By Debbie Schlussel
Tonight, I’m on Westwood One, heard on about 350 radio stations around the country (listen to it here, 10pm-1am Eastern Time). Russ Knocke, chief spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, was scheduled to be on the show.
Mr. Knocke was made well aware of the topics we would be discussing–the Hurricane Katrina disaster, immigration, counter-terrorism, etc. But, within the last hour, Mr. Knocke apparently decided that neither he nor his department could answer the questions I have been raising for months about his department–and even his own actions (he attended the annual convention of a radical Muslim group that supports Hezbollah and HAMAS and refuses to recognize Israel).
First, he insisted I ask only questions about hurricane relief and no immigration questions. Then, no 9/11 or terrorism questions. Then, his office claimed that DHS Secretary Chertoff (who is supposed to be in New Orleans, not DC with Knocke) wanted Knocke to hang out with him tonight. What–are they drinking buddies hanging out at the Capitol Grille, while New Orleans is still a mess and the 4th 9/11 anniversary approaches with few positive changes?
I’m not surprised Mr. Knocke turned out down at the last minute. His appearances–for example on ABC’s “Nightline,” regarding the DHS handling of PKK terrorist –are woeful, even in the few cases when the facts are on DHS’ side (as in the Parlak case).
I would have been fair and given him a chance to respond to these questions. Now, though, I will still ask the questions. And as usual, with this absentee press chief for Homeland Security–whose bloated salary YOU are paying–there will be no answers.

By Debbie Schlussel
You’ve heard of Blaxploitation movies? Well, Oprah Winfrey has started a whole new sister industry: Hurricane Blaxploitation.
Today’s huckstering “Oprah” show, shot atop the dead bodies and suffering of her key demographic, was –and worse.
Some highlights:
* Most sickening: Oprah’s bud Dr. Mehmet Oz films an old, dying person under a foil cover and asks the person to open his/her eyes. Is this dying person in a condition to give consent to this disgusting Oprah display? Was he/she even asked for consent? Doubtful. Ditto for the multiple dead people close-ups this insensitive doctor gave to the camera. Then this creep, Oz, and Oprah have the gall to complain that these people “are not being allowed to die in dignity.” Hmmm…I think a glimpse in the mirror is in order for Big O and Oz.
* One of Oprah’s “Gorgeous Men of Decorating”–the “Oprah” show’s interior decorator, Nate Berkus, reported from the scene. Yes, skilled journalists like Shepard Smith and Brian Williams were okay. But we really needed the superior journalistic insights into the Hurricane damage that only a man skilled in furniture, wallpaper and carpets could provide. Thanks, Oprah.
* As the resident PETA activist/interior decorator/catastrophe reporter for the Oprah show, Berkus whines that people can’t take their pets and that there is the absurd policy of people first. We can’t have that. Berkus saves the man’s pet for him and houses the pet in the house at which he’s staying. G-d forbid, they saved a human in the house at which Berkus is staying.
* Lisa Ling, Oprah’s resident Let’s-understand-HAMAS-female-suicide-bombers-and-the-great-life-of-Cuba reporteratrix, repeats the BS (which she believes) about the delay in helping is because the people are not White. Is this Lisa Ling or Kanye West? Hard to tell.
Ling also repeats the obvious. Gee, I haven’t seen this for a week on CNN/FOX News/MSNBC/NBC/CBS/ABC–you know that stuff about people living on the streets for days, starving, and losing everything they have. Thanks for repeating for the gazillionth time what real reporters already covered. You’re a week late.
* New Orleans’ Police Chief crying; Mayor Nagin crying; Oprah fake-crying, saying, “This makes me so MAAAAAD. This makes me MAAAD.” (Not mad enough to not bring her make-up artist, though. Tons of make-up on.) At last, I understand why Queen Oprah didn’t get an Oscar, and her acting career went bust.
* Oprah pretend-bullies Mayor Nagin to let her in to the Superdome to see for herself–because she didn’t see it on FOX News/CNN/NBC/MSNBC/CNN, etc. (and because we didn’t see it either, living in the Oprah vacuum as we do). “I want to see it,” she demands. “Why can’t I see it, if so many people spent so many days there?” Then she dons a surgical mask–my favorite Oprah fashion accessory. And we see the never before seen thing called an empty stadium. Thanks for this unique view Oprah. Now, my life is complete.
* And of course, no show could be complete without Oprah showing film of herself hugging everyone at the Astrodome and signing autographs. That Oprah. Whatta gal!

