From The Department of Planting Your Own Propaganda And Hoping No One Notices: (H/T Atrios and TexBetsy)
He was apparently quite familiar with the reporters — in one case, he appears to say “Mike” and points to a reporter — and was asked an oddly in-house question about “what it means to have an emergency declaration as opposed to a major disaster declaration” signed by the president. He once again explained smoothly. …
“And so I think what you’re really seeing here is the benefit of experience, the benefit of good leadership and the benefit of good partnership,” Johnson said, “none of which were present in Katrina.” (Wasn’t Michael Chertoff DHS chief then?) Very smooth, very professional. But something didn’t seem right. The reporters were lobbing too many softballs. No one asked about trailers with formaldehyde for those made homeless by the fires. And the media seemed to be giving Johnson all day to wax on and on about FEMA’s greatness.
Of course, that could be because the questions were asked by FEMA staffers playing reporters. We’re told the questions were asked by Cindy Taylor, FEMA’s deputy director of external affairs, and by “Mike” Widomski, the deputy director of public affairs. Director of External Affairs John “Pat” Philbin asked a question, and another came, we understand, from someone who sounds like press aide Ali Kirin.
Of course, planting your own propaganda isn’t exactly new for the Bushies, now is it? And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the FUBAR that is FEMA (H/T Carpetbagger)…nope, nosiree, nothing to see here…unless, of course, this also qualifies as government sanction of covert propaganda (albeit incredibly poorly orchestrated and executed propaganda). Oversight, anyone?
More from E&P, AP and USAToday.
(Photo of a “cub reporter” via Ataradrac.)
Related posts:
- Politico on Obama Presser: “Oh, Noes! The Best Reporter on a Subject Got Called on!”
- They Planted a Gay Whore in His News Conferences!
- Great Moments in False Equivalency
- Jane Harman Will Vote Against a Bill Without a Strong Public Option
- Cheney Interview: Washington Post Losing Its Ability to Report, Too
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zedunofitzeroo?
[edit]
yup, zedunofitzeroo!
Christy!
I fell into this bizarro world the moment I heard about the outcome of the 2000 SCOTUS decision.
Did I read Fitz in that Zed?
BTW what is Fitzgerald up to these days? Last time I heard, tackling piracy.
so, did they have little press passes and fedora hats?
wankers…
“Mabel, how is it you’re doing such an incredible job monitoring the world situation with such astonishing comprehension and brilliant ideas?”
” you know, Im glad you asked me that….”
Cancer Cures @ 4
There was an announcement within the last couple of weeks that he is engaged.
He keeps setting up softball questions for himself. It’s of a piece with removing any protesters from his field of vision wherever he goes and in general keeping himself in his filthy rich greedy insulated bubble…
Cancer Cures @ 4
Bet his fiance and wedding plans are taking up a lot of his time!
cat bit shrazy!
WTF. This is propaganda AGAIN. This is a disgrace.
In Bizzaro Bush World, they aren’t even ashamed of their little stunt. To them it was successful, so who cares? Most of the media is so well trained by the Bushies it may have been hard to tell the difference if actual reporters had shown up.
Re: propaganda and MSM reportage:
EPU’d from last thread:
Biodun @ 120
Christ, all they were lacking was Jeff Gannon asking how big their firehoses were.
e&p, AP and USA – now *that’s* an interesting trio of pick-ups; fairly damning headlines as well.
Especially liked this little gem from USA:
(A philosophical question: If the press doesn’t come to your press conference did you really hold a press conference?)
Good question, that.
It was so obvious that when they said they “learned” from Katrina… and then went on to spout talking points which dumped on elected officials from New Orleans or LA, that it was nothing but propaganda and hogwash!
These people can never admit a mistake and they act as if any changes are due to a change of venue, like it’s California now and there are different players there.
Burns me no end! Thanks for the post.
My first Spotlight!
Cancer Cures @ 4
your post for some reason made me want to google pirates, check this factioid out…it’s totally off topic but I just can’t resist this kind of minutia;
Well, it’s that relevance thing, you know.
