The Daily Howler - 09/10/05

THE JOY OF FAKE FACTS! Brownie should never have held his job. But so too with most of the press corps: // link // print // previous // next //

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2005

INTRODUCTION—THE JOY OF FAKE FACTS: Darn it! Yesterday, we almost gave him the Nobel Prize. Then, he had to go and say this:

SCARBOROUGH (9/9/05): FEMA Director Mike Brown has been sent back to Washington, but not fired, we’re told by the Homeland Security Department, after the outrage over his handling of this disaster and his suspect qualifications for the job. His reaction today was this, quote: “I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife, and maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep.”

Now let’s bring in Louisiana congressman Bobby Jindal from Baton Rouge, who probably hasn’t had a good night’s sleep or a margarita since this storm hit!

What was wrong with what Joe Scarborough said? For our taste, he had toyed with that quote just a bit. Here’s what “Brownie” actually said. Joe—whose “qualifications for the job” aren’t all that great either—knew just which part to leave off:

BROWN (9/9/05): I'm going to go home and walk my dog and hug my wife, and maybe get a good Mexican meal and a stiff margarita and a full night's sleep. And then I'm going to go right back to FEMA and continue to do all I can to help these victims.

It was a stupid thing for “Brownie” to say, given the way the press corps works—and Scarborough knew which part of his statement to drop.