By Debbie Schlussel
I will be guest-hosting the “Jim Bohannon Show,” tonight, 10pm to 1am Eastern on about 400 stations around the country. You can listen at the website of WTNT-AM. Expected guests include Dept. of Homeland Security Chief Spokesman Russ Knocke.

By Debbie Schlussel
Will the U.S. be attacked on September 19th? That’s the buzz coming from reliable sources in military intelligence at CENTCOM (Central Command) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
I report. You decide.

By Debbie Schlussel
Guess who just got face-time on NBC’s “Today Show” with Katrina victims? Why it was none other than Dr. Phil–the annoying mustachioed TV psychologist. (Would the word “cheesy” be redundant in a Dr. Phil description?)
First, I write about , tomorrow. Now, it seems only fitting that Ms. O’s preferred psychologist, Dr. Phil, too, would use these poor victims for his slimy talk show. Who’s next, Jerry Springer?
Dr. Phil told Matt Lauer that these people are devastated and many know they will never return to their homes. Thanks for the tip. Gee, tell me something I don’t already know. He needed a Ph.D. in psychology to figure that out?
Look for these victims, whom Dr. Phil “visited” in the Houston Astrodome, to be victimized again, on an upcoming episode of “Dr. Phil.”
Nauseating.

By Debbie Schlussel
AP reported on Thursday, USA Today on Friday, that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue says “it’s unlikely the Saints will play in New Orleans this season.”
Ya think?

By Debbie Schlussel and Anonymous DHS Special Agent
While there is plenty of blame to go around regarding the Hurricaid aftermath, Homeland Security Secretary , and he must go. Watching him, this morning, on the Sunday political shows, this is doubly so. Fluent in Homeland Security Ebonics, he is a bureaucratic lawyer skilled at making up new words, like “de-water” (Ye Olde English: “drain”) and “pre-staged” (“planned”?), to make it look like he is actually doing something. But a genuine Homeland Security chief he is not. (A column to follow.)
I got this e-mail, below, Friday, from a friend who is a longtime federal agent in what is now the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This agent–a very bright man, patriotic American, and principled conservative, whose views I highly respect–is right on the mark. He is one of many DHS agents who have contacted me regarding their total lack of confidence in Chertoff.
(For those DHS officials reading this and wondering: No, this agent does not work in Michigan or Ohio–the domains of Homeland Security failure, a/k/a Abu Moskowitz, ICE Special Agent “In Charge.”)
Here is the e-mail, which is must reading (Michael Garcia is the past head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement–ICE, and Julie L. Myers is his yet-to-be confirmed replacement (more on her in the upcoming Chertoff column)). . . .
Debbie:
I just saw Bush and Chertoff on the south lawn of the
White House, about to get on Marine One for their trip
to the Gulf Coast. With Chertoff standing beside him,
Bush said the relief efforts, thus far, are, “not
acceptable.” Well, putting a political hack and
unproven leader like Chertoff in charge of Homeland
Security is not acceptable either. Chertoff is the
department head over FEMA. IMO, the failure of FEMA
in this disaster is staggering.
I don’t work for FEMA, but even I, a person not
trained in emergency relief efforts, spent all of
about 15 minutes and came up with five significant
things they could have done to give immediate relief
for the people still in New Orleans — the basics:
water, food, sanitation, and security. How is it
these so-called expert disaster relief planners at
FEMA failed this badly? Did they not have a plan for
what happened, or did they simply not execute it?
I have been a huge Bush supporter up to now, and I
want him to see this and the Iraq war through to
completion, but his administration – specifically the
Department of Homeland Security, the department I work
for – has failed badly. I hold President Bush
responsible for putting incompetent people in charge
of these agencies.
Also, two days ago Chertoff came out with a request
for volunteers from other DHS agencies to be
“immediately deployed” to help FEMA with relief
efforts. I know a Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
employee who volunteered along with 30 others from CBP
in our city. These people are still here, awaiting
instructions.
Agents like myself have it in our job description that
we can be detailed or deployed at any time for
basically any reason. I would have thought they would
have immediately sent almost all ICE [Immigration
& Customs Enforcement] agents from the
northern part of the U.S. to the Gulf Coast to
supplement the police down there. Instead, the only
thing I’ve seen is a similar kind of request for
“volunteers,” specifically from ICE, but the
volunteers must have SAIC [Special Agent In Charge]
approval, and the SAICs have
been told that “ICE business” has priority.
I hate to say it because I was never in the military,
but DHS, ICE, and CBP need some strong, proven leaders
with military background who will whip people into
shape and hold them accountable, or force them out.
Instead, President Bush gave us people like Chertoff,
[Michael] Garcia, and Julie Myers – people with no real law
enforcement experience and who have never demonstrated
they are capable of administering huge bureaucracies
like DHS and ICE. It’s apparent to me now that Bush
never saw the ICE mission as critical to the security
of this nation. And he knew all along the Secretary
of DHS has no real teeth. These have been nothing
more than patronage jobs in his eyes. In the
meantime, Chertoff et al, aka “The Incompetents,” are
transforming the good men and women of ICE and of DHS
into a pathetic bunch of Milquetoasts who are
incapable of providing the most basic protections to
the people of this nation. This is a disgrace.

