What The President Knew & When He Knew It
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million,” [Rep. Bennie Thompson] said. “Six months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes and livelihoods of millions along the Gulf Coast, the truth about what the president knew and when he knew it has come to light.”[“Democrats Want Independent Katrina Probe” (Yahoo!News)]
The blogsphere is all-a-buzz with the news of the video aquired by Associated Press, which you can view at Crooks and Liars, that reveals that Bush was well-briefed on the potential devestation of Hurricane Katrina, including the kind of flooding that actually occurred because of those breached levees — exactly as Michael Brown claimed in his recent testimony to Congress.
I’ve said before that I’m a fan of Republican and former Bush-employee Louisiana Senator David Vitter. I particularly like what he had to say in response — that the video “makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable. It was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. That’s what made the failures in response — at the local, state and federal level — all the more outrageous.” [“Democrats Want Independent Katrina Probe” (Yahoo!News)]
I’m sure that the right-winger loyalists who simply refuse to believe that President Bush could do wrong will find some flimsy excuse, but then I’ve maintained all along that it’s easier to deny the truth than accept you’ve put your faith in the wrong person. Anyway, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid charges this is another sign that Bush administration officials have “systematically misled the American people.”
There is a disturbing pattern with President Bush.
He is given intelligence that suggests that Osama Bin Laden will attack the U.S. using airplanes and he ignores it. After 9-11, he tells Americans that no one could have imagined something like that would have happened.
He is given intelligence that suggests that invading Iraq will lead to a quagmire and a long, disasterous war, including a possible Civil War. We invade, and he is surprised that we weren’t welcomed with open arms. He’s surprised that we’re still there. He denies that we’re losing ground.
He is briefed on the disaster of an impending hurricane and he goes on vacation. Five days later, he tells Americans that there’s no way anyone could have known the levees would be breached.
In all three cases, he had been warned and he did nothing and then he lied about it. In all three cases, thousands of Americans died.
This man is supposed to be our President. He’s supposed to be a responsible adult. It’s clear that we can’t believe what he says.
When are we going to end this abusive relationship with this man who obviously doesn’t give a crap about American lives?
tags: Hurricane Katrina, Associated Press, Crooks & Liars, David Vitter, George W. Bush, politics
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on March 2, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Big Dog said:
I don’t see where this is news. Bush knew there was danger THAT IS WHY HE ASKED GOVERNOR BLANCO TO EVACUATE AND ASKED IF SHE NEEDED HELP.
Now if you go HERE
you can read the national weather service bulletin issued for that area (the NWS is a governmental agency) and you will see that devestation was predicted.
Keep in mind the briefing tells that the levees could break from the storm. The brunt of the storm missed NO and the levees broke many hours later when everyone thought they were safe.
The problem is not that right wingers make flimsy excuses it is that the moonbats refuse to assign the blame at the lowest level which is local and state government.
The federal government is not responsible for evacuating cities. The state is and they must request federal assistance if they want it. THAT IS A CONSTITU
on March 2, 2006 at 10:14 pm
Big Dog said:
IONAL REQUIREMENT.
Don’t know why there are two of these…..
on March 2, 2006 at 10:15 pm
Big Dog said:
You probably need to fix that link or it will drive people crazy.
on March 3, 2006 at 4:23 pm
n. mallory said:
I am tired of telling you this because obviously you either don’t want to believe it or you are chosing to ignore it but Gov. Blanco requested assistance from President Bush on August 27th, two days before the hurricane made landfall. Please review the Timeline. Heck, Katrina was still only a Cat 3 when she asked.
on March 3, 2006 at 4:26 pm
n. mallory said:
Oh, and I don’t deny that there was a breakdown on all levels of government in this situation. In fact, most liberals agree that was the problem. However, the rightwingers refuse to accept that any Republicans did anything wrong Period. That carelessness is what continues to put American lives in danger and makes American lives disposable.
on March 3, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Big Dog said:
I would not use Wikipedia as a reference. It is written by people with opinions, not necessarily facts. I am tired of telling you that the federal government offered assistance and it was refused.
I have just a little bit of experience with FEMA being a federal evaluator and all. They are a reactionary unit. They can be on the ground within 72 hours, not immediately.
The fact is if Nagin evacuates people and Blanco accepts assistance earlier then maybe not as many people die. I have admitted there were problems at all levels but I, unlike others, realize the President is not responsible for what happened, it was an act of nature. I also know that the federal response would have been better if we did not have to spend days rescuing people who should have been evacuated. I also know that there was food and water that Blanco refused to release to people because she did not want them hanging around.
