Bush Publicity Stunt Backfires

This story was all over cable news yesterday. A week before the Katrina anniversary (how utterly convenient) a survivor arrives in Washington towing his "FEMA trailer" behind his expensive truck and asks to see the President. Heck it turns out it wasn't even a FEMA trailer, just a replica. He finally (hee, hee) gets in and they have a great media moment where he gets to say how great George W. Bush is. The White House denies even knowing the man's Party registration.

The first reaction I had was, wait a minute, no one gets near Bush before they check their voter registration. Nobody. Just try and attend a Bush event near your home. You have to check in with the local Republican Party and provide ALL of your personal information so they can conduct a background check. If you aren't a registered Republican forget it. This was a warning flag to me that this was another set up. Then I went online and checked a few papers and blogs. Tada, a classic set up. From the Post:

The Vaccarella visit was part of a preemptive effort by the White House to fend off fresh criticism of the administration's handling of Katrina as the first anniversary approaches.

From The Huffington Post:

While something admirable could have come from Bush taking the time to meet with a person representing those his administration let down so badly almost a year ago, you could have thrown a rock in the Ninth Ward and hit someone better than Vaccarella to deliver that message.

If you Google this guy you discover it was all planned. They gave him a replica trailer to use:

Rockey Vaccarella of Meraux is towing an "honorary" FEMA trailer to Washington, DC.

and then it turns out it's all about making a movie:

Ghost Rider Pictures films Katrina survivor towing FEMA trailer to Washington DC to invite President Bush to dinner.

Here's the final proof it was all prearranged. This was written on August 14th:

Rockey's journey will start in St. Bernard Parish, LA and end at the White House where an authentic Louisiana chef will prepare a good old fashioned Cajun dinner for President Bush.

From Attytood:

ROCKEY VACCARELLA
PERSONAL
Republican
35. Born in New Orleans. Grew up in Arabi and Chalmette. Lived 11 years in
Meraux.
Married, two children.
Graduated from Chalmette High, 1982. Attended St. Bernard Community
College.
Director of operations, Lundy Enterprises, as manager of 31 Pizza Hut
restaurants and 450 employees. Former general restaurant manager of Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits on East Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette.

Bush refused to meet with Cindy Sheehan last summer. Losing a son isn't enough to get a meeting with this guy but agreeing to do a publicity stunt is.