Anybody tell the folks downstairs a new thread is up?
dakine01 @ 20
we elect you
here is the url
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..d/#respond
TheraP @ 16
I am the decider and I have decided not to accept responsibility for my actions …
The real news story here is that there wasn’t really a “press conference”. Do you think that Fox and MSMBC, who televised parts of this masquerade, will report how a lawless administration again fooled the press and got them to televise a propaganda session and report it as news? Me neither.
tw3k @ 10
left you a linky in the previous thread.
Biodun @ 13
Pure marketing at this point :/
perris @ 1
Using or speaking in the Zedacular allows
precision, perspicacity and prescience to be combined in single (singular?) words. A great improvement upon the un-nuanced and much-abused ‘English’ language in general use today.
What a bunch of crap.
The disaster in So Cal due to FIRE is way different than the HURRICANES AND FLOODS in New Orleans and surrounding areas. For one thing, NO was…flooded? Water covering the roads, filling the houses, destroying entire infrastructures and denying access to escape, rescue, damage control. Not to mention countless people dying.
The SoCal fires are terrible, no doubt, and many many people are devastated. But these are different kinds of diasters, not because of “lessons learned” sh’yeah, right, but because of the nature of those diasters.
I will stop comparing the two, because the situations are just too apples and oranges for me.
BTW, I thought it was tradition for the zed winner to notified the pups that were still downstairs. Otherwise, you might just be talking to yourself.
This is annoying, but I find it more annoying how the msm just touts out the latest talking points from Bush and presents it as news. This is especially true in Iraq, where I get the impression that because of the situation, they only report what the army tells them to.
dakine01 @ 28
but you’ve been elected though
tw3k @ 10
What is Katheryn Harris doing these days?
selise @ 24
Thanks for the mp3 of Dodd’s speech selise.
heh, Dodd kinda sounds like Alec Baldwin.
dakine01 @ 28
Yep: that’s Rule 1 in the zedocracy, which BTW, needs a Constitution…*g* First draft anyone? Any takers?
perris @ 30
Sounds like a Bush election to me.
Badwater @ 31
Good grief … just lost my appetite …
Cancer Cures @ 4
And planning a wedding. ;~)
This was a FEMA crew, orchestrating their own press gaggle. IIRC, Dubya was not there.
FEMA called a press gathering allowing 15 minutes for reporters to show up, then they ran their own show, cutting real reporters out of the action. Real reporters who may have been unfriendly.
When they got caught, they said that they asked themselves questions that reporters would have asked – so that makes it ok.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 6
Mabel, I have a bit harder question if you’d like to take a swing at it…
“How are you able to do all this and STILL look divine?”
newspaperbrat @ 36
Good Heavens, so that’s why people have been so upset this week … Fitz is off the dance floor, so to speak … *g*
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 6
Who knew you were so effective
with the deflective.
ROTFLMAO :-)
Badwater @ 31
running for pResident? *g
caller on Thom Hartman states that they are closing Qualcom stadium for football and are NOT providing help for those who have no place to go… Just get your ass our of our stadium.
What I find funny about this is that the Chargers have been here in Phoenix since the stadium was being used for evacuees AND the plan was to play their Sunday game HERE since the Cardinals will have an away game.
Now that kleg lights are out from the Bush dog and pony show…. it goes dark for the victims.
tw3k @ 32
is that good or bad?
A caller on Thom Hartmann’s show just now said everyone’s being tossed out of Qualcom Stadium because there’s a game this weekend. She isn’t allowed back in her neighborhood yet, and has no idea if her house is still standing. It sounds like there’s no plan to move these folks anywhere, they’re each scrambling on their own to find more temporary housing.
That’s pitiful. “So sorry the fire’s still burning, can you hurry up and go now?”
hackworth @ 37
In other news … from beyond, Stalin delares … “Mission Accomplished !”
Another thing that gets me is when people say, oh yeah, you people blame Bush for everything, like it was Bush’s fault that there was a hurricane, etc.
wtf is that? Stupid Bush lovers.
I’m sure Reid and Pelosi will have a vote on whether to have another vote to draft a memo on whether or not to send a strongly worded email to say just how upset they are it….
AP linky above
Oh, you know, “mike”, disasters have a habit of happening at “the last minute”. Sort of part of the definition of “disaster”, “mike”? Like this press conference, “mike”?
