CNN is not working and playing well with others...

[renie408]

HOLY SHIT!!

Whooda thunk they would see it in their lifetime? Solidad O'Brian just tore a strip off the head of FEMA, they have been playing Nagin getting PISSED and crying on the radio because of the abysmal response from the federal government and Solidad just asked Sanjay Gupta how it was that he managed to get into Charity Hospital, but the NG couldn't. They have also made it pretty obvious that they aren't buying the whole "Well, Blanco didn't ask for help the right way" line that the Feds are trying to get away with.

Cool.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. People are dying, the world is watching. This one the media can't

hide for Bush without tremendous cost to their credibility and their humanity.

[vi5]

2. That same dude got torn apart by Katie Couric too....

Seriously I am shocked at how this coverage is going and how they are all asking the hard questions and pointing fingers accordingly.

[renie408]

8. It's shocking me...

I can't believe it either.

Kathleen Blanco said she asked for "All Federal firepower ASAP." She said she asked for 'everything the federal government could possibly send.' immediately.

[renie408]

3. They are attacking the whole "Well, they didn't eveacuate..."

thing now. Miles O'Brian is saying that the people he is with in the airport are there because they COULDN'T get out.

Oh, poor Kathleen Blanco. She looks awful. I bet that poor woman has not slept since Monday.

She is now blaming the President for not sending the 40,000 troops she asked for.

[barbaraann]

5. She asked for 40,000 troops???

I didn't know that!

[renie408]

10. She says she asked for it Wednesday...

She seems like she is still trying to not blame Bush, but she sounds like she is kind of blaming Bush.

[Dem Agog]

4. well this idiot from fema...

has made me wish i went into journalism after all. (i have a degree in journalism)... I've found myself going over in my head all the interview questions I'd be DYING to ask him after he tried to shift responsibility to the victims. i imagine after seeing the elderly, frail and weak some of the paid journalists out there are wondering the same things...

what did soledad ask? i hope she asked him if this was fema's new policy... and if so, if fema planned on now taking over evacuation operations as well... and what fema's response was to the babies, elderly and frail who are dying who clearly could NOT evacuate? and what their response was to the poor who had no means to evacuate...

[malaise]

7. Blanco

is runnng from Miles. She should simply resign.

[renie408]

12. She is flipping out

Which you can't really blame her for. She says she asked for 'everything they had' from day one. Apparently she didn't know the secret handshake or didn't say 'pretty please'.

Or could it be that since she is a Democrat, Bush and Co. has an agenda in making her look like shit??

Nahhh...not Bush.

[malaise]

19. In fairness to her

She and Nagin did take this storm seriously although they did not send bueses to pick up poor people.

[renie408]

26. I am all about being fair to her

But it sounds to me like she is going to be the bone tossed to the dogs to give them something to chew on.

[Roland99]

28. Yes, they did! RTA provided free transportation to the Superdome

[rosesaylavee]

6. About time CNN woke up. How can they be surprised?

This is the boy who gave us 9/11 and did such a bang up job of that. And CNN has, overall, been supporting his lack of leadership for FIVE YEARS with their less than stellar reporting.

Bet * will oppose an investigation into the "mishandling" of this disaster too.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. Might be...

...temporary, but let's appreciate it while it lasts. In fact, let's give credit where credit is due. CNN's been great for 3 days in a row now. They've been a news agency doing their job. My hat is off.

[ReadTomPaine]

11. The hammer will be dropping soon on the coverage.

They have already been openly warned from the WH and the Pentagon, and there's talk of a media blackout in 24/48 hours.

Imagine the press acting this way about Iraq? Election fraud? This is why co-oping the press is so critical to Bush. If they did their jobs he would have been gone in a matter of months.

I don't expect this newfound courage to last, particularly after they start kicking journalists out of the area in preparation for whatever's been planned next for NOLA.

Incidentally, if the lock down does occur, don't expect to know anything close to the actual death toll or environmental damage.

[renie408]

13. I hope you are wrong

Here's what I hope...I hope all the resentment that journalists must feel at having been unable to REALLY cover this administration all this time boils over and they go after them like stink on shit.

A girl can dream, can't she??

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

14. They've already been...

...openly warned? I don't doubt this, but can you provide a link or a source for this? Thanks.

[ReadTomPaine]

16. Here's one..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2053232

Thankfully, they haven't backed down as of yet.

