The truth about Hurricane Katrina
Look, I've never been much of a fan of Michael "Brownie" Brown, but can we now, finally, hold President Bush accountable for the federal government's failure to respond properly and effectively to Hurricane Katrina? This is the smoking gun:
Indeed, the footage reveals both that the federal government badly botched its response to Katrina given what was anticipated before the storm hit and that Bush lied to the American people. It also reveals that Brown warned his superiors of the severity of the situation, both before and after the storm hit, implored them to take action, and concerned himself with the welfare of the people of New Orleans with the utmost gravity.
Yet Brown has been scapegoated and slandered while Bush has, as usual, denied responsibility and avoided accountability. It is time for that to change. Brown ought to be credited, however belatedly, for what he did to help the victims of Katrina, for the leadership, however flawed, he showed during a time of crisis. And Bush...
Bush ought to be ashamed of himself. The American people ought to be ashamed of him. And his gross negligence must finally be held against him.
Two days ago, I put it this way:
It's Katrina, stupid!
The message remains the same.
**********
Crooks and Liars has the video here.
At Newsweek, Mark Hosenball has more on who knew what and when.
See also The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Left Coaster, The Carpetbagger Report, Bob Geiger, and Pandagon.
In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."
The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.
Indeed, the footage reveals both that the federal government badly botched its response to Katrina given what was anticipated before the storm hit and that Bush lied to the American people. It also reveals that Brown warned his superiors of the severity of the situation, both before and after the storm hit, implored them to take action, and concerned himself with the welfare of the people of New Orleans with the utmost gravity.
Yet Brown has been scapegoated and slandered while Bush has, as usual, denied responsibility and avoided accountability. It is time for that to change. Brown ought to be credited, however belatedly, for what he did to help the victims of Katrina, for the leadership, however flawed, he showed during a time of crisis. And Bush...
Bush ought to be ashamed of himself. The American people ought to be ashamed of him. And his gross negligence must finally be held against him.
Two days ago, I put it this way:
It's Katrina, stupid!
The message remains the same.
**********
Crooks and Liars has the video here.
At Newsweek, Mark Hosenball has more on who knew what and when.
See also The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Left Coaster, The Carpetbagger Report, Bob Geiger, and Pandagon.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
6:52 AM
4 Comments:
I'm with you Michael. While Brownie never should have been given the job in the first place, it is ludicrous to lay the blame at his feet. He's an incompetent yes, but Bush is the bigger incompetent and ultimately responsible for what he, and his underlings, didn't do for the people in the Gulf Coast. He is the failure and we've excused his behavior yet again. It is Katrina stupid, because it is the perfect metaphor for how they mismanage everything from Iraq, the economy, the trade deficit, the spiraling debt, securing the homeland and future issues like a bird flu pandemic, nuclear proliferation and a terrorist attack. With him in power, the only thing we can know for sure is that we're on our own.
By
The (liberal)Girl Next Door, at 12:33 AM
My biggest problem with the entire situation are the ones who want to dismiss the Federal Government mishandling by placing the blame at the state and local level. Obviosly they failed, I agree 100%, now that we're past that and we have 50,000 people on rooftops or stuck in attics drowning what do we do about it? Dismiss it because it's someone elses fault? I think not!! This is when and where the administration is responsible and dropped the ball. They blew it, they lied about it, and now the spinsters just want to blame someone else. I'm glad it wasn't their families cooking on a hot roof but I sure would love to hear their opinion if it was. Something tells me the king wouldn't be so high up on his pedestal in their eyes.
By
Anonymous, at 1:02 PM
I think FEMA should have been prepared; it should not have been Bush's job to mobilize an agency that exists to handle emergencies. Having said that, I think Bush is ultimately responsible for the culture of "I don't give a damn about government, it's not important, so who cares who runs the agencies?" We didn't need the president to be running around directing relief operations--we needed president that had already provided competent leadership and sufficient resources to FEMA.
To the extent that FEMA needed help from the president to coordinate with other agencies, of course, he should have done that, but I think the basic failure started much earlier and I would argue, is, in part, the culmination of 25 years of government bashing by conservatives.
I work for the federal government. Believe me, the people running the agency and their attitude makes a big difference (as in any institution) in how it functions. If you expect lousy government, that's what you will get.
By
Anonymous, at 4:53 PM
That's an excellent point, Marc. I do agree that the Republicans' battering of government has taken its toll. As a government employee myself, I share your feelings. Clinton may have said that the era of big government is over, but that doesn't mean that the era of government should be over.
Bush may not be solely responsible for that, and he may not be solely responsible for the problems at FEMA, but he is responsible for the executive branch and the buck, as they say, has to stop somewhere.
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 6:56 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home