It might have been more acceptable to simply write down the questions that were phoned in, quoting the reporter who asked it, and answering it in a straightforward manner vs. the piling on of BS onto tragedy that this administration is so noted for? ya think?
So where is Brownie when you need him? He volunteered–why did W not take him up on his offer?
selise @ 43
i dunno, guess it depends on if you like how he sounds *g
I think Dodd articulated his point well.
TheOtherWA @ 44
But but but, they’re doing things so much better than they did in Louisiana doncha know.
GeorgeSimian @ 46
Bush can blame some of the people some of the time but Bush can’t blame all the people all of the time!
katymine @ 42
Well, I had heard that Qualcomm efforts were very impromptu and run by city employees. The reason they were closing it down was to turn over relief efforts to the disaster professionals ie Red Cross (not FEMA, ha!). I heard this earlier on NPR.
And this:
katymine @42, jinx! You owe me a coke.
dakine01 @ 51
the game issue is bogus as the Chargers have been in the Cardinals stadium in Phoenix all week with the plan to play their Sunday game here.
TheOtherWA @ 55
How about a good Oregon microbrew in a couple of weeks?
And also this:
(Same link as 54.)
OT but interesting
On Thom Hartmann a caller stated that they took a thousand dollar bills and compressed them as tightly as possible then measured the thickness of the bills.
A trillion dollars (a part of the cost for this war)is a stack of dollar bills 75,000 miles high.
2.4 trillion (the projected cost of this war along with the war in Afghanistan) would be 180,000 miles high.
georgie boy you have truly fucked up everything you possibly could faster than anybody else on this planet.
What about this edited testimony of the, was it the EPA, where they edited out the science before presenting it to Congress? Isn’t that crime?
Biodun @ 58
Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Maddy @ 59
Priceless!
Biodun @ 58
Dana Perino would not condone it. However, Bush will condone it. No heads will roll.
Now if only the Democrats would yell as loud now as Republics would if this happened under a Democratic Administration. I guess they can’t be bothered.
I would LOVE to see members of this administration in unstaged, unrehearsed Q & A will REAL people from the press who are not afraid to ask questions. In particular, the Preznit would be a barrel of laughs! What would happen if he were actually confronted and had to answer something?
do-si-do @ 27
The biggest difference is probably this: Almost everyone is insured against fire risk. Almost no one is insured against flood or wind.
Biodun @ 54
Was this a fake apology from a real FEMA official or a real apology from a fake FEMA official or…
GeorgeSimian @ 60
I think it was CDC speech by Julie Gerberding.
Howdy pups.
katymine @ 57
Love it! Um, what happens in a couple of weeks? Are you coming up to the northwest? Or is that when you’re allowed alcohol again, after your surgery?
OT–
Now I find this really interesting. From Dahlia Lithwick in Slate:
Haven’t seen FEMA out here in fireland
if they are doing anything its below the radar
everything we see is local
Biodun @ 69
Put another name on the pardon list.
fitz is getting married??!!!
I missed this news…damn!
Biodun, yup, it’s gonna get real interesting.
The Spokane paper wrote it up here.
I hope McKay’s right about that.
dakine01 @ 28
Oops. I try to be good about that, but totally forgot in the last post downstairs.
*slaps self upside the head*
rwcole @ 70
Haven’t seen them either. That’s just fine with me.
rwcole @ 70
Probably for the better, seeing how this crowd operates.
do-si-do @ 27
As opposed to fire blocking roads and taking out powerpoles? In 2003 there were crews killed when fire overran them and their trucks; also in the Oakland fires before that. Believe me, fire is not less bad than floods.
—
katymine @ 44
I heard yesterday that there were only about a thousand people there, after they announced that everyone whose house was out of danger could leave. That’s few enough that the exisiting shelters can actually handle the situation. The county and cities are letting people return as fast as they can make sure there’s water and power available.
—
I hope OldCoastie’s okay: they’re having problems with the Santiago fire trying to get loose again.
Does Johnny Depp know that Fitzgerald is going after piracy? Could make for interesting courtroom proceedings.
