Katrina-Bush and the political questions begin

hi revel

This passive voice/active voice difference is one to keep in mind when studying political discourse. At the very least, it is a dependable indicator of who has or does not have the balls and integrity to be forthright regarding his/her responsibility.

Conflicting accounts from top on Katrina response

Reuters

Sep. 15, 2005 - Under fire over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House and Homeland Security Department have offered conflicting accounts of who was in charge and when the administration first triggered what it promised would be a massive, organized federal response.

U.S. Senate investigators are looking closely at these inconsistencies and what some critics say was general confusion within the administration about what a newly created National Response Plan entailed.

Homeland Security Michael Chertoff waited nearly 36 hours after the August 29 storm hit to designate then-FEMA Director Michael Brown as the "principal federal official" to coordinate the federal response, according to a memo Chertoff sent to fellow Cabinet members on August 30.

In the same memo, Chertoff declared Katrina the first-ever "incident of national significance" -- an announcement touted the next day by the White House as key to setting in motion a carefully choreographed response and recovery effort.

But according to government documents, congressional aides and Homeland Security officials, what first triggered the "incident of national significance" was not Chertoff's memo, but a little-noticed statement issued by the White House on the night of August 27 while President George W. Bush was still vacationing at his Crawford, Texas ranch.

"That was the trigger," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.

But instead of designating Brown to as the "principal federal official" under the National Response Plan, Bush on August 27 named a lower-level official -- William Lokey -- to lead the federal recovery operations.

Bush has since acknowledged that Katrina exposed serious deficiencies at all levels of government, despite the administration's much-touted National Response Plan, which was completed in December 2004 and spelled out how agencies were to respond to major natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

NEW TARGET?

At first it was Brown who took the brunt of the criticism for the federal response to Katrina and he resigned under pressure on Monday.

But some congressional aides involved in the investigation are now questioning why Chertoff waited until August 30 to designate Brown as the "principal federal official" and to declare the storm an "incident of national significance."

Knocke said it was the White House -- not Chertoff -- that initiated the response plan when, on August 27, Bush in a statement "declared an emergency exists in the state of Louisiana" and authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency "to coordinate all disaster relief efforts" under the so-called Stafford Act.

According to the National Response Plan, "all presidentially declared disasters and emergencies under the Stafford Act are considered incidents of national significance."

But it is unclear why Chertoff did not immediately designate Brown as the "principal federal official" with oversight over Lokey and other federal and state officials.

Once he declared an emergency on August 27, Bush was required under the Stafford Act to immediately appoint a "federal coordinating officer" like Lokey.

But under the National Response Plan, Chertoff could hold off. "Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, a principal federal official may not always be designated, in which case the federal coordinating officer will provide the federal lead," the plan says.

Knocke said Chertoff did not hold off designating Brown as the "principal federal official" because he doubted the severity of the storm. Chertoff was working from home on August 27 and kept in touch with officials by phone, he said.

Knocke said Brown already "was in fact the lead federal official in the field before and after (Chertoff's) declaration. ... Everyone knew their roles and responsibilities."

Eight in 10 people say it's important for Americans now driving sport utility vehicles to switch to more fuel-efficient vehicles to reduce the nation's dependence on oil, a poll found.

Heh. Every once in a while, you gotta love Lash. I still stand by the overall assertion that Bush has, comparatively, shown an exceptional reluctance to face up to mistakes and take responsibility, but I'll never use the word "never" again in this context, thats for sure ;-)

Hm. They say Bush never apologizes and I bring an abundance of Bush apologies.

They say Bush apologies are notably less than other Presidents'....but won't give evidence...

They aren't telling the truth. Don't be duped by rhetoric.

You need to be educated by my facts, instead of sticking your fingers in your ears.

Bush has apologized several times.

Lash wrote:

You need to be educated by my facts, instead of sticking your fingers in your ears.

Bush has apologized several times.

I never stick my fingers in my ears. I might hold my nose from time to time.

BBB

Lash wrote:

Hm. They say Bush never apologizes and I bring an abundance of Bush apologies.

They say Bush apologies are notably less than other Presidents'....but won't give evidence...

They aren't telling the truth. Don't be duped by rhetoric.

That why we aren't duped by Lash's rhetoric.

BBB

It's always been clear to me that five years ago, when all those Republican guys got together and realized that George Bush could be elected president - and that he wasn't remotely capable - they came to an understanding: they would walk him through it. I'm sure it seemed like a swell idea, especially because it meant that they'd be in a perfect position to convince him to do all sorts of exciting things they had always wanted to do.

JUST THE SAME ... IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT

Now here's something you probably didn't know about Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina. At the very time Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, there were several top-level officials in the very department of Louisiana government that prepares for emergencies such as Katrina sitting around and waiting for their trial. Trial, you say? Trial for what? Let's try corruption and throw in a bit of fraud.

It seems that these Louisiana officials either misspent or misplaced or ... worse ... about 60 million federal taxpayer bucks. Here are some details ...

