Lies and Photo Ops

The aftershock of Katrina sure is creating one hell of a political shitstorm in DC today. The President's spin masters are back on the job, complete with stage props and extras.

"But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast black and white, rich and poor, young and old deserve far better from their national government." LA Senator Mary Landrieu.

So the Presidential stage managers actually flew in some heavy equipment and workers to make it look like something was actually being done? Look, I don't put anything past these guys, and the damage control from this latest cluster f--k is critical.

You can tell Karl Rove has got his disinformation machine up and running today, from the lies being repeated in the rightwing press and the very Administration appointees who should be in jail right now for criminal negligence. Here are some of the whoppers coming from FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

And Fox News, and the big fat, lying Bill O'Reilly jumped on board today with a whole hour-long show full of more lies.

One of the most outrageous things I've read today is the story of the firefighters who volunteered to wade through the toxic sludge that is now New Orleans, and found themselves passing out fliers and sitting through sexual harassment training classes. And not just that, at least 50 of these experienced men and women were ushered into New Orleans to pose for photo ops with the President on his tour on Monday.

" Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid. But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas."

Things like that make you ashamed to be an American.

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