I nearly fell over when I saw Anderson Cooper rip Mary Landrieu a
new one. Standing in a (carefully selected) mountain of debris, a fulminating Cooper described watching a rat chew on a dead body.
But I nearly puked when, a few minutes later, I saw Shep Smith on Fox News using a dead body as a prop for his stand-up.
Standing on the approach to a washed out bridge, Smith and his camera person did a 360 of the scene - refugees on an adjoining ramp, the washed out bridge behind him, the inundated neighborhood. Smith nattered some more then, with a pained expression, stepped aside to reveal a dead body lying, covered, on the road behind him.
I do believe this was the lowest, most disgusting, most cynically sick moment I've ever witnessed on TV news - and that's pretty damn sick. Using a dead, unrecovered body as a prop for standup!
More.
Smith, his camera person, producer and anyone else who signed off on this sick shit should be fired. Better still, the NO police should forget about the looters and lock up reporters like Smith and his lowlife media ilk in the Super Dome until the water recedes. (I'd say put them on a bus for Baton Rouge, but that would deny space to folks who really need to get out.)
I changed channels just in time to catch some CNN clown whizzing through the NO streets in an air boat. In the midst of the devastation, the CNN boat found survivors in houses - women and children no less. Sorry, the clown said, no room in our boat. Of course, he seemed to be say, we're too important to be left stranded while you're rescued. But don't worry, he said, we'll be sure to send someone back to get you.
Disgusting. Whizzing through the streets shooting video that will sell soap (and gas-guzzlers) on your network and leaving women and children stranded.
I haven't seen much of the television coverage of the hurricane and its aftermath, but what I saw in a few minutes tonight was the worst of the worst. Federal, state, and local emergency management officials have a lot to answer for in the way they've handled and are handling this catastrophe. After tonight, the media should be added to that list.