Hugh @ 78
Who knows; perhaps Fitz will call Johnny Depp in as an “expert witness”.
Tithonia @ 65
Naw. Look at the stats. We lost something like 1500 homes, and about a dozen lives (perhaps more as we go back, and there were various indirect deaths among the evacuees, etc). Now look at Katrina’s stats.
Also, the infrastructure around the houses largely remains, and people only needed to stay in the Qualcomm stadium for a few days before returning to homes.
Quite different. Still a major league catastrophe, but just not comparable with Katrina. As do-si-do said, apples and oranges.
Fema sent 288,000 bottles of water for a half a million displaced residents.
The proverbial drop in the bucket.
Thats the only thing I recall them doing so far.
I was home in bed the last couple of days, they might have thrown in a couple of ham sandwiches as far as I know.
Re: my 69:
Dahlia Lithwick gives emptywheel a shoutout in that article. emptywheel posted something about this on October 21.
OT — My congressman is supposed to be coming in for a meeting in about 10 minutes. I took a couple of vacation days this week, so I haven’t stayed abreast of the urgent topics of the day.
Can someone give me a couple of quick issues that will be coming before the House soon? His visit is regarding health care, but I may be able to comment about other issues as well.
And actually, I’ll probably see him Monday night too at our county Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson/Jackson dinner.
If fema was to do anything helpful, they would have made sure that all federal resources were available to help fight the fire- as far as I know- they did nothing about that.
Bizarre moments, continued:
The Code Pink moment at the beginning of Sec. Condi Rice’s appearance before the foreign Affairs Committee of the House on Middle East on Wednesday. As most have heard, there was a Code Pink moment at the beginning, while the Code Pink protesters were being dragged off rather noisily. I was watching a replay a few minutes ago, and while Media Benjamin(?) was being hauled off, protesting loudly at how the police were handling her, Condi Rice was smiling and chatting with people, saying things like “Nice to see you.”
Condi’s opening remarks included lofty comments about the goals about the Middle East about human rights, democracy, respect for differences, etc. which sound very nice except when one remembers that her own administration has violated every single one of those lofty goals within the last 5 years in the Middle East.
Also during the October 18 joint hearing of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Jerry Nadler made the point that “impeachment” had become an “impractical” remedy for executive over-reach because of the advent of the two party system, and mentioned in a matter of fact way that Bush has already committed multiple felonies(!) by authorizing illegal warrantless wiretapping every 45 days. His claim was that the two party system automatically means that the party of the President will always 100% support their president regardless of the evidence. He ignores the fact that it was Republicans
who went to Nixon and told him that the jig was up, thereby short-circuiting the impeachment process.
But Nancy Pelosi has autocratically decreed that we not go down that road at all. So we are declining to put Republicans on the spot by launching the impeachment process. I think Nadler is dead wrong about this.
Bob in HI
RW , good to see you, how did you fare?
Hugh @ 78
707, arg!
I know this is posted before but I hace a fun take on the information that france slapped rhumsfeld with a lawsuit for torture
check out this quote;
this means there will be very few places bush or cheney will be able to travel when they leave office without the spector of getting slapped with a lawsuit of this kind
seems to me bush is gonna have very few places besides his ranch to go and relax
peanutbutter @ 80
In terms of magnitude, I totally agree. I guess I was thinking in terms of aftermath. People generally rebuild pretty quickly after a fire, and if they’re too traumatized to stay, they sell. That kind of recovery isn’t happening in New Orleans, even among homeowners.
Hugh @ 78
The thepiratebay letters are a funny read.
GeorgeSimian @ 60
This wh presser from wednesday at the 3:00 min. mark has Perino defending the edits.
Our laws against internal propaganda need to be strengthened to allow civil penalties against these people.
Bush never traveled prior to politics-wont bother him to never go oversees again
bobschacht @ 85
“impeachment” had become an “impractical” sounds like a total buyout to the Unitary Executive Theory.
smapdi @ 92
and our laws against consolidated ownership, and the responsibility of broadcasters to make available the public air waves for desent whenever they present their corporate point of view
perris @ 88
Yep and in a just world his passport would be seized so he can’t hide in Paraguay or wherever the hell his offshore retreat awaits.
