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gypsyfish · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/ushurricanekatrinapolitics;_ylt=AjI.kml.fdRs28YdgS0x.AYDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

(oooh, I feel like RR)

The AP has a tape that shows that Bush and his 'folks' were indeed aware that the Katrina hurricane was a significant problem and that the levees might be toppled, even though, after they collapsed, he said no one anticipated it.

Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was heard saying "this is, to put it mildly, the big one".

Brown expressed concern about the Superdome, saying the giant New Orleans sports stadium where thousands of residents eventually sought shelter is "about 12 feet (four meters) below sea level."

"I don't know whether the roof is designed to withstand a Cat (category) Five hurricane," Brown is heard saying.

The FEMA director also voiced concern about the medical and mortuary services available to cope with a disaster.

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," he said, referring to the danger of a one-two punch of hurricane and flooding after a levee breach.

Brown later had to resign, the most senior victim of the storm of controversy over the slow government response to the hurricane.

Max Mayfield, head of the National Hurricane Center, said during a briefing there was "very, very grave concern" that New Orleans' levees could be topped by Katrina.

In the August 28 video, Mayfield warned "there is potential for large loss of lives" on the coastal areas from a storm surge.

Bush said in a television interview four days after the hurricane hit however: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Christ! Is it 2008, yet?

Octavius Hite · Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:50 am Post subject:

And just think Hurricane season is just 5 months away. Yeehaw!

EFLtrainer · Joined: 04 May 2005

I may well owe "Brownie" an apology. On the positive side, it is even more clear that many of us have been dead on in saying BUSH and his jackasses dropped the ball.

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

So they left him twisting in the wind as a scapegoat rather than coming to his defence because to do so would have put the spotlight on where the incompetency really lay?

Is there anyone left to be surprised by the White House sinking this low?

EFLtrainer · Joined: 04 May 2005

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

EFLtrainer · Joined: 04 May 2005

yoda · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Location: Incheon, South Korea

In the OP, all I see is worry and doubt. Before he should be let off the hook I would like to see what the guy did to act on those worries. What calls did he make. What recommendations did he give and to who. And then who blocked him from acting on his worries. I am not saying he wasn't a scapegoat, I'm just saying expressing worry is, in and of itself, nothing.

As for Bush and Gang, . . . well what's new? They are the masters of spin. In there world, it really doesn't matter what the truth is. All that matters is what people think the truth is and how you can make them think that.

Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee · Joined: 25 May 2003

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

gypsyfish · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Who said anything about giving him a medal?

The earlier perspective was that he was a complete buffoon. Now he looks like he, at least, was aware of the situation and informed his superiors.

Oh ... and Bush got caught in yet another lie. (Not especially newsworthy, but needs to be said.)

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

gypsyfish · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

The title was a play on words since Bush said that he was doing a heckava good job.

What I was suggesting was that he wasn't the incompetent that the media and most of us (me, too) thought he was.

Should he have been more forceful in his warning? Maybe, but as I listen to his comments, he seems pretty clear and it's pretty clear that his higher-ups weren't listening.

In movies the hero always beats on his chest and smarts off to the president, but that's the movies. In real life, someone who did that wouldn't rise to a position where they could brief the president.

Plenty of blame to go around - including some to Brown - but not as much as I thought 24 hours ago.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

http://thismodernworld.com/2733

This post makes a good point: the President was less informed about the situation in Lousiana than the average American cable television viewer. The selection of photos, all taken on the same day, down in the second half drives the point home.

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

thanks for putting that video up hater...i'd been looking for it.
I'll tell you, i also hate brownie a little more.
But i like how it's just one more case of misrepresentation by bush himself.
I have little doubt bush will somehow spin this "Clinton styles"....
i could only hope (if i were a republican)....