Vertebrates

It was nice to see the media actually doing its job during the Katrina disaster. Questioning officials, disputing bad information, expressing outrage and righteous anger. This was real J-School stuff, what all those fresh-faced kids back at UNCA are all about before The Man wears them down.

Time Magazine even decided to investigate Michael Brown's resume to see if he really had all the emergency-response experience he claimed to have (he didn't). Time patted itself on the back for that one, but as Kendra pointed out: Where were they when this clown was hired? Why didn't they investigate his resume before thousands of Americans died of hunger and exposure in the Gulf Coast? Could it be possible that other public officials, or even private officals, have lied to us? I'm sure this new guy thay have running the FEMA knows his stuff, but already NPR is saying "according to his resume ..."

Jesus.

I'll forgive the media for trading real reportage for access and free doughnuts at the press briefings if they'll just do their jobs from now on: Question, repudiate, investigate. The bloggers are too full of themselves and have the journalistic ethics of, well, folks who work in their pajamas. What we need are some old-fashioned, Perry White, cigar-chewing, alcoholic reporters with little press cards in their hat bands to badger the powers that be.

Although, from the looks of the cliched post-catastrophe reporting, it don't look good.