FEMA must "process" evacuees before assisting them

I just heard an astounding story on the Ed Schultz show. He interviewed a man who has spent the last five days or so driving around the country-- from his home in California-- in an attempt to "adopt" a family of evacuees. In San Antonio (twice) and in Phoenix, he was turned away by armed troops. The Red Cross tried to help him get through the red tape, but no dice. He is currently returning to California having been denied the ability to assist any of Katrina's victims.

FEMA's official line is that these people shouldn't be housed or enrolled in schools until they are "processed," whatever that means, and are being kept under armed guard in arenas throughout the country.

At the exact same moment that Ed was intereviewing this man, FEMA director Michael Brown was saying to the press that "we haven't refused any offers of help."

So, the government is herding American citizens into large arenas, denying other citizens access to or communication with them, and using the military to do so. Oh, and asking the press to stop taking photographs of the aftermath of Katrina.

And what we're hearing from the government that's doing it is that everything is fine, and those who question any of these practices are "playing politics?" This is absolutely insane. And we'd better hope and pray that the press has finally found the guts they've been missing since the late nineties, because they're needed like never before to protect us from the criminal incompetence and ruthless corruption of this administration.