Planet Abell

J ohn "Pat" Philbin, the former FEMA spokesman whose final days on that job were spiced up by a fake news briefing, has now lost his next job : director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It seemed to me too easy a punchline that the vilified Philbin was going to segue from a PR fiasco to the ultimate PR-challenged agency, even though the move had been done deal. I guess the irony was not lost on his new boss either. My full take on the briefing fiasco -- "It's OK -- I'm a Reporter!" -- is here .

N ow it can be told: Almost every day in my reporting career I felt like a phony. It was easy to feel inadequate. I worked with people who got shot at -- hell, shot -- and whose gifts with even the words "to," "at" and "the" were positively Shakespearean. Without any credentials other than a wire service generalist's bravado I reported on medical breakthroughs, nuanced court rulings and world championship boxing. Let's just say the cramming skills I honed as an undergraduate served me well. But at the FEMA briefing this week I would have been the only pro in the room. Not even a genuine journalist shill was present. Real reporters could listen in on a hastily-arranged "800" line, but couldn't ask any questions. No, the only people doing any talking, the Washington Post tells us , were FEMA employees: some pitching softballs, and the other one hitting them out of the park. "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?" ...