The tip-off probably was when one reporter asked, “Hey, is Michael Chertoff really the best hung man in government, and can he really satisfy any woman any time?”
tw3k @ 94
Jerry Nadler saying “impeachment” has become “impractical” is Jerry Nadler being just a bit snarky and sarcastic believe me.
Clear Channel Kills Children.
bobschacht @ 85
Bob in HI
Bob, these are not the same reThugs. These folks put party above all else, especially country. That being said, George Washington actually had a similar concern about the impact of parties on the political discourse of the country so there must be something to it.
Some news on the contempt front, for those who were asking about it yesterday. I’ve got feelers out for clarification and more information…will let you know when I hear something.
peachyboy — You win for the worst mental image that I’ve had all day. Blergh…
if it isn’t ants, it’s cockroaches.
Who the hell would go tell Cheney? He’d probably have them arrested.
Senator Dodd will be on Timmeh’s show this
weekend…
Maybe this will put a smile on your face.
http://www.rawstory.com
While in Pairs today, Rumsfeld was served with a lawsuite for his roll in the ongoing torture story and sources say that the French courts will persue it.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
Well there’s potentially good news!
I didn’t see any TV coverage of the President’s visit to SoCal yesterday, but I assume he was not wearing a jacket or tie, and that his sleeves were rolled up?
perris @ 88
Well, considering his language and other skills, that is probably good for everyone.
Rumsfeld joins Kissinger’s “Nope, can’t travel there either” club
Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
Thanks Christy – you rock. Here’s my favorite quote from the article:
At the White House Friday, Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto chastised congressional Democrats for wasting “precious time on futile political stunts instead of getting their business done.”
solai @ 104
Huff Post public interest bulletin this AM warns Cheney plans a hunting trip this weekend.
newspaperbrat @ 111
Pack your kevlar, Senators.
I hope when the IG indicts Gonzo for lying that they show Bush’s presser saying there
was no criminality and it was “all theater”
Peanuts anyone?
solai @ 104
Only AFTER he’d woken up….they’d have to wake Dick up FIRST…
Oh, and the residents of Dutchess County, NY should stay indoors this weekend. Dick is scheduled to go hunting there over this weekend.
Maybe he could invite Valerie this time,just to make it interesting.
My money would of course be on Valerie.
dakine01 @ 98
That whole idea just makes me angry. It is just another erosion or constitutional powers. Which is exactly why I respect none of the MSM front runners.
Bustednuckles @ 116
Heh.
Ish @ 108
Try these:
Bush tours areas ravaged by fire
Bush visits on ‘re-entry day’ of firestorm
Bustednuckles @ 117
that was great!
thing is though, cheney is no contest for anyone much less a trained cia agent
cheney, he needs domesticated birds to be let out right in front of him in order to “hunt”
Fake president
Fake reporter in the White House press corps
Fake press conference
Watch for other agencies to adopt this Potemkin model.
I see Bush has declared Congressional efforts at trying to pass a child health care bill a “waste of time”.
beerfart liberal @ 123
Well, if there’s one thing Little Boots does know about, it’s wastes of time since he are one.
Busted…no need to reply….but hoped you enjoyed the popcorn. :})
OT, New Froomkin up Going it alone on Iran
Badwater @ 31
Heard that she’s running for the Republican nomination for President!
http://draftkatherineharris.com/
dakine01 @ 28
I for one am not a great fan of this “tradition.” It just encourages a herd mentality instead of a topic mentality. The ones left talking to themselves are those few who are actually interested in the (old) thread topic, and may not be interested in the new thread topic. But the thundering herd moves on, leaving those who are late to the party downstairs in EPU-land, suddenly bereft of anyone to continue the previous discussion with. I would hope that FDL has become large enough that we can carry on multiple simultaneous threads, like they do over at dKos.
Bob in HI
newspaperbrat @ 96
rendering the renderer has a nice rhythm
The Wisdom of Rahm Emanuel Continues
New thread upstairs (making up for earlier when I forgot to notify…!)
New Thread
Ms. Hamsher upstairs — with her usual wisdom.
