He staged a phony FEMA press conference on the California wildfires. You think maybe John P. "Pat" Philbin has lost his shot at the intelligence job for which he was slotted?
Is FEMA now on Jay Leno's payroll? Talk about your comedy of errors. First, came the legendary "Brownie" and his momentous day in the sun with the president--while the Katrina disaster raged. Now, Philbin, the organization's external affairs director, has FEMA staffers posing as reporters ask questions of FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson--while actual journalists on a conference call can only listen in. That should help rehabilitate FEMA's public image, no?
What would possess Philbin to stage such a farce? Is there something in the FEMA water? Or is this another indictment of the quality of the Bush administration's political appointments? National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, in whose office Philbin was slated to start this week as director of communications, is now reviewing his record. Don't be surprised to find him re-assigned to some important task like collecting rain water in a pitcher or counting cars on the highway.
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