Everyone - Heads Up!! (Read this!)

[kstewart33]

Go to this site and read the story that will be on page 1 of the Washington Post tomorrow morning: White House Shifts Blame
Administration Points To State, Local Officials.

This is the beginning of the Bush strategy. He is going to wrest all control from Louisiana officials and make the evacuation totally federally controlled. Then, he can blame the ineptness on the state of Louisiana and NO officials. Governor Blanco is fighting this.

This is getting very interesting.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

[mzmolly]

1. Of course. He's never responsible.

But I don't think there is any way he's going to get away with it staying on vacation and all.

[havocmom]

7. NOLA mayor did NOT make bush stop for cake

and Blanco DID NOT make him play guitar and go to fund raiser on Monday!

SPIN THAT, KKKarl Rove!

[mzmolly]

17. That's right. And, what if the mayor and governor had perished in the

frikken disaster? :eyes:

They are totally full of shit.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. They also did not force the prez

to go out raising money for the Republican party on Monday.

This is total crap. And the sad thing is that a lot of kool aid drinkers on the right will fall for it.

[Pachamama]

54. Don't forget...the golf round! They didn't make * play golf either!

I will NEVER get the image out of my mind of him playing golf, strumming the guitar and eating cake....while people died.

[GeorgeBushytail]

9. No, he's irresponsible.

[steve2470]

2. Recommended ! nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. America will see through this smoke screen. The Feds failed to act.

[RagingInMiami]

34. Or will they?

Sometimes I wonder about this country.

[Imagevision]

41. kick

[Carolab]

4. Well, then he can continue to privatize it too, for Halliburton, et al.

It's ALL about the money. Always is.

[babylonsister]

8. Nice to see your dancing guy, Carolab!

Always makes me smile for some weird reason.

[Carolab]

16. Hi, Babylonsister!

(He's a truckin' little populist from Venezuela!)

Glad I can help someone chuckle in this time of misery...

:toast:

[Imagevision]

36. kick - recommend

[Lydia Guerra]

5. Why does this not surprize me?

[crispini]

6. I am so tired of this type of subject line.

I have already read the article and I don't need to click on a thread only to find out it's telling me to read an article I've already read. Why not consider making your subject line a little more informative and make all of our lives a little easier.

[kstewart33]

13. Sorry crispini

I've read scores of articles online today on the situation, and I think this one was the best of all and worth special attention. I'm normally not hyper with my headlines, but this story I thought and think merits the headline.

[BeTheChange]

24. Grumpy smurf. nt

[Doctor_J]

10. So this is how Martial Law will be implemented

they gut the Federal government, then blame the states when things go wrong, then take over the National Guard. Whoa, Mussolini is somewhere smiling at Georgie's level of evil.

[Reciprocity]

11. Bad move on his part.

It won't work. The pictures and record speak for themselves.

[notadmblnd]

12. nobody will buy it.

we already heard Mayor Nagin speak. We know Gov Blanco requested aid Saturday before the storm hit. We saw the MSM media whores break down on live cable.

And it in the end.. I don't think it really matters who's fault it is. The message Americans have received from this tragedy is that if something happens where we live......we are on our own.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Gee I am shocked! NOT!

:grr:

[LiberalFighter]

15. Time to prosecute them all for treason and have a firing squad ready

[Cleita]

18. When the Nazis set fire to the Riechstag, they blamed the

communists. When Nero set fire to Rome, he blamed the Christians. This is what fascists do to cover up their planned malfaesance and their mistakes, they find a scapegoat. It looks like LA's officials are it. I hope the Governor and anyone else they are pointing fingers at will fight this with everything they've got and don't let them get away with it.

It would even be worth trying to secede and make LA and independent country if that's what it takes.

[walldude]

19. Bush's whole re-election was based on

Do you feel safer with Me or with Kerry. I guess now the rest of America knows the answer to that question.

[Spike from MN]

63. Yeah. The so-called "Security Moms For Bush" can head on

down to NO and place themselves on a rooftop for a couple of weeks along with their kids and no supplies as far as I'm concerned.

Some will flame me because kids shouldn't have to pay the price but since the people called themselves "Security Moms" instead of "Security People" of "Security Bitches" or whatever, their kids are automatically included. But they don't really need to be worried because if Bush is such a security guru like they claim he is, they should have complete confidence in his ability to rescue them so their kids will never be at risk.

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. Bush declared a State of Emergency BEFORE THE STORM

hit the Gulf Coast. At that point the Dept of Homeland Security was in charge. He has no excuse for not doing anything to respond to the disaster.

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. Guess Chimpy blew it didn't he?

Heh Heh Heh. Maybe he thinks everyone has the selective memory he and his criminal corrupt maladministration suffers from. :rofl: :rofl:

[Robert Oak]

45. this whole blame the gov sounds like BS to me

I watched it, the state was declared a state of emergency and they were talking about FEMA before the storm even hit.

This reads very "like rewriting history backwards".

At least I saw a little explanation of why the elderly, disabled
and poor were not evacuated before the storm...
zero resources - although that also sounds lame.

[DoYouEverWonder]

57. Not only that but according to HS's National Response Plan

The Plan ensures the seamless integration of the federal government when an incident exceeds local or state capabilities.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/press_release/press_release_0581.xml


When Bush issued the State of Emergency on Sunday night before the storm made landfall and it was still a Cat 5, the response to the disaster was automatically the responsibility of the Federal Government. What if it was a terrorist attack and the Governor was killed or injured and couldn't respond? This is why Bush lives in a bunker and we don't.

