"Nice job, Brownie."

[clk]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

Is it really so much to ask that the President turn on CNN every once in a while when he is on vacation, and when a category 5 hurricane is making landfall near a major low lying city??

 

[Regnad Kcin]

Is it really so much to ask that the President turn on CNN every once in a while when he is on vacation, and when a category 5 hurricane is making landfall near a major low lying city??

He had bicycles to ride and brush to clear, my friend.

 

[RandFan]

Is it really so much to ask that the President turn on CNN every once in a while when he is on vacation, and when a category 5 hurricane is making landfall near a major low lying city??

That's a fair question though I'm not certain that he really needs to watch the news. I think his aides could accurately paint the picture for him. I watched the news those first few nights and I was not at all certain exactly how serious the situation was though I suspected it was pretty serious from the look of it. I'm not sure how much CNN would have told him that his aides were not telling him. Obviously for those who know the President failed in every way possible and knew that the president could do no right then this is proof of something.

Sadly the article really doesn't really tell us much but the perceptions of the author as it relates to Bush. He seems to try and answer that which is not yet known. What did Bush know and when did he know it. Further why did he respond the way he responded? Did Bush rely too heavily on bureaucrats like Chertoff and Brown? Did concerns of being seen as heavy handed play a part? Interesting that the author points out that "it will take months to sort out who is to blame." And then concludes that Bush's style produced a disaster within a disaster.

Odd that the author then glosses over the blunders of the Governor and the Mayor and paints them in a positive light. "Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a motherly but steely figure known by the nickname Queen Bee"

She and the Mayor failed to implement the emergency plan. The mayor turned down an offer from Amtrak to transport people out of the city. The buses were left to drown. The governor was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. It was their job to prepare for this eventuality. They failed.

"Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a motherly but steely figure known by the nickname Queen Bee"

Give me a f***** break. She blew it. She KNEW what was coming. She knew what was supposed to happen but we are going to wait months to criticize her. Why?

All she could do was plead for help from Bush who promptly went to bed. Yes, Bush f***** up. No question but let's not paint the governor and mayor in a good light while savaging Bush. Grow some balls Evan and report the truth. The WHOLE truth.

The article is scant on any real information. It's ham fisted and transparent. Hopefully this is not typical of the reporting that will come out in days ahead. I just want the truth. I want an unbiased report of what happened and let the chips fall where they may.

ETA: Going back over the article I noticed that I had not read the last page which I think does offer a bit more than the previous pages and I think is better at showing the failure of Bush to sieze control of what the Governor did not want to give up. But then that action was frought with problems in and of itself.

 

[Cain]

Re: Re: This is not satire...

So, you can't defend your argument and instead you personalize your post and make your argument about me.

So I guess your evidence won't be forth coming? No rebuttal that your argument wasn't a straw man?

You have not even understood what I said in the slightest. Instead you're just given to reciting more platitudes. I have more important things to do... like watch reruns of Big Brother: Sweden...

 

[duggie]

Randfan wrote:

I watched the news those first few nights and I was not at all certain exactly how serious the situation was though I suspected it was pretty serious from the look of it.

No ◊◊◊◊ Sherlock! Three nights of mayhem and you were beginning to arrive at a suspicion.
You have encapsulated in one sentence the barking stupidity and paralysis of thought and action endemic to the administration you clumsily defend.

 

[Ladewig]

Re: Re: Re: Re: "Nice job, Brownie."

Two options come to mind. 1.) At the time he believed that he had done a good job. He could have dismissed early criticism as partisan and unfair. 2.) He could have thought the job not as bungled as it was and sought to spin the good.

The first option does not jibe with the accusation from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

I'm sorry, I don't get how it doesn't jibe?

ETA: The statement seems to support #1.

You're right.

If the quote is accurate, however, it is evidence that Bush was either very out of touch (it came on September 6) or has a pathological devotion to Reagan's "eleventh commandment:" thou shall not speak ill of any Republican (or both).

 

[a_unique_person]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/



Is it really so much to ask that the President turn on CNN every once in a while when he is on vacation, and when a category 5 hurricane is making landfall near a major low lying city??

Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a motherly but steely figure known by the nickname Queen Bee, knew that she needed help. But she wasn't quite sure what. At about 8 p.m., she spoke to Bush. "Mr. President," she said, "we need your help. We need everything you've got."

Bush, the governor later recalled, was reassuring. But the conversation was all a little vague. Blanco did not specifically ask for a massive intervention by the active-duty military. "She wouldn't know the 82nd Airborne from the Harlem Boys' Choir," said an official in the governor's office, who did not wish to be identified talking about his boss's conversations with the president. There are a number of steps Bush could have taken, short of a full-scale federal takeover, like ordering the military to take over the pitiful and (by now) largely broken emergency communications system throughout the region. But the president, who was in San Diego preparing to give a speech the next day on the war in Iraq, went to bed.

 

[rikzilla]

If 30,000 white cheerleaders were stranded in the same predicament do you seriously think they would have had to wait as long for rescue as the black single Moms did?

Exactly right! I hate to agree; but it's obvious to me that there is a very clear "Natalee Holloway" bias going on in this country. Hell, 30,000 cheerleaders...white, black, yellow, or red and I'd have been down there with my Bass Tracker doing the rescue myself!

That said, the Federal response is still second eschelon...the first response is at state level. Remember the national guard troops not letting the Red Cross into NO?? Those were controlled by the Governor of Louisianna....not any Federal entity.

-z

 

[zakur]

I also heard one Bush apologist make the outrageous claim that Bush was being sarcastic when he said it.

I was just thinking that perhaps this tactic should be known as the "Coulter Defense."

 

[ShowMe]

There are a number of steps Bush could have taken, short of a full-scale federal takeover, like ordering the military to take over the pitiful and (by now) largely broken emergency communications system throughout the region

Not without the state requesting it, or him invoking the insurrection act.

This situation is a prime example of locals officals dropping the ball from square one.

 

[headscratcher4]

the Federal response is still second eschelon...

At least when you are accused of significant ineptitude...can there be any doubt that if this was well executed and FEMA and Homeland Security hitting all pistons, that the chest thumping for the great management skills of the Administration would have already begun?

BTW...this is true for all Administrations. James Lee Witt, a very competent Administrator, didn't have to face Katrina. I suspect, at the core, his execution and delivery would have been better, but there would still, likely be massive problems -- if I am being fair about it, which I hate.

 

[RandFan]

Re: Re: Re: This is not satire...

You have not even understood what I said in the slightest. Instead you're just given to reciting more platitudes. I have more important things to do... like watch reruns of Big Brother: Sweden...

So that's a no on the argument then? All you can muster is rhetoric and then declare that I don't understand.

 

[RandFan]

No ◊◊◊◊ Sherlock! Three nights of mayhem and you were beginning to arrive at a suspicion.
You have encapsulated in one sentence the barking stupidity and paralysis of thought and action endemic to the administration you clumsily defend.

How have I defended it? I've been damn critical of the administration. Just what do you think "Yes, Bush f***** up." means? I don't buy the conclusions that this guy does and I don't buy yours. And how does my sentence encapsulate anything about the Bush administration? Regardless of what the Bush administration or even the local government did or didn't do there would have been very serious problems. The city was flooded and many people refused to leave. The picture was not clear at first though certainly there were reasons to be concerned. So how does that encapsulate anything? Again, if you lack skepticism and critical thought and don't like Bush then there is only one conclusion that you are likely to come to. It was all Bush's fault.

Why not simply find the truth and hold everyone responsible who failed at fault?

So don't tell me what I clumsily defend or don't. I have been as harsh on Bush as anyone.

 

[RandFan]

BTW...this is true for all Administrations. James Lee Witt, a very competent Administrator, didn't have to face Katrina. I suspect, at the core, his execution and delivery would have been better, but there would still, likely be massive problems -- if I am being fair about it, which I hate.

Understood. You value reason. When it comes to politics some people's critical thinking turns to mush. Politically this is a great opportunity to acheive an agenda. Why screw it up with reason. Focusing on anything other than Bush is an idiot and it is all his fault is counter to that agenda. Note how many folks won't even acknowledge that the Mayor and the Governer had any responsibility whatsoever. Now if they had been Republican you can damn sure bet that they would be mentioned. And I'm accused of defending Bush? I'll say it again for those who refuse to acknowledge that I hold this position, Bush f***** up! Pure and simple.

