Only the boss gets to lie
Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll have to write about John “Pat” Philbin, the FEMA official who, after helping fake a FEMA press conference, appeared on the verge of promotion to head of public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Yesterday morning, Philbin’s dishonest rise [...]

Failing upward, a core Bush value
Right on the heels of the Bush administration making disapproving noises about FEMA’s phony press conference comes news that one of the officials responsible for it has, instead of being fired, gotten a new job– head of public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. So congratulations [...]

A postmodern press conference
One of the “lessons of Katrina” FEMA learned was how to handle hard questions: don’t let anyone ask them. That’s why the press conference FEMA’s deputy administrator staged  Tuesday was heavy on staged, and light on press. All the questioners in that TV production were FEMA employees. Actual reporters were allowed to [...]