It is also true that Blanco kept telling Washington the levees had not been breached when they in fact had. If she did not know and she was there how do you expect people 1500 miles away to know. They rely on her reports.
on March 3, 2006 at 6:48 pm
n. mallory said:
Everything is written by someone with opinions.
on March 3, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Big Dog said:
Try a dictionary or encyclopedia, not an on line source that anyone can enter items into.
on March 3, 2006 at 7:11 pm
n. mallory said:
Even those are written by someone with opinions. In fact, all history is written by the victors. It’s all written from someone’s point of view. Even the Bible.
on March 4, 2006 at 1:13 am
Big Dog said:
I guess I should spell it out. There is a difference between opinion and fact. I can write that it is my opinion that it is my opinion that second hand smoke causes more lung cancer than actively smoking. If I were to write the facts though I would have to write the latter rather than the former.
It is not a point of view to say a batter who hits 3 out of 10 is a .300 hitter. It is an opinion to say that kind of batting average should get him into the Hall of Fame.
Yes, everyone has an opinion but when an item is written for factual publication one must leave that out. I can not write that Prozac cures pneumonia in a medical journal. It is unwise to use opinion as fact though many opinions can be based on fact.
It is many people’s opinion that the federal government could have taken over and run Katrina. It is fact that the Constitution does not allow that. It is an opinion that the military should have been called in, it is a fact that the law does not allow that.
Hope that helped clear it up.
BTW, the Bible contains God’s opinion
on March 4, 2006 at 1:19 am
Big Dog said:
Just one more thing. History is written by everyone. The perspective might be different but many losers wrote history, they just leave some parts out. But when we write that we won WWII that is a fact (it can be proven) but when we write that the war would have lasted longer if we had not dropped the bomb(s) it is an opinion because we have no way of proving it, though the opinion is strongly supported by the other facts of the war.
Hell, Bill and Hillary are rewriting history. Why do you think that vast library in Arkansas does not have one mention of the blue dress or the woman who wore it?
on March 4, 2006 at 1:28 pm
n. mallory said:
O.K. Here is a link to an article in USA Today which explains the responsibility of each level of government in a natural disaster crisis and what happened during Katrina. It agrees with your statement that the Federal government is the last resort, but it also agrees with my statement that Gov. Blanco asked for Federal help prior to Katrina’s landfall and that she clearly stated that the State of Louisiana knew it was not capable of handling the emergency. (And trust me, I do not like defending that vile air-head of a woman.)
I don’t even want to discuss the whole “history is written by the victors” thing right now (or the fact that the Bible is a bunch of writings put together by a bunch a Roman Emperor and a bunch of men who burned the books that didn’t go along with their version of what they wanted). That is not even the point that I was making. You rightwingers like to try to distract from the actual point by focusing on some little niggling point like a dog with a bone.
The point is that the Bush administration, Bush in particular, has a history of lying to the the American people and the tape of him being briefed about the possiblily of the levee failure and then him telling Americans days later that no one could have imagined it is just one example. If he’s lied about something like that, what else is he lying about?
on March 4, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Big Dog said:
You have an interesting way of reflecting. You brought up the victors write history then when I address it you say I stray from the point. Typical lib, avoid the issue and blame your shortcoming on others.
Perhaps if you saw the whole tape and watched it without bias you would see that Bush was warned the levvess could be topped. Secondly, if it had not been edited you could see that Brown was asked if he needed any other resources and he said not. The fact that the AP guy who put it out was once on 60 minutes II would make Dan Rather proud.
Perhaps Bush could not have imagined it because Blanco told him the levees were holding. She said we do not have a breach all the while the levees were breached. I would have listened to her but you guys on the left just like to blame Bush. He was not there, he listened.
Blanco asked for help just after the President got off the phone with her and Nagin and saying that he wanted to be sure everything was in place to evacuate. He also, on the tape, said we will be there with whatever you need as soon as the storm passes (you can not take stuff in in the middle of the strom). Brown and FEMA had an advance team on there prior to the storm and the feds sent millions of dollars worth of help in people and equipment just after the storm.
So tell me again how the President did not help, and how he was wrong in believing Blanco when she said the levees had not been breached. You guys on the left allow your hatred to cloud judgement. You claim the right blindly follows (which is inaccurate, I criticize acts by this administration all the time as do others). What we are tired of are the people who blame everything on the President because of blind hatred.
I am glad you know who wrote the Bible. Were you there? What do you have against the Bible anyway?
I have an idea to fix NO. Bulldoxe it in and move the city 40 miles inland and then we do not have to worry about the corruption that led to the levees breaking. We will also not have to spend hard earned tax dollars rebuilding something we have no obligation or business rebuilding. Better make sure Nagin and Blanco are not in charge of the evacuation prior to the bulldozer arrical.
on March 4, 2006 at 4:26 pm
BIG DOG's WEBLOG said:
After The Uproar, They Clarify…
The AP reported on videos that President Bush participated in and the impression was that Bush knew about potential breaches and then said he did not. There was an uproar by the left wing blogs with scores of moonbats saying this shows Bush is a liar….