Mission not what firemen pictured ( chimp's photo ops, no rescues)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/stories/DN-katfirefighters_14met.ART0.North.Edition2.1397577a.html



Two Richardson firefighters recently headed to Louisiana believing they would help with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Instead, they were asked to do little – except stand behind President Bush at a news conference.

Firefighters Billy Whitson and Noel Saldivar were among six Richardson firefighters who responded to a call by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for firefighters to pass out pamphlets, write reports and help hurricane victims sign up for federal assistance.

After spending a couple of days training in Atlanta, Mr. Whitson said that he and Mr. Saldivar were flown Sept. 5 on a charter flight to New Orleans, where they were supposed to stand in the background with other firefighters while Mr. Bush held a news conference. But the president didn't make it to his planned appearance in New Orleans that day.

Mr. Whitson said the group of 50 firefighters were then put on a bus headed for Baton Rouge, where the president was scheduled to meet with evacuees, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other officials. But the firefighters didn't arrive in time for those presidential visits.

[UpInArms]

1. it is so very sad a commentary that our capable and competent

were forced to be stage props when their skills were so badly needed.

:(

[Ripley]

2. This is outrageous!

Not only were those 50 firefighters kept from doing something CONSTRUCTIVE, like rescuing people and their pets... they were humiliated!

How much did that fucking photo op cost the taxpayers? They should have just said "no."

[kipco]

3. Photo ops

Kinda like Cheney's photo op in Mississippi where he got told to go fuck himself by a local.

That whole incident just reeked. The guy who said it while his friend videotaped it has been trying to sell the footage on Ebay and keeps getting knocked off. I guess if everything I ever owned was washed into the gulf by a hurricane, then, while I am trudging up to what was left of my house, there stands a well fed politician, looking like he had just had a hot shower and a nice big trip to the breakfast buffet that morning, using my devastated neighborhood for a PR photo op, I would have said a lot more than just "Go fuck yourself".

[saigon68]

10. Cheney's photo op where he got told to go fuck himself by a local

The military is used as STAGE Props all the time, by these HALLIBURTON War Criminals and Thugs

[Scout1071]

15. FYI - "that guy" is Dr. Ben Marble.

And he now frequents DU.

If you are hanging around here today Doc, thanks again! We are still laughing.

[AlCzervik]

4. i think those 2 were on CBS the other night and they said they were used

as props for Bush's photo-ops.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

5. Firefighters don't mess around...

My dad was one, and I grew up around plenty of them. They have a job to do, and they do it...plain and simple.

Bush's habit of using them to boost his own image constitutes a SUPREME insult.

[DU9598]

6. Remember Clinton's supposed haircut

Of course that turned out not to be true - that a high priced haircut at LAX caused significant delays, etc. I heard about that on talk radio and even music radio morning stations for months.

Why does this not get the same play? Dang SCLM.

[DS1]

7. But Clinton GOT A HAIRCUT! *lie*

Stupid rightwing fucks

[SoCalDem]

9. It's not like a president can just walk into a Supercuts

So what if he DID get a haircut.. The airport even said NO PLANES were delayed.. But of course the echo-machine of rightwing radio convinced dittoheads that there were planes all over the place waiting for the haircut:puke:

[defiant1]

8. That's pathetic....

Goddamn Bush.

Soldiers, police officers, and firefighters are not your fucking props!

They have better things to do with their time then standing behind you to make you feel important. Besides, if you want to look important, you should start with mastering the English language.

:puke:

*edited for content*

[madmark]

11. They even fucked up trying to use these two as props, they couldnt

even coordinate the the photo op right. How could 51% of our fellow Americans be so stupid at to vote for this constant, unending incompetence.

[tives12]

12. I am more and more ashamed of being an American every day.

Thank you Mr. Bush.

[brentspeak]

13. The White House spun the whole incident:

I've noticed that members of the Bush White House often employ the "we can't substantiate that particular account" strategy when pressed to comment on their controversial actions:

Deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino referred questions about the matter to Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA.

Mr. Knocke said he couldn't substantiate the firefighters' account.

"I can tell you there's a policy against pulling first-line responders off of front lines for press conferences," Mr. Knocke said.

[northzax]

14. and they didn't violate that policy

they took people who hadn't even made it to the front lines yet for the photo ops.

same effect though.

[NYC]

16. Carefully chosen words.

..."I can tell you there's a policy against pulling first-line responders off of front lines for press conferences," Mr. Knocke said...

But is there a policy for never putting them on the front lines in the first place so that you can have them available for press conferences?

It seems there is.

Furthermore, if these firefighters' services were not needed in the hurricane area, they were certainly needed in their hometowns. These firefighters were sent at a cost to their own municipalities.

[rainbow4321]

17. Given how many evacuees ended up in the DFW area

These firefighters could have easily been utilized **here** instead of being shuffled around just to help save chimp's ass.

From the same article:

"We tried to get reassigned back to Dallas," said Mr. Whitson, president of the Richardson Firefighters Association. "They could have used us at Reunion Arena."

[DeepModem Mom]

18. kick

[Megahurtz]

19. What the fuck?

:wtf: It's like they let people die on purpose!