NYT: Chertoff Draws Fire on Briefing (some Dems walked out)

[DeepModem Mom]

Chertoff Draws Fire on Briefing
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: September 8, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 - Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary who has been the Bush administration's point man in fielding criticism of the hurricane relief effort, came under fire Wednesday from some Congressional Democrats for private remarks about the conditions faced by storm survivors that struck the lawmakers as insensitive.

The new criticism was set off by a private and sometimes contentious briefing that Mr. Chertoff and other senior administration officials gave to House members on Tuesday night on the status of relief efforts....

***

Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said the message he took from Mr. Chertoff's comments regarding the relief effort was that "what you see is not really what is."

"People just looked at him," Mr. Thompson said. "He was the first speaker, and it sort of went downhill after that. People felt we are not going to get the truth here."

A few Democrats were so upset by the tone of Mr. Chertoff's remarks that they walked out of the briefing, said Representative Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, who said he stayed for all of the remarks but became increasingly frustrated by what he heard....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/politics/08chertoff.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1126181106-bnJGvKp5JqWYsSfIZ9Ag2g

[mbperrin]

1. Don't walk out, throw eggs.

Really.

[OKthatsIT]

5. at least that would have gotten the PEOPLE's attention!

[defiant1]

8. I say tomatoes....

Maybe some feces??

[Seabiscuit]

13. Hand him a Dixie cup of contaminated NOLA floodwater to drink.

[rzemanfl]

2. "Are you gonna beleive me or believe your lying eyes?"

These fuckwads have to go.

[BiggJawn]

3. Seven trailers of food on the 29th???

And seven more on the 30th???
This is the first I've heard of this.

and this spin:
"Secretary Chertoff is candid, he's open, he's direct, and I think a lot of people find that a refreshing attitude," Mr. Knocke said. "He doesn't mince words, and the fact that he's willing to talk frankly about complex issue speaks to his characteristics as a leader and his no-nonsense approach to an extraordinarily tough job."

So, what Knocke is trying to say here is that Jerkoff's penchant for making people think "WTF???" is a *GOOD* thing???

I used to have a "candid, open, and direct" style, too. After being put on probation for 180 days at work for insubordination, I developed a new style.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Assume this is true. Then ask:

1)How many people can be fed with those seven trailers of food? Based on the estimated population of the dome, how long was this food projected to suffice?
2) Was the food MREs or did it require water, can openers, and other niceties that may not have been available?
3) How did FEMA monitor the efficacy of its food delivery?
4)If 14 trailers of food were delivered initially, where was the plan to airdrop additional tonnage beginning on the 31st?
5) Water, anyone?

'Candid, open, and direct' are three words I don't associate with anyone in this administration.

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. They were invisible

But trust us - everyone says it was delicious.

[louis-t]

21. Sounds like one of Rove's scripts

"-Fill in Republican name here- is candid, he's open, he's direct, and I think a lot of people find that a refreshing attitude," Mr. Knocke said. "He doesn't mince words, and the fact that he's willing to talk frankly about -fill in topic here- issue(s) speaks to his characteristics as a leader and his no-nonsense approach to an extraordinarily tough job."

Sit on it, Knocke

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. I've decided

These flacks find it impossible NOT TO SPIN. Look at this charming bit of puffery:

"Secretary Chertoff is candid, he's open, he's direct, and I think a lot of people find that a refreshing attitude," Mr. Knocke said. "He doesn't mince words, and the fact that he's willing to talk frankly about complex issue speaks to his characteristics as a leader and his no-nonsense approach to an extraordinarily tough job."

Who talks this way? Who would you take seriously talking this way? It sounds like fill-in-the-blank PR 101 bullshit. And this shit sells?

Some asshole keeps putting his foot in his mouth? He's plain spoken and a good leader. Your opponent was in Iraq for a year? He's inattentive to the needs of the district. FEMA director has no experience in didaster management? He brings a fresh perspective to the field.

I mean, are you kidding me?

[patdem]

24. When Democrats are 'candid'..they are called bush** bashers or over

the top. Why is that?

[NYC]

6. Things were not as bad as they appeared to be?

"The picture was being painted that things were not as bad as they appeared to be" in news reports, Mr. Cummings said in an interview. "It reached the point where the answers didn't add up."

[sattahipdeep]

10. Readying 25,000 body bags.

``If you haven't left the city yet, you must do so,'' Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday. She urged anyone
coming into contact with the water to scrub with soap and water.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20050908%2F0621959348.htm&sc=1110&photoid=20050907LADP122

[NYC]

14. This assumes people have access to clean water.

She urged anyone coming into contact with the water to scrub with soap and water. Couldn't be the same "water".

[thecrow]

15. as if they had that luxury n/t

[jus_the_facts]

17. they don't...the national news showed a guy brushin' his teeth in...

...the Mississippi river..*cleanin' off* his tooth brush in the water....standing on the bank with the New Orleans skyline in the background. :scared:

[NYC]

18. A good reason to "loot" a bottle of scotch.

Seriously, one could use liquor to brush one's teeth. Also, to rinse your hands, etc. Better than the sludge.

Washing your hands with soap and water, when that water is the very same water you need to wash off is not very helpful. People should be washing with liquor if they don't have isopropyl alcohol. And they should be brushing their teeth with drinking alcohol.

[jus_the_facts]

19. Or peroxide...any alcohol based mouthwash or rinse...Dr. Tichenor's

....but you're correct too...any of these ideas is better than the water down there...I'm sure there are plenty of these items especially alcohol still in stores that could be *borrowed*.

[kcass1954]

11. "...the answers didn't add up." More fuzzy math! n/t

[haroldgiowa]

26. Same story different situation.

Isn't this the same line coming out of Iraq. Kind of reminds me of an episode of WKRP, where Les Nespin replaces the word tornado for communist, in a tornado episode.

[NYC]

29. Yes, the same. The media is focusing on the bad news; they don't

report all the GOOD news from Iraq. How many times have we read that?

Welcome to DU.

[silvermachine]

9. Who prepares this guy's remarks?

Barbara Bush?

[AndreaCG]

22. LOL good one

[corky44]

16. Why hasn't anybody thought of this:

Toxicologist on Democracy Now says water in NOLA is deadly to the touch. Chemical cocktail of unknown composition will absorb thru the skin and attack organs.

Where are the hazmat suits? How many rescue hero's will die because of
lack on information?

9/11 ground zero rescuers are dying of respiratory disease now because
of lies told then.

[Sarojin]

25. And they are pumping it all back into the lake, oh dear n/t

[Catfight]

20. The only thing to do here is to request a massive firing. nt

[devinsgram]

23. Did they really expect to hear the truth?

Or for them to take responsibility.What you are seeing is what you get. A bunch of liars.

[0007]

27. ....this is so bad. What is it gonna take before the bush lovers

see the truth?

It is beyond words anymore.

[JDPriestly]

28. It's a cover up.

That is why the Bush devotees don't want the news media to take pictures of the dead. They don't want the public to see the consequences of their incompetence.

[jazzjunkysue]

30. Typical gop responses: 1. Minimize. 2. Rationalize 3. Deflect 4. Project

blame. 5. Divert attention 6. Change the subject 7. Pretend ignorance 8. Lower expectations 9. Promise change 10. Attack the critic. 11 Question other's perspectives/motives.

It's always the same. "Now is not the time to judge." "Don't pre-judge." "It's too late to judge now." "Only sissies hold grudges." "We're thinking ahead, not living in the past."