 

[clk]

That's a fair question though I'm not certain that he really needs to watch the news. I think his aides could accurately paint the picture for him. I watched the news those first few nights and I was not at all certain exactly how serious the situation was though I suspected it was pretty serious from the look of it. I'm not sure how much CNN would have told him that his aides were not telling him. Obviously for those who know the President failed in every way possible and knew that the president could do no right then this is proof of something.

No, I think in some cases, you HAVE to watch television to see just how horrendous the situation is. Example: 9/11. If his aides tell him that a plane has hit the WTC, that does not begin to describe how bad the situation really is. Some things you have to see for yourself, and nothing else will cut it.

Some people may ask, "what do you expect Bush to do?". Well, how about something along these lines:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287435/
In September 1965, a massive hurricane hit New Orleans. By the next day the president—a Texan in a time of war—was in the city, visiting a shelter. With no electricity in the darkness there, Lyndon Baines Johnson held a flashlight to his face and proclaimed, "This is the president of the United States and I'm here to help you!"

http://www.whitehousetapes.org/exhibits/betsy/
On the evening of September 9, 1965, Hurricane Betsy came ashore near Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, with the National Weather Service reporting wind gusts near 160 mph. As the storm tracked inland, the city of New Orleans was hit with 110 mph winds, a storm surge around 10 feet, and heavy rain. Betsy devastated low-lying areas on the eastern side of the city and eventually led to the expansion of an already impressive levee system to protect a city that lay mostly below sea-level. After the storm passed, Louisiana Senator Russell Long, the son of the legendary Senator and Governor Huey Long, called President Johnson to get the President to tour the devastated areas. In Long’s unique style, he let the LBJ know that the Betsy had severely damaged his own home and had nearly killed his family.

LBJ arrived in New Orleans five hours after talking to Senator Long. He was shocked by the suffering and in particular by thirst of survivors in one shelter. He immediately announced that the “red tape be cut,” and he took personal control of operations, which he continued—according to the Washington Post—“day and night.”

 

[RandFan]

Some people may ask, "what do you expect Bush to do?".

I for one certainly expected more.

 

[clk]

I for one certainly expected more.

I will say, for the record, that the governor and mayor also f*cked up badly. I think it's bullsh*t that the mayor asked the President for 'every Greyhound bus' in the country a few days after the storm, when the mayor had access to hundreds of school buses that were left unused. I think a bi-partisan, independent commission should be set up to investigate what went wrong and to see what the mayor, the governor, and the president could have done to respond adequately.

 

[ShowMe]

I will say, for the record, that the governor and mayor also f*cked up badly. I think it's bullsh*t that the mayor asked the President for 'every Greyhound bus' in the country a few days after the storm

The response he finally came up with was something along the lines of "I can't get workers to show up on sunny days, let alone in front of a hurricane".

This was later echoed by a US Senator. I'll add links once I can scrounge themup, if something shiny doesn't catch my attention first.

 

[King of the Americas]

The President's actions...

...following the storm, were NON-EXISTANT in regards to his 'response' to the devastation.

The day after 9-11, he stood upon the rubble, with loudspeak in hand, reassuring the nation, the rescue workers, and those who'd lost loved ones that help was there and that he HEARD the crys of those in need.

How long did it take for him to hit ground zero- I.e. New Orleans & Biloxi???

He flew OVER the region a day after the fact, and he only just this weekend managed to find his way to New Orleans.

Sure the local and state government had their d*cks in their arses, but a major U.S. city was all but completely destroyed. The response of this President was minimal, if that...

 

[a_unique_person]

Not without the state requesting it, or him invoking the insurrection act.

This situation is a prime example of locals officals dropping the ball from square one.

Help was requested the moment it was certain the hurricane would would hit and it would be bad. I don't believe troops were requested at that time, but there are many resources available apart from troops. Just a decent emergency communications system would have done wonders.