Bush could not attend

[Sooner02]

Our president could not attend his party's convention because he was "attending to the business of Hurricane Gustav", despite flying to and from Texas back to Washington, DC where he appeared by satellite at the Republican convention.

However, this is what Bush and McCain were doing the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050829-5_p082905pm-0125-515h.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050829-5_p082905pm-0125-515h.jpg


Or the day after Katrina hit New Orleans, August 30, 2005.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/Bush-guitar.jpg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/Angry%20and%20wet.jpg

[SicEmBaylor]

:eyeroll:

The coast is lucky that he did anything at all. Disaster relief is not an enumerated power of the Federal government, and they have no business handing out the public's money to people who voluntarily choose to live in a dangerous area.

[Mixer!]

...that's it? That's the best you've got?


Son, go back to reading your Daily Kos, and come back when you've developed some better material. You're bringing nothing new to the table.

[soonerscuba]

:eyeroll:

The coast is lucky that he did anything at all. Disaster relief is not an enumerated power of the Federal government, and they have no business handing out the public's money to people who voluntarily choose to live in a dangerous area.

:rolleyes:

FEMA was founded for events exactly like Katrina, despite not being enumerated doesn't stop it from being intrinsic to federal policy, much like safety regulations in regards to mining or nuclear power.

[soonerscuba]

BTW, I dislike Bush as much as the other 75% of us, but better late than never, good on him for skipping to attend to more important matters.

[SicEmBaylor]

:rolleyes:

FEMA was founded for events exactly like Katrina, despite not being enumerated doesn't stop it from being unconstitutional, much like safety regulations in regards to mining or nuclear power.

Fixed.

[swardboy]

Bobby Jindal was the difference....governors take care of the states, calling on federal assistance as they see fit. Dems lose on this one....

[batonrougesooner]

Jindal kicks ***. He's going places.

[picasso]

they shoulda rented a boat with Sean Penn.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

How can these libs remain libs in the face of looking so bad all the time? I would think some of you would start to see you need to rethink things.

[badger]

The thing about disasters is you never know when they're going to hit.

[Sooner02]

Bobby Jindal was the difference....governors take care of the states, calling on federal assistance as they see fit. Dems lose on this one....

The governor did request federal assistance beforehand.


On August 27, 2005, Governor [Kathleen] Blanco, issued a request for federal assistance and USD $9 million in aid to President George W. Bush, which stated, "...I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal." Also in the requesting letter, the governor stated: "In response to the situation I have taken appropriate action under State law and directed the execution of the State Emergency Plan on August 26, 2005 in accordance with Section 501 (a) of the Stafford Act. A State of Emergency has been issued for the State in order to support the evacuations of the coastal areas in accordance with our State Evacuation Plan.

[Sooner02]

The thing about disasters is you never know when they're going to hit.

The thing is, they had plenty of warning.


White House Got Early Warning on Katrina

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 24, 2006; Page A02

In the 48 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, the White House received detailed warnings about the storm's likely impact, including eerily prescient predictions of breached levees, massive flooding, and major losses of life and property, documents show.

A 41-page assessment by the Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC), was delivered by e-mail to the White House's "situation room," the nerve center where crises are handled, at 1:47 a.m. on Aug. 29, the day the storm hit, according to an e-mail cover sheet accompanying the document.

The NISAC paper warned that a storm of Katrina's size would "likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching" and specifically noted the potential for levee failures along Lake Pontchartrain. It predicted economic losses in the tens of billions of dollars, including damage to public utilities and industry that would take years to fully repair. Initial response and rescue operations would be hampered by disruption of telecommunications networks and the loss of power to fire, police and emergency workers, it said.

The documents shed new light on the extent on the administration's foreknowledge about Katrina's potential for unleashing epic destruction on New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities and towns. President Bush, in a televised interview three days after Katrina hit, suggested that the scale of the flooding in New Orleans was unexpected. "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm," Bush said in a Sept. 1 interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

[OklahomaTuba]

Blanco was the problem. The Idiot running FEMA didn't help much either.

The fact that this latest Hurricane planning was so successful, and the only people NOT there is Blanco & Brownie seems to prove that point.

Thank GOD for the residents of NOLA that the people of Louisiana saw fit to get her the hell out of office.

[OklahomaTuba]

BTW, I wonder where the Redeemer of Mankind was that day??

I suspect he was running for President, but thats just me.

[SicEmBaylor]

Blanco was the problem. The Idiot running FEMA didn't help much either.

The fact that this latest Hurricane planning was so successful, and the only people NOT there is Blanco & Brownie seems to prove that point.

Thank GOD for the residents of NOLA that the people of Louisiana saw fit to get her the hell out of office.

Blanco was a huge huge problem. The woman was totally and completely clueless. She freaking CRIED on national television during her own press conference. What kind of leader does that? And, no, I'm not being sarcastic. When things are clearly a horrible mess and you expect your governor to be calmly working on the problem, there she is in near hysterics.

She was useless and way way way the hell out of her league when disaster struck.

[lexsooner]

Katrina was a cluster from the White House all the way down to local government. All of them share blame - Bush, Rove, Brownie, Blanco, etc., largely uncaring and/or idiots. Too bad they didn't have a competent person like Bobby Jindal there to tell them all what to do, including the White House. When this was all happening, Rove was plotting how to take political advantage of the situation. Could not have cared any less about any of the victims. Disgraceful, Rove and all of them.

[Big Red Ron]

The thing is, they had plenty of warning.Yeah, cuz weather forecasters are just so right all the time. Heck if they do better than 50/50 on forecasting I'd be hellisurpised.

Seriously, nobody could have imagined it was going to be as bad as it was.

And it is also true, that it's state government that's responsible for these things. Sure the federal government helps in many occasions but it's not like Bush can wave a magic wand and make hurricanes less damaging or be expected to be the front line of protecting the cities in the way. Again, that's the state's job.

Jeez, people. Bush learned the hard way that some hurricanes can be worse than expected, which is why he was taking this last one so seriously which actually lessened in strength. So, in your opinion, he sucks for not taking action sooner on the Katrina but when he goes to his office to brace for the next one he also sucks. I swear some of you cannot be pleased.