Too Good to Be True

The Bush Administration has long been defined by its remark that "we create our own reality." Getting bad press? Just make up your own press. The Republicans tried this a couple of years ago with "Jeff Gannon," a fake reporter who asked softball questions at presidential press conferences. Now, they've gone one better.

FEMA, perhaps concerned about the bad press it got for the incompetence it displayed during Hurrican Katrina, decided to make sure it got some good press for its handling of the California wildfires. How to ensure this? Simple: stage a fake press conference in which FEMA's own employees pretend to be reporters asking questions.

The fraud was so blatant, the chutzpah so unbridled, that even the Bush administration has backed away this outrageous stunt. DHS spokesman Russ Knocke called it "totally unacceptable," although White House press secretary Dana Perino contented herself with calling it an "error in judgment."

FEMA has announced that it is "reviewing [its] press procedures." Reviewing the press procedures? Did the procedures previously say "Have agency employees pose as reporters"? Yes, that one will have to be changed. And if the procedures still include "Secretly pay syndicated columnists money to promote government policies" or "Give press credentials to political operatives posing as reporters," perhaps those could be changed too. Sheesh.