Republicans use Red Cross to spin Katrina

There are lots of links today claiming that the Louisiana governor blocked the Red Cross from entering New Orleans: it's organized noise (LTTE etc) and it comes with nasty accusations that the governor was doing this to get FEMA money.

And -- oh, look! What a surprise! Rightwing Republicans at the top of the Red Cross are busily doing their part to "catapult the propaganda," as Watzizname likes to say, changing stories to support the rightwing agenda ...


Fox touts misleading Red Cross account to blame Blanco

Fox News and other conservative media, including nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh and popular weblogs, have loudly and repeatedly touted statements made this week by American Red Cross president and CEO Marsha J. "Marty" Evans that Louisiana state homeland security officials blocked Red Cross efforts to enter New Orleans to deliver food, water, and other critical provisions to victims of Hurricane Katrina because the state officials did not want to provide an incentive for people to stay in the city. But a review of public statements by Red Cross officials -- who originally agreed that requests or directives by state and local officials that Red Cross relief workers stay out of the city were made because the city was not safe -- shows they have subtly shifted their rhetoric regarding who was responsible for barring the Red Cross, whether it was an outright bar or a request, and what the reason was for the authorities' not wanting Red Cross relief workers to go into the city, undermining the Fox News report. <snip>

Also notably absent from Fox News' reports was any mention of the fact that both the Red Cross' charter and the federal Department of Homeland Security's December 2004 National Response Plan clearly indicate that ultimate decision-making authority rested (or should have rested) with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), not with any state agency.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509090002


Knight Ridder, Palm Beach Daily News, Fox News' Hume repeated misleading Red Cross story, shifted blame to Blanco

News articles published on September 11 by the Knight Ridder news service and the Palm Beach Daily News reported as fact that Louisiana state officials, including Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, blocked the American Red Cross from bringing relief to survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. <snip>

A Red Cross frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) document apparently posted on September 2 also notes, "We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access." During the 1 p.m. ET segment of Fox News Live on September 8, a local Red Cross spokesman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, apparently still held to this position. Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson asked Red Cross spokesman Jason Golden whether the organization was "on board with this mission, then, to not have the Red Cross in New Orleans?" He responded, "Absolutely." <snip>

http://mediamatters.org/items/200509120001

I've seen it reported in several places over the last 2 weeks.