WP: Hiding Bodies Won't Hide the Truth

[UpInArms]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090800354_pf.html

Cadavers have a way of raising questions.

When people see them, they wonder, how did they get dead?

When a lot of people see a lot of dead bodies, politicians begin thinking of damage control.

Echoing a Defense Department policy banning the photographing of flag-draped coffins of American troops, representatives from the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that it didn't want journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, because "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect." An agency spokeswoman told Reuters, "We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media."

Whatever the objective, those pesky questions about accountability are not going away. And a full-scale political storm over the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina continued to rage around the White House this week, despite the best efforts of the president's supporters to deflect criticism by tagging it as partisan--even though many of the critics are themselves Republicans.

<snip>

But Mehlman had no admonitions for the many Republicans who've urged accountability and demanded answers for the slow response to Katrina.

The president's defenders have now perfected their public relations talking points: The public doesn't blame Bush. Any journalist, pundit or politician who criticizes the president is out of touch with the mainstream. Anyone who has the audacity to demand accountability is just a big old partisan meannie.

...more...

[MissMarple]

1. George is whining.He can't shoulder the adult responsibility of governing.

These people are an embarrassment to our country, they are negligent and incompetent.

"Making the rounds on the morning news shows, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), a presumptive candidate for president in 2008, repeatedly made the point that "the buck stops at the federal government." In another breath, she insisted, "I'm not interested in pointing fingers; I'm interesting in getting answers."
...
But in the same poll, people were asked a separate question -- judge how the president did in responding to the hurricane. And 42 percent said "bad" or "terrible" compared to 35 percent who said "great" or "good.

The boosterism also ignores anything else in the polls that doesn't fit public relations talking points, including the fact that majorities of people believe (according to the Washington Post/ABC poll) that the Bush administration does not have a clear plan for dealing with the post-Katrina situation, and that majorities of people believe Katrina has exposed major problems with the federal government's emergency preparedness."

[JPZenger]

2. On NPR: "Push the Body into a Building and Close the Door"

This morning on NPR, they had an interview with a rescue worker on the streets of New Orleans. He said that they were directed to not try to collect the bodies. They were told that was the job of other workers who will come in. Instead, they were told to "tie the body to a tree or push it into a building and close the door."

[Southpaw Bookworm]

3. What a powerful headline

And the article details so much of why it went wrong: FEMA becoming part of DHS, Witt being replaced with Allbaugh, who was openly hostile about the program's mission (calling it an "oversized entitlement program").

[samsingh]

4. this is like genocide

[The Traveler]

6. Correction

Legally, this is might be the real thing. No "like" genocide about it. Forced evactuations. Possible denial of right of return. Etc.

[samsingh]

7. your right. thanks for the clarification

there's no need for us to try and still refrain from saying this.

[The Traveler]

8. I'm with ya, bud. (n/t)

[Boo Boo]

5. I would have thought that a major newspaper would have defended

their right to access, and the public's right to know---our right to open government---a little more vigorously; or even just a little bit. Anything.

Nope. Not one word.