that fema press conference

Even by the abjectly low standards of the de facto Bush Administration, the fake press conference held about the wildfires in California by FEMA deputy Harvey Johnson is an outrage. It also brings to mind (yet again) the incompetence of this crowd. How could they imagine professional journalists wouldn't smoke out the fact that FEMA planted employees in the press conference and only took questions from them?

Ironically, as House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson pointed out, FEMA had gotten pretty good reviews for the wildfire situation in SoCal. I'm sure the fact that this disaster's victims included lots of well-to-do white Republican voter types had nothing to do with the un-Katrina-like response.

Back to the press conference. Remember, when forced to choose between whether the Administration is being deceitful or stupid, that "all of the above" is usually the right answer. What was to be gained by holding a Potemkin press conference? Beats me. Maybe old Harvey Johnson was just afraid of being asked a tough question or two, in which case he isn't fit to hold that position. Which, being a Bush appointee, may well be true anyway.