Stupidity Spreading Like Wildfire [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency [3]'s (FEMA's) fake news conference [4] -- where FEMA staffers played reporter, asking FEMA's deputy administrator softball questions -- has cost one person his job. Former FEMA Director of External Affairs John Philbin was slated to start a new job under the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell [5]. However, following the FEMA debacle, McConnell issued a statement that "Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs." (FEMA has also removed Philbin's bio [6] from its website [7].) Other questionable responses to the California wildfires include promoting former FEMA director Michael Brown [8] to media outlets, "as an expert on disaster and recovery efforts." Brown is now the "corporate strategy director for Cotton Cos., a disaster recovery outfit that saw duty in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina [9]." Cotton's PR firm, 5W Public Relations [10], is pitching "Brownie," reports O'Dwyer's [11]. On Fox News [12], Brown did a "heckuva job," blaming the fires on environmentalists opposed to "controlled burns." [13] Lastly, Allstate [14] put out a wildfire-related video news release [15]. The fake news piece [16] features an Allstate employee (standing in front of an Allstate logo) telling viewers the insurance company is "doing everything we can ... to help our customers start the recovery process."