By Debbie Schlussel
Since I , Friday, Oprah has made a sudden change in plans.
Oprah’s sudden changes in planned broadcasts of her show, next week, speak volumes. On Tuesday, she will feature a live “Look at Me in N’Awlins Damage” show. Then, in a not-so veiled message, she has an interesting show from the Oprah archives selected for Thursday. Originally not scheduled to air then, Oprah will now show an episode on Thursday featuring Kanye “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” West. It was taped back in April, so why wait until now–after his absurd remarks (to which Oprah probably subscribes) on Friday Night?
The show is interestingly entitled “How My Worst Moment Made Me a Star.” We all know which “Worst Moment” of his made Kanye West a bigger star then he ever was–Friday Night’s “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” comment. (Since the show was taped in April, it is about West’s Grammy win.)
Is Oprah trying to tell us something, by suddenly choosing to show that episode two days after her “Oprah Poses in N’awlins Devastation” show? I report. You decide.
As I wrote on Friday, Oprah was nowhere to be found during the Hurricane devastation, last week. Instead, in an incredible display of insensitivity, she showed re-runs of her and Stedman’s “daughter” dog problems and “Gorgeous Men of Decorating”–while people in the key demographic that made her wealthy beyond her wildest dreams were suffering, starving, and dying. Had she done a live hour to raise money for the victims of Katrina, she would have been the hero she wants everyone to believe she is (and too many morons actually buy it, despite the evidence to the contrary).
At the time I wrote that, Oprah had a tiny link at the bottom of her website to give to Hurricaid. That’s it. Her scheduled shows for the following week (this coming week) were all re-runs. Now, things have changed–a little. The Big “O” will have a live “Oprah” from the site of the Hurricane damage show. A little late. And Oprah is not a member of law enforcement. Her presence there couldn’t possibly help and will only get in the way. Instead of going there to be loved by her fans a la race merchant Jesse Jackson, Oprah could have done a live telethon show from her Chicago studios, last week. She did not.
On Monday, she plans a show with hip pop stars. Then on Tuesday, she will do her live “Oprah on the scene of Katrina” show, telling us what happened there–as if we didn’t already know. We already know what happened there, courtesy of a gazillion REAL news organizations, who’ve been there while Oprah was AWOL. We do not need her reports now. The people there needed her help raising money, etc., last week. That Oprah will now be in New Orleans figuratively (and perhaps literally) standing on top of the dead bodies in the watery crypt to say, “Hey, look at me, Oprah, I’m here, too,” is sickening. Her self-insertion into everything, even when it is unwarranted, as here, is annoying–and, in this deadly crisis, it is appalling.
It is interesting. Oprah’s haste, right after 9/11–to re-vamp her schedule and have Muslim women tell us that Islam is peace on several “emergency” shows–is a haste unmatched, last week, regarding the victims of Hurricane Katrina (who just happen to be among the demographic that made Oprah so wealthy). Apparently, they don’t merit the immediate concern Oprah’s Islamist friends do.
So, with the sluggish response by Oprah to the Hurricane damage, and then her revamped broadcast featuring Kanye “George Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People” West, I ask this:
Does Oprah Care About Black People (other than herself, and best “friend” Gayle)?
Just curious.
Recently, Oprah whined about being shut out of Hermes in Paris after they closed for business as an example of racism–her “Crash moment,” she called it (based on the movie about race).
Well, last week, was America’s “Crash” moment with Oprah. But it was much bigger and more important than buying a silly designer watch for Tina Turner. And like Hermes, Oprah Winfrey was closed for business.

