Friday, October 26, 2007

I hate FEMA.


WASHINGTON -- One way to get decent coverage in this rough-and-tumble city is to arrange to have your own employees interrogate you at your news conference.

That would seem to be the strategy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, much maligned for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina over two years ago.

FEMA scheduled an early afternoon news briefing on only 15 minutes notice to reporters here Tuesday to talk about its handling of assistance to victims of wildfires that were ravaging much of Southern California.

But because there was so little advance notice for the event held by Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, the deputy FEMA administrator, the agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in. And many did, although it was a listen-only arrangement.

At the news conference itself, some FEMA employees played the role of reporter, asking questions of Johnson -- queries described as soft and gratuitous.


Yo, I think Glen is an undercover FEMA employee. I'm going to investigate.

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