Gag warning though… it’s about Rahm.
glimpsed a new thread upstairs
GeorgeSimian @ 60
And the testimony of Nancy Gerberding of the Center For Disease Control before Congress. She was supposed to detail the effects of Global Warning on health and disease spread. But her statement was pared by almost 70%.
bobschacht @ 128
Thanks for saying this.
If this were Daily Kos, I would give you a recommend.
GeorgeSimian @ 60
I think you’re referring to the Centers for Disease Control. The director there had the audacity to try to think about the consequences of global warming for national health, and thought that there might be problems. This of course violates the Bush happy talk policy.
Bob in HI
bobschacht @ 128
Very true but not many ‘heard’ you, I suspect.
A certain restlessness seemingly sets in and
interest wanes …
There always is the possibility however, of having the ‘last’ word. For some, that may yet become as important as having the first.
A ‘Zed’, once won is forever but the parting
shot er, notion is up for grabs.
Tithonia @ 89
Because many have not been able to get back to New Orleans, many cannot afford home owners insurance, many don’t know if it is economically wise to come home, etc. This is what happens when you are on the opposite side of the cheating “winning” team.
dakine01 @ 98
Didn’t sound like it to me. He was talking about reviving the Special Prosecutor statute, but restricting it in a way that would have prevented its use in the Bill Clinton situation, i.e. where only minor violations were involved.
Bob in HI
David W. Bartoo @ 136
I
herdheard and agree.Christy Hardin Smith @ 101
Thanks!
Anxiously waiting,
Bob in HI
BlueStateRedHead @ 134
i appreciate the info – it doesn’t force me to move to the new thread… i can decide which topic/conversation i want to participate in.
bobschacht @ 128
Cows tail. :-) http://guru.krishna.org/Articles/2001/07/001.html
Maddy @ 142
Some of the comments at the lake are extremely moo-ving, while others are, quite intentionally, udderly ridiculous, but all are appreciated and cherished, giving rise to future tales.
Fake reporters at a Fake news conference? Do you think any of them were also gay escorts like the last WH/DNC “fake reporter”?
Or maybe they had this idea:
“Mike! I’m going crazy answering all those hard questions those reporters keep asking. Over and over again…is there any way we can stop that?”
“Hey Cindy! I’ve got an idea of how to get rid of them! Let’s have a
play> mock news conference!”“Wow, That’s a GREAT idea, Mike! I’ve always wanted to play a REAL reporter!”
“I’ll draw up some questions! And we can give the Commander Johnson the answers so he can sound all professional and smaert, and stuff. I’ll give some to you, and some to Fred and I’ll keep some.”
“But what if real reporters come?”
” Don’t worry,Cindy… we’ll call it with 30 minutes notice, they won’t even get through security in that amount of time!”
“Brilliant, Mike! And that way we won’t have to call up catering to give them coffee and Krispy-Kremes! But maybe I should call them anyways and then we could just scarf those up ourselves!”
“But we need more “reporters” to make it seem real…I’ll get Pat and Ali in on it, too!”
The reporters weren’t fake.
They were phony.
David W. Bartoo says
October 26th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Moooooooooooooooooooooo.
And many thanks to FDL you’re the best.
Wow. Looks like the Potemkin Village has a brand new sub-division!
Too bad we can’t just ring down the curtain on this bad theatrical production.
And too bad the consequences are real-world and painful for real people, rather than just a bad theater review in the paper.
Republicans, masters of deceit. They would make Joseph Goebbels blush.
The FEMA fake press conference and the White House censorship of the CDC report on health and global warming are far from the first times the Bush administration has doctored scientific reports and testimony. From rented reporters, purchased pundits, and rigged rallies to scripted sessions, fake news and pseudo-science, an unapologetic White House has long sought to alter public perceptions to control political debate – and reality itself.
For the details, see:
“FEMA, CDC and Bush’s Potemkin Presidency.”
punaise @ 110
What if they were on a flight to somewhere else and bad weather caused the plane to divert to make a safe landing? They not only can’t go to some countries, they can’t even go to that region!
Still, it bothers me. I’d prefer for us to clean up this mess ourselves. We don’t need to have any lingering ill feelings towards any other country and we don’t need to lingering doubts about our own values either.