Video shows Bush Katrina Warning

[Herr Doktor!]

Video shows Bush Katrina Warning

I just saw this on BBC news, and looked up the relevant article on the website, because the videos were quite shocking. They were leaked by god-knows-who, and are sourced from a meeting between Bush and FEMA leader Michael Brown, warning him about Katrina. Then a later one with him warning him that the Superdome's roof might collapse. On both occasions, Bush asks no questions, and goes against the warnings, concluding both meetings with the statement that all seemed in order.

So basically, once again, he was informed about the imminent disaster and the possible collapse of the levy, there's video footage of people telling him this IN the White House, there's video footage of him ignoring them, and there's video footage of public statement of him saying he didn't know jack sh*t. I don't want to compare this to the war in Iraq and the whole 'intelligence failure' bit (you got that right... hoho), but this all seems awfully familiar.

How can people still attach an ounce of credibility to this moron? Sheesh.

Also, pre-emptive strike against tinfoil hat stupidity: I believe Deacon is going to dismiss this as left-wing commie hippie bush bashing in 3...2...

Overlooking facts seems to be his favourite hobby.

[StruckingFuggle]

So ... Bush lied. About something important. (likely to make himself look better...)

But of course, it wasn't under oath.

So it wasn't a crime.

How ... sickening.

Posted Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:25 am:

In the past, the president has said nobody anticipated a breach but the video shows Michael Brown, the top emergency response official who has since resigned, saying the storm would be "a bad one, a big one".

"We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Mr Brown says.

So ... Brown knew it was coming. Knew it could be bad. Knew it was likely. And wasn't geared up to mobilize as soon as the hurricane had passed?* ... hell of a job, douchebag.


*tinfoilhat: because Bush blocked it?

[dmpotter]

[quote="Herr Doktor!";p="612281"]On both occasions, Bush asks no questions, and goes against the warnings, concluding both meetings with the statement that all seemed in order.[/quote]
And? He had tasked FEMA to deal with it. As far as he's concerned, all is in order. FEMA takes care of it.

The Executive Branch isn't just some giant monolith, you know. Not everything it does is something Bush personally did.

[mikehendo]

I just got an email from Move-On.. They've got to be joking.. How exactly did they want Bush to reacte? Did they want him to put p a magic anti-hurricane sheild?
If those people would have watched the news along with everyone else they would have known to evacuate.. The only people who deserve any sympathy are those who were hospitalized, or those who were stuck working the hospitals..

Im getting soo sick of all this bs that the administration is responsible for katrina. Last I checked Bush didnt have some magical control over hurricanes.

Besides, dm is right, he gave the issue to FEMA to let them do thier jobs. And, he sent in troops as soon as it was safe. Safe meaning that the idiots down there stopped shooting at friendlies. So, if you want to blame some one blame the jerks who were using Katrina as an excuse to raid and pillage. Heck, if someone was shooting at me while I tried to rescue them I would have told them to fuck off and went back home.

[Deacon]

Mike, Bush caused Katrina to breach the levvies. In fact, Bush specifically issued orders to send in the military to prevent Ray Nagin from shoring up his city's levvies, which he was trying to do with his own two hands with the help of the entire black community while the handful of whites stood back and scoffed. It is Bush's fault the people of New Orleans declined to shore up their levvies, and it's because George Bush doesn't care about black people. Bush tied the governor's hands and threw the mayor in jail until his plans to destroy New Orleans had a chance to succeed, against the advice of true national heros like Sean Penn. He caused the hurricane by inventing global warming, and while he had the ability to perform miracles, he specifically chose not to.

[ReggarBlane]

Bush's job is NOT FEMA's job. I wouldn't expect a BBC reporter to completely understand the USA heirarchy, though.

[tankkisankari]

So because it wasn't his job, he lied about knowing the seriousness of the hurricane?

[Deacon]

He covered for the governor and mayor, whose devastating incompetence up to that point had not yet been as thoroughly disastrous. In my opinion, it was a mistake to do so.

[StruckingFuggle]

[quote="Deacon";p="612343"]He covered for the governor and mayor, whose devastating incompetence up to that point had not yet been as thoroughly disastrous. In my opinion, it was a mistake to do so.[/quote]

So again, when it's not under oath, lying to the nation boldfacedly is only a "mistake", eh?

[Bigity]

I knew about the hurricane days ahead of time, and thought to myself, wow, if I lived somewhere that is UNDER THE FUCKING SEA LEVEL, and I lived there...I'd start getting the hell out of the danger zone.

You can't make people do smart things, and nobody should have to forcible evict people who are too dumb to be aware of the environment around them.

[Hennet_sim]

All Bush Does is lie. Never saying the truth.

I knew about the hurricane days ahead of time, and thought to myself, wow, if I lived somewhere that is UNDER THE FUCKING SEA LEVEL, and I lived there...I'd start getting the hell out of the danger zone.

Most of them were stuipd not to get out of the danger zone in the flooding they should have been left to die.

[Bigity]

Not left, but is it someone else's responsibility to go to unreasonable levels to get someone to pay attention?

I don't think so.

[yoctobot]

Ok I dont like Bush and never voted for him but he did what everyone else below him did, he passed the buck. The people of New Orleans passed the buck to the mayor, the mayor passed the buck to the govenor, the govenor passed the buck to the president, the president passed the buck to FEMA and FEMA...... dropped the ball.

[StruckingFuggle]

the video shows Michael Brown, the top emergency response official who has since resigned, saying the storm would be "a bad one, a big one".

"We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Mr Brown says.

Now, CMIIW, but ... didn't Brown also try to play the "no one knew how bad it was gonna be, we all thought not much was gonna happen, noone coulda reasonably expected the coast to get hurricaneowned" card, too?

Posted Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:45 pm:

And it can't be laid at the feet of Bush, but it certainly should put another axe at Brown's neck, wondering why he wasn't ready to go.

(of course, you can in turn lay Brown himself at the feet of Bush and his preference for cronyism over merit)

[Deacon]

In the video, btw, it shows Brown reviewing afterwards, saying, "I told you guys my gut tells me this was going to be a big one." An example of eyebrow-raising reporting in that BBC article: "storm surges could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun afterwards is 'obviously a very, very grave concern.'" Well, what the dude actually said, "I don't think anyone can say with any confidence right now whether the levvies will be topped or not, but..." and then said it was going to be a grave concern. It's too bad the anti-Bush sentiment on the part of the author was so thinly veiled. This was an opportunity to actually spark some meaningful discussion. For instance, one of the highlighted quotes: "It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow?" - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Yeah, assfuck, why WAS response so slow to dire predictions and admonitions and warnings that the levvies must be shored up? You think FEMA had a slow response? You had 50 years worth of warning... You brought this on yourself. That you wish everything had worked out more to your favor is irrelevant.