By Debbie Schlussel
Remember , the daytime talk show host? Remember Oprah, who dropped everything and changed her season’s new shows in September 2001–so we’d be more sympathetic to Islam after 19 of its adherents murdered 3,000 Americans?
Well, strangely, Ms. Oprah of the self-named conceit, “Oprah’s Angel Network,” is MIA during this week’s Hurricane Katrina disaster. Nowhere to be found.
Oh, sure, I know she’s on vacation. And, yes, I know she has more important shows to put on when the season starts–her conspicuous 20th Anniversary self-congratulation.
You’d think she could interrupt her vacation and get off her rear for something as big as this–to help her fellow Americans who have made her so wealthy and fortunate. You’d think she could interrupt her summer vacation for a special Hurricane fundraiser episode. A show where all the mindless women and metrosexual Mr. Moms–who buy Oprah Book Club books and Oprah’s Favorite Things like obedient zombies–would give money and supplies for the tragic victims of Katrina.
But you would be wrong.

Oprah cares about the world’s victims (while on camera) . . . .
America’s victims? Not so much.
Instead, this week, viewers were treated to such important Oprah episodes as “Gorgeous Men of Decorating” (yesterday), “Oprah’s Wildest Dreams Bus” with Mariah Carey and Halle Berry (today), and “Look Ten Pounds Thinner Instantly” with the “What Not to Wear” snobs from England(Wednesday). Then, there was my personal fave, “The Dog Whisperer Helps Oprah and Stedman” with their “daughter” dog’s issues (Tuesday).
Wait, you say, until next week. Think again. Coming up on Oprah, Monday: “Gwen, Enrique, and Hilary,” America’s hip pop stars.
I’m sure the Louisiana and Mississippi victims would have loved these third-time re-runs–if they had power, a home, and a TV.
Oprah who became the first Black female billionaire off of viewers like these victims, is ignoring them–when a show by her could garner more assistance for these victims than anyone short of the President.
But she’s nowhere to be found. It’s a slap in the face of these poor people who gave Oprah so much. I hope America remembers the real Oprah Winfrey.

By Debbie Schlussel
Will someone please tell self-promoter Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson to shut up? The useless shakedown artist is now, as always, screaming the R-word–“racism”–at President Bush, as the reason for the slow response to the New Orleans Hurricane disaster.
Bush was mistakenly making a speech to veterans–in response to the (“Jihad Cindy #2”) sideshow in Crawford. That was a mistake. But the American left is partly to blame, because they created the media storm (), that took the President away from what he should have been doing but wasn’t.
(His Homeland “Security” Team of lawyers , Julie Myers, et al, is a failure. More about that in another post.)

Two Examples of Giant Leeches
(with apologies to the non-human version)
Jackson’s statements beg the question: Where was Jesse Jackson until now? Why, the race-huckster was encamped with Jihad Cindy #2 (a la Weird Al Sharpton) and begging the Western Hemisphere’s Terrorist-in-Chief, Hugo Chavez, for his oil. Nauseating.
Jackson is right about one thing. “There’s a historical indifference to the pain of poor people and black people” in this country, he said. I agree that Jesse Jackson has a historical indifference to the pain of poor people and black people–all while making money off of their backs.
It’s time for gazillionaire Jackson to quit whining and put his millions where his mouth is. It’s time for him to finally give a cent of his money to the American Blacks he has used and sold out for so long.
We’re waiting, Jesse. But not holding our collective breaths.
UPDATES: 09/04/05–On Saturday Morning’s “Weekend Today” on NBC, Jackson whined to Matt Lauer that Bill Clinton and “the President’s father” were made the heads of the Bush’s Katrina relief efforts. “They’re White. Why didn’t he pick any Brown people? We need some Brown people exalted.”
09/05/05–Jackson promised to get buses to the people at the Superdome on Friday, 09/02, and surprise, surprise, the buses never came. Maybe he doesn’t care about exalting “Brown people,” either.