In March of this year -- that's about five months before Katrina -- FEMA was asking for the return of $30.4 million that the federal government had sent to Louisiana for emergency planning and preparedness. Most of this money was sent to some state office called the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Wait .. it gets worse. According to the Los Angeles Times, much of that money was sent to Louisiana under some federal program called the Hazard Mitigation Grant program. That is a program that is, in part, supposed to help states improve flood control facilities. Flood? Did someone say flood?

Hazard mitigation would have been a great idea in New Orleans, don't you think? Especially that "improve flood control facilities" part, but nobody seems to know where the money went! OK ... let's follow the trail of $15.4 million dollars that was spent by the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. The $15.4 million was part of a $40.5 million grant of your money that was sent to Louisiana for the Hazard Mitigation Program. You know ... flood control and all that. Oops! Hold on a second here. My bad. It seems we can't follow that $15.4 million.. You see, the Louisiana officials say that they awarded that money to subcontractors for 19 major hazard mitigation programs, but they just can't seem to find any receipts to account of 97% of the funds. Ninety-seven percent of $15.4 million, my friends. No receipts. That's $14.94 million .. gone, and nobody can trace it.

Do any of you think that something good might have been done with some of this money? Lives saved? Flooding prevented? If you're thinking that, remember ... we're talking Hurricane Katrina here, and we all know that every bad thing that happened in Hurricane Katrina was --- all together now ---- Bush's Fault!

Perhaps if these Louisiana officials ever actually go to trial now they will be able to use the "Blame Bush" defense.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL .....

Let's see ... what else have we learned in the past week about the response to Katrina.

Doctors from across the United States poured into Louisiana to offer their services in shelters and hospitals treating Katrina's victims. They could do nothing. They just sat. You see, they weren't licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana. It took the amazing Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, five days to sign a waiver to allow these doctors to practice medicine in Louisiana. Five days, while people were suffering and dying. Don't blame Blanco, though. It was clearly Bush's fault.


New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin
On the Saturday before the hurricane New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin received a call from Amtrak. There was a passenger train sitting in the New Orleans station with 900 empty seats. Did the Mayor want to put some evacuees in those seats? No thanks. The train left nearly empty. You cannot blame Mayor Nagin for this decision, that clearly would be racist. It just has to be Bush's fault.

In 1997 the U.S. Congress appropriated $500,000 of your money -- not federal money, taxpayer's money -- to the State of Louisiana. The money was set aside to create a "comprehensive analysis and plan of all evacuation alternatives for New Orleans." Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the big deal here, isn't it? New Orleans didn't get evacuated, right? Well, for two years nothing happened. Then the Congress demanded of Louisiana a plan for evacuation in the event of a category 3 story, a levee break, a flood or some other natural disaster. The $500,000 of your money got to Louisiana .. but then what? It was spent by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, not on an evacuation plan, but things that needed to be done to the Lake Pontchartrain causeway over the next fifteen years or so. What does the incredible Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness have to say about the funds and the causeway study? The spokesman says that they can't find any information. Actually, we shouldn't be holding the Louisiana emergency preparedness folks or the state responsible for this ... not when we all know it was Bush's fault.

Speaking of flood control. You did know, didn't you, that in 1996 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was going to raise and strengthen the very levees that failed in New Orleans. They were going to, but they didn't. And why not? Because of a lawsuit, that's why. The plaintiff in the lawsuit didn't want the work done until extensive and expensive environmental impact statements were prepared by the Corps of Engineers and approved by the EPA. And who filed that lawsuit? Why .. it was the Sierra Club. The very same Sierra Club, by the way, that listened with rapt attention in San Francisco on September 9th while Al Gore told them that the leaders of this country ought to be held accountable for the flooding in New Orleans. Now, some of us might be so twisted as to think that the very Sierra Club that was so enthralled by Gore's rantings should bear some of the blame here ... but that's only because we just don't realize that it was all Bush's fault. Oh .. and by the way. Why haven't we heard more about this Sierra Club lawsuit in the mainstream media? Remember the template.

Mayor Ray Nagin is inviting residents of some areas of New Orleans to come back to their homes and businesses and begin the cleanup process. There's another possible hurricane bearing down on the Florida Keys --- a tropical storm that could become a hurricane and could head toward New Orleans. Now it's possible that if over 100,000 residents return to New Orleans and are further victimized by another hurricane and another flood .. will it be Mayor Ray Nagin's fault? Of course not, you idiot! It will be George Bush's fault! Haven't you been paying attention?

SO, BOORTZ. DIDN'T BUSH DO ANYTHING WRONG?

You bet he did. He appointed a political hack to the job of FEMA director. A lawyer-turned-horse show official. Then he appointed another lawyer to run the Department of Homeland Security. These people can be responsible for the safety of a huge number of American people, and the job should not be given as a gift to campaign workers. Further, it can certainly be argued that Bush should have moved quicker when it became clear that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco was in way, way over her head. He didn't. Bad move.