Lies, Liars and the Press

Well.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency pulled all its workers out of New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward yesterday after threats of violence and planned to request additional police or National Guard support, a FEMA spokeswoman said.

As pathetic as it sounds that I've been reduced to such cynicism about this administration, this doesn't surprise me at all.

Let's analyze this situation and try to hit all of the angles.

First, it has been clear from the beginning that the Bush administration never had any intention of rebuilding any part of New Orleans non-adjacent to Trent Lott's house with his big porch where Bush could drink iced tea. When Brownie was booted out of FEMA - and promptly rehired as a disaster consultant - Bush appointed Karl Rove to head up the reconstruction of New Orleans. It's been a few months, and knowing how this administration loves to showboat a dinghy as a yacht, the lack of any press about NOLA can only mean that they've been doing jack squat down there. Honestly, it's unsurprising. Rove has been under Fitzmas fire and also doing damage control for the boy blunder every step of the way. These circumstances can only lead us to believe that Bush and the federal government don't give a damn about NOLA and would rather abandon the entire thing, then source it to private contractors such as Halliburton, who they would overpay and then take jobs with, most likely as lobbyists, after 2008.

The government has a responsibility to take care of its citizens, and when it failed to do that during Katrina and its aftermath, it assumed responsibility for rebuilding their lives. Apparently if you're a Republican personal responsibility - like getting out of NOLA when you don't have a car or having nothing bad ever happen to you, the surest sign you're a good person, and if you're poor, you're automatically bad - is immeasurably more significant and easier to achieve than governmental responsibility, which, despite its size and power, should not be responsible for its citizens. This is pathetic, and no one should be governed by a government that acknowledges that it does not want to govern. I guess it would rather take a month long vacation and eat cake with Marie Antoinette/John McCain and let its people die.

Second, FEMA is leaving beacuse of a threat? Let's try to think this through. A federal agency with the power of the federal government behind it is leaving because of a single threat? To quote Senator Blutarski, "Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" Looks like the strong and tough Bush administration is turning tail in the face of breaking one of its nails. However, all things considered, it's perfectly in keeping with the Bush attitude - this is annoying, we shouldn't be doing it, so let's pack up and go home. Again, not the kind of government I want governing me.

More important to this second point, where did this threat come from? You'll have to excuse me for being a little skeptical, but after it was finally revealed that the 'shooting' in the Superdome that caused the national guard to sit it out on the sidelines while helpless people were dying was nothing more than a fabrication and never really happened, I don't believe that this threat ever happened.

One relief worker in the region said an angry resident berated a Corps of Engineers employee before delivering a threat to the effect of "I'm going to go get my gun, and I'm going to kill you."

That's it. That's all we have for the threat. No actual violence reported. Just this speech from a Bush administration flunky:

"It's unfortunate that threats of violence would be made against anyone, as we all work together to recover from this disaster," Andrews said. "The first priority is to protect and ensure the safety of FEMA workers. There are a lot of employees working hard . . . to help folks return to their homes and ensure they are receiving the assistance they are eligible for under the law."

Wrong. FEMA's first priority is to protect and ensure the safety of the American people. If you want to protect a safety worker, bench them and make sure they never get out on the field, where they might get hurt. I don't think it's much of a stretch to see that these 'threats' are nothing more than made up stories by the Bush administration to justify leaving NOLA to the wolves*, because poor black people who misbehave and do not appreciate what the kind, white, hard-working FEMA employees do - or do not do - don't deserve to be taken care of by the government. This is a disgusting practice of strict father morality, especially when the government is lying in order to absolve itself of responsibility, which, no matter what the lie or truth is, the government cannot set its responsibility aside.

This brings me to my third point, the continued role of the press in propagating these lies. When Katrina hit and the levees broke, the government continued to spout its usual propaganda. That web of lies and deceit was broken for a brief moment when the press actually got down to NOLA and did its job - reporting on what was actually happening, which was in total contrast to what the Bush administration was saying. Regrettably, it seems as if the press has gone back to sleep, or is perhaps on vacation with Bush, because otherwise it would know better than to simply trust what comes out of the administration. However, all we have in this article are the Bush administration's talking points, and one quote from the opposition buried at the bottom of the article. A real journalist would do a real job on an article like this and go down to NOLA and follow around FEMA workers to see if the government's claims were true. I guess that's too much work for the defenders of truth to do.

The press needs to stop carrying water for lies and the liars who tell those lies. I know I've harped on this before, but the press cannot simply repeat Republican talking points and not scrutinize them or give the opposing point of view in equal terms.

Let's review the situation:

1. Government left people to die and fend for themselves in a situation with no hope of success, has been avoiding its responsibilities and feels that it should not fulfill them
   
2. Government creates a lie that is a pathetic excuse in order to shirk its responsibilities
3. Press dutifully reports that lie without bright yellow caution tape that it is a lie

Again, after the past 5 years this doesn't surprise me in the least. It is not only the government, although it bears the most blame, that is the guilty party, but also the press that needs to be held accountable for its failure to act properly. This particular sad, sorry situation is just symptomatic of what is plaguing the country and ordinary Americans' lives. In order to get better we must realize that the government and press are continually failing in their duties and demand that they take more responsibility for their actions.

* Halliburton