[Robert Oak]

59. we should blog this far and wide

It looks like they are currently trying to hang the governor out to dry
as well as misinforming NO mayor.

Already on CNN the spin is present again & and truth gone.

Hopefully the regular anchors can keep that moment of reporting the truth alive.

[ovidsen]

21. What a crock.

It's the ultimate responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security to co-ordinate disaster relief before, during and after any disaster strikes. That's the mandate of the Department, which was created and signed into law by a certain President Chimp.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp

It's not so much that the Chimp and company want to assume command of relief efforts in Louisiana, blaming state and local officials for the fatal farce in New Orleans. It's the fact that exercising command and control of the preparation for and response to this tragedy was their responsibility in the first place. This is pathetic.

edited for grammer: I was really pissed when I wrote the first draft.

[elehhhhna]

22. I think it's a damnning headline and will backfire mightily.

[ClayZ]

23. perhaps the regime house of mirrors is about to shatter

[cynatnite]

25. Way to go Gov. Blanco! Keep fighting! n/t

[xray s]

26. A real President would have done this

He would have realized last Saturday, like 99% of the rest of America that was paying attention, that the cat 5 hurricaine heading to the NOLA area last Staurday night was going to cause one of the most disasterous events in US history. There was a very grave risk that the levees of NOLA wouldn't hold and 80% of the city could be under water, leaving the city's abilty to provide police and other basic relief efforts ina shambles. This was hammered home over and over again on every news channel. EVERONE KNEW THIS! Relief ships from the nearest ports would be ordered to start heading for the gulf. He wouldn't be waiting for the govenors to call...he would be calling the govenors HIMSELF and telling them he was ordering full mobilization of federal releif efforts, getting whatever formal state pproval he needed to move forward.

He would have got his ass back to DC and called back Congress to be ready to deal with the aftermath last Monday. After the winds subsided Monday, he would have ordered a full damage report generated by DoD satellite intel. He then would have started placing the federal assistence into the area.

[jsamuel]

27. recomended

[Imagevision]

28. Brown claims he had no knowledge until thursday? - it'll never fly!

Even Republican Senators were pleading with Bush to send help to NO.

[DanCa]

30. The chimp is still refusing aid correct?

He still delayed shipment of goods and downed the leveys and then thiers the price of gas. Just too much right too absorb right now.

[Ouabache]

56. and keeping out foreign witnesses too

check this>>

US declines Swedish water sanitation aid


13 minutes ago

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The United States has declined water sanitation aid from Sweden in the wake of the deadly Hurricane Katrina, saying it was currently unable to accept foreign aid packages.

Sweden had offered to send medical and technical aid to the hurricane-ravaged southern United States, and had been planning to send a military cargo plane filled with water sanitation equipment as well as five water sanitation experts on Sunday morning.

Swedish authorities had earlier received word that the US logistically could not immediately accept the aid.

"The planned... flight to the US with aid equipment from the Rescue Services Agency will not take place on Sunday," the Swedish Rescue Services Agency said Sunday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050904/sc_afp/usweatherai...

==================

How much foreign aid for NOLA has he already REFUSED.

[chalky]

31. The tone of this article is spot on. I hope, hope, hope it'll be

printed as written without revisions. Makes it clear that there are cynical motives behind this latest assault on LA.:

Title: "White House Shifts Blame"

"...Bush administration officials blamed state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management."

" State authorities suspected a political motive behind the request."

"But when you talk about the mightiest government in the world, that's a ludicrous and lame excuse. You're FEMA, and you're the big dog. And you weren't prepared either."

Would have been nice if they'd mentioned cakes and guitars, though.

[Be Brave]

33. This administration is a bunch of corrupt trash. What country am I in?

How dare Bush! What happened to "the buck stops here?"

[MadeinOhio]

35. This will backfire on his ass.....

He's good as done for, call for resignations every single day!

http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

We need a contingency to get rid of Cheney and the aides, they are the real problem......And HASTERT, because Bush is only the head of an ugly group of crazy neocons who are traitors!

:mad:

[rucky]

37. How dare they play politics in a time of crisis! n/t

[Booster]

38. I'm hoping this is why members in Congress said they will likely

probe what when wrong in NO. Good for Gov. Blanco; I hope she holds her ground and Nagin and Landrieu back her up big time. I know on Landrieu's website she spells out that everything done when Bush got there was staged for the photo-op. I think the good people of LA are pissed and rightly so.

[Independent_Liberal]

39. Wow!

Thanks for posting this!

[For PaisAn]

40. Couldn't get past page one

My blood is really boiling now. How dare he fucking put the blame on state and local government.

[TorchTheWitch]

42. this line in the article REALLY pisses me off!

"National Guard troops broke into applause late Saturday as Isaac Kelly, 81, the last person to be evacuated from the Superdome, boarded a school bus."

An EIGHTY-ONE year old man was the LAST to be evacuated??? Who was the asshole who thought THAT was a good idea??? The sick and the elderly should have been the FIRST ones out!

[Imagevision]

43. Bush has no choice but to attempt to place blame on local levels

I think it'll backfire because he knew 3 years ago about levee problems and pulled 72 million away from levee projects to add to money for Iraq war!

[gatorboy]

44. Didn't Bush say "Let's not play politics"?

Well that didn't last long....

[milkyway]

46. Too bad most every American regards a disaster like Katrina as a federal

problem, not a local one. Some things need to be handled by a central government--otherwise every locality in America would have to have its own huge department for dealing with all types of large-scale emergencies. A small storm that leaves a few trees in the road is a local problem. A monster hurricane that can destroy a city and devestate an entire region is a federal problem. