Was ist das more Cockamamie — Craig, Watson or FEMA?

Posted: October 29th, 2007 | Filed under: Personalities, Politics, Ruminations | 1 Comment »

While it has passed more under the radar than I might expect, it seems to me that this fake FEMA press conference imbroglio says as much about the ethos of our current administration as any of Karl Rove’s machinations.

Surely you heard, right? During the wildfire havoc in southern California, FEMA staged a fake presser to pat itself on the back. Wherein FEMA employees passed themselves off as legit media, tossing softball queries to those in charge of the operation. It’s the kind of scenario frankly that gives fodder to those conspiracy theorists who doubt we ever landed on the moon, that the whole lunar landing deal was staged in a hangar somewhere.

It’s bad enough that FEMA continues to fail to execute its post-Katrina duties in a woefully neglectful manner along the Gulf coast. Now it feels it must pump itself up. Could it be that the desolated area is a bastion of Republicanism? Nah.

It’s simply the way things are done in the current government. The truth is what we say it is. Don’t mind the mirrors and obsfucation. Either you believe us or you’re a leftie weirdo terrorist-loving porno homo.

It’s time for some fresh air, folks. Open the windows and defenstrate the whole bunch of them.

You remember Michael Chertoff, the guy who didn’t fall on his sword over the Katrina aftermath disgrace. Well, he’s head of Homeland Security now which oversees FEMA and here’s what he said about the faux photo op. “I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I’ve seen since I’ve been in government. I have made unambiguously clear, in Anglo-Saxon prose, that it is not to ever happen again and there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those people who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment.”

So, hey, it’s never going to happen again. At least we got that goin’ for us. Right?

* * * * *

If you are holding tickets to hear Nobel winner James Watson talk here in town, be sure to turn them in for your refund. Watson, whose reputation and career are now in free fall, canceled the show.

Seems he made some politically incorrect remarks about the intelligence of Africans. He lost his job. He lost his street cred. And the First Amendment, it seems to me, has taken a major hit.

I have no idea whether the opinions he expressed are based on any empirical studies or not. As a learned professional he would seem not to be the type to just toss off such statements on a whim. But we’ve never gotten to that point. The fire storm was quick to develop and Watson has been enveloped.

Frankly when I heard the remarks and heard he was coming here as part of the Author’s Forum, I was going to try and get tickets. What a lively event that would have been. These are usually staid affairs. This one would have had some punch.

I was fearful the organizers would cancel him. What would that say about our country’s freedoms? But he beat them to the punch. More’s the pity. Unless his statements emanated from a deep-seated prejudice — and there is no evidence of which I am aware that they did — it’s a legitimate discussion topic.

To his eminent credit, Raoul Cunningham, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, while decrying Watson’s statements, offered that it’s a dangerous precedent for any organization to cancel a talk because of controversial or disagreeable remarks.

Amen.

* * * * *

Let’s hear it for the couch potato(e)s of America. Matt Lauer had Senator Larry Craig on his show. And nobody watched. It finished last in its time slot, according to the ratings. How cool is that?

Well, a lot cooler than the folks responsible at the Idaho Hall of Fame. Seems the senator’s predilection for sex with strangers in airport bathrooms didn’t dissuade them from inducting Craig into the Potato(e) State’s HOF.

Even some Idaho state GOP leaders think it a little untoward. It’s nice to know somebody out there has some sense.

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