[spooky3]

15. NBC and others are catching up. I was flipping channels this

AM and coverage was on all of them. The tone on NBC in particular was very similar to what you're describing, with pictures showing the suffering very clearly and lots of questions being raised about the quality of the gov't's response.

[Cassandra]

18. OTOH, Matt and Katie looked shocked...

just shocked that the poor do not have the safety net they used to. What did they expect after they helped elect that piece of shit?

[spooky3]

27. "shocked" is progress in my opinion--it should have

been obvious much earlier but my point is that they are finally catching on

[Roland99]

29. All part of this admin's plans to whittle away at social programs

It's all about personal responsibility, eh?


:mad:

[Ioo]

17. I heard it on Sirius, and you are right

She was not letting these people off the hook, she grilled the director of FEMA, my jaw dropped.

[Halliburton]

20. chris matthews and norah o'donnell still support Bush's response

as great.

[OneTwentyoNine]

24. Well...that says VOLUMES about Chris Matthews as a human....

What the fuck is he looking at all day,re-runs from Aruba?? Jesus,how the HELL could ANYONE in the news media watch whats coming out of NO and say Bush's response to this disaster was great?

[MiniMe]

21. The media is seeing much more than we are

And they can see what a cluster* this is. They are watching people die while Dim Son sets up a task force. They are pissed and it is showing, and its about time!

[Vinca]

22. It's so sad it took babies dying in front of their eyes to wake them up

to the incompetence of the Bush administration.

[livvy]

23. The guy from FEMA actually told Solidad that he wasn't

aware of the problem at the dome until yesterday. She was incredulous. She asked him how it was possible for the entire nation to be aware of the problem when he wasn't.

[g_friendofsoleft]

25. CNN's Miles O'Brien: A Pillar of Responsible Journalism - NOT!

When it comes to heroic, responsible journalism, CNN reporter Miles O'Brien is the ultimate antihero. If his goal is to further damn the city of New Orleans and its suffering citizens, Miles O'Brien's reporting is exemplary work for the cause.

This morning on "CNN AM Morning", in a stunning display of poor judgment and amateurish tactics better suited to a snot-nosed kid, Mr. O'Brien attempted to needle Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco into admitting some grand responsibility for the chaos in New Orleans. He badgered and nagged, questioning in circles, trying to get Governor Blanco to admit that she didn't ask for enough troops, soon enough. He attempted to pin her down to the EXACT PHONE CALL on the EXACT DAY when she initially asked for troops, and EXACTLY HOW MANY she requested. He asked if the help Louisiana was receiving was "too little, too late" to which Governor Blanco exasperatedly (and correctly) responded, "It's never too late."

Governor Blanco took valuable time away from her responsibilities today to provide information and answers to someone she probably assumed was a reputable journalist from a major news network. Instead, her time was utterly and inexcusably wasted. While people withered and died with fear in their hearts; while babies grew parched and their hearts ceased to beat far from their mother's arms; while someone's grandmother sat rotting, disregarded and disrespected in a filthy corner of the Superdome, Miles O'Brien badgered the governor, indulging some adolescent fantasy to crack the next big story of our century, to topple a crooked politico, to place a greedy manicured hand on his Nobel Prize for salvaging the truth in a bitterly corrupt world.

Mr. O'Brien, NOW IS NOT THE TIME.

Should we question the lack of coordination, the sluggishness and sloppiness of the government's response to the needs of Katrina's victims? Absolutely. Should we demand that those responsible take the blame and suffer their own consequences? You bet. But pulling the governor of Louisiana onto television to prick and prod her and look for blame in the thick of the tragedy is untimely, inappropriate and irresponsible. If CNN can't find better uses for its reporters in this dire emergency, perhaps Mr. O'Brien would be better employed rolling up his sleeves and hoisting cases of bottled water off of trucks, or cleansing wounds, or getting behind the wheel of his CNN van and driving half a dozen victims into a safer state. And if Mr. O'Brien is incapable of doing anything other than putting politicians on the spot, perhaps he should stick his microphone in the face of someone who isn't as busy Louisiana's own governor; someone who isn't quite so mired in the necessary responsibilities and urgencies; someone like BUSH. Heads up, Mr. President. "Pit Bull" O'Brien is looking for something to do. Then again, perhaps he only has a taste for female Democrats. Doggie needs a new bone.