?

The amateur would be you since I haven't accused the Bush administration or FEMA of anything. You, on the other hand, jumped head-first into this thread to defend them and minimize their actions despite the fact that you, by your own admission, had no idea what was even being discussed.

[AURaptor 1,126]

The amateur would be you since I haven't accused the Bush administration or FEMA of anything. You, on the other hand, jumped head-first into this thread to defend them and minimize their actions despite the fact that you, by your own admission, had no idea what was even being discussed.

Wrong and wrong. Look at the thread title. That's what I was responding to w/ respect to what the pin heads at FEMA did, on their own. It wasn't GOVERNMENT , but one Dept of Government. Both the President and Dept head Chertoff reprimanded those responsible.

And it wasn't that I had NO IDEA what was being discussed, I just hadn't seen the actual clip of the fake news conference. Having seen it now, the real issue is why didn't they simply present the questions they'd received in a more straight forward manner, instead of putting on a Q and A presser w/ out any real reporters on hand?

[Tiger Al 0]

The amateur would be you since I haven't accused the Bush administration or FEMA of anything. You, on the other hand, jumped head-first into this thread to defend them and minimize their actions despite the fact that you, by your own admission, had no idea what was even being discussed.

Wrong and wrong. Look at the thread title. That's what I was responding to w/ respect to what the pin heads at FEMA did, on their own. It wasn't GOVERNMENT , but one Dept of Government. Both the President and Dept head Chertoff reprimanded those responsible.

And it wasn't that I had NO IDEA what was being discussed, I just hadn't seen the actual clip of the fake news conference. Having seen it now, the real issue is why didn't they simply present the questions they'd received in a more straight forward manner, instead of putting on a Q and A presser w/ out any real reporters on hand?

I don't understand how you can respond to something that, by your own initial admission, you know nothing about. The title of the thread isn't the subject of the thread, TT's first post is and it talked about a 'news conference.' Your first post was, as usual, full of sarcasm toward anyone who dares criticize Bush's government or its actions and indicated 100% confidence in the content of what was done:

Bush should be impeached over this. Incedible!

I guess this was someone's idea of getting FEMA's side of things out to the Press. After 2 yrs of getting beat up over Katrina, as if FEMA really could have prevented that disaster, they wanted to put out the good word on what they were doing in Cali. The sad thing is though, it's an idea that backfired. They didn't need to pull a stunt like this.

After TitanTiger responded to your post:

Bush should be impeached over this. Incedible!

I guess this was someone's idea of getting FEMA's side of things out to the Press. After 2 yrs of getting beat up over Katrina, as if FEMA really could have prevented that disaster,

Prevented? No. And no one expected them to. Respond in something other than an utterly half-ass, mentally vacant manner? Yeah. People expected that at a minimum.

they wanted to put out the good word on what they were doing in Cali. The sad thing is though, it's an idea that backfired. They didn't need to pull a stunt like this.

Sad thing is that they tried to pull off the sham in the first place. It's dishonest and only makes them look more shady and incompetent.

You then backpedaled:

I didn't see it, so I'm grasping at straws here, I admit. But wtf was the deal ? Was it a mock press conference or was it an infomercial, in the guise of a press conference? Sounds like a poor decision, regardless. But underhanded and shady ? Not seeing that in the least.

Didn't see it and grasping at straws, yet, confident enough to comment on it and make the determination of what it was and was not. Your initial knee-jerk reaction to any criticism of this administration is to always focus on the ones criticizing. Your response to me was:

You, on the other hand, simply want to accuse the Bush administration for something FEMA did, as if that Dept. doesn't do anything on its own w/ out W's explicit approval.

I haven't accused the bush administration of anything. But, when anybody does, your knee-jerk response is that they just don't 'get it' and only 'hate bush' as if no more thought goes into it than that. I simply wanted to accuse bush for something FEMA did. To hear you and a few others here put it, bush is the greatest president this country has ever seen and at the same time the one who is the least responsible for anything. But, you're not gulping the kool-aid by the gallons, are you?

[AURaptor 1,126]

Every question you bring up is already addressed w/ the post I've already given. Somehow you've overlooked the answers to the very questions you bring up. Not sure what else I can say or do , other than ask you to reread my comments. It's pretty self explanitory.