On DemocracyNow: FEMA treats disasters like political campaigns...

[Junkdrawer]

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AMY GOODMAN: And the number two and three men in the agency in FEMA that’s supposedly in charge of dealing with this disaster?

JUDD LEGUM: Well, the number two at FEMA, he was actually head of advance for the Bush-Cheney campaign. So, essentially what he was charge of is planning events. And what's interesting is the FEMA response actually reflects his experience. Because what happened when there were -- you know, when Mike Brown made the request and said finally, you know, we need a thousand members from the Department of Homeland Security to come down and help out, they were really, you know -- they were charged with, you know, representing and putting a good face on the relief efforts. And that was explicitly what Mike Brown asked for.

And then when these firefighters volunteered from all around the country, they were put -- made public relations officers. So I think really the experience of the number two guy there, the chief of staff, and even as you go down the line, the number three really was a media strategist, did work for Maverick Media, which is the company that did campaign ads for the Bush-Cheney campaign. So, if you really look at the operation and how FEMA responded to it, they really responded to it more like a political campaign than a disaster.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/08/142204

And I think they've been doing this for past hurricanes too - lock the disaster down, minimize body counts, arrange photo-ops and spread around the cash. It's just that this time, the ongoing disaster was so huge that their 'political containment' efforts cost lives. Thousands of lives.

[htuttle]

1. They treat EVERYTHING like a political campaign

Katrina relief, the War in Iraq, Social Security, etc... It's all polls and politics with them, 24/7.

One side effect of this (and we've seen it before Katrina) is that they are utterly unprepared for the unexpected. When something happens that wasn't in their plan, they have to wait and figure out their campaign strategy on it before they move.

They do not govern. They campaign and they loot.

[Junkdrawer]

3. As soon as I heard Chertoff, I thought "Rove on a diet"...

EVERYTHING is about containing political damage. All means, fair and foul.

[Beam Me Up]

2. PERCEPTION MANAGMENT. That's ALL its about.

That is all it has EVER been about. The whole point of George W. Bush is PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT. He is NOT a Pesident in any real sense of the word. The powers that be, that is those who really run the country behind the scenes, do not want a strong, intelligent, thinking, feeling human being in the WH. What they want is equivalent to a PR man, someone who can SELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ON THEIR POLICIES; SELL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THE MYTH THAT THIS COUNTRY IS STILL A DEMOCRACY.

[annabanana]

4. This Mal-administration has only TWO operating agencies..

1) The Public Relations branch, with it's vital network connections and think-tank buttresses

and

2)The check writing branch. Pouring money out of the treasury as quickly as it can, most of it to "special friends" and supporters.

[Junkdrawer]

5. And lives mean NOTHING. Sociopaths as far as the eye can see...

I think Vonnegut warned us about these guys early on...what did he say? "psychopathic personalities"?

They must have an entrance exam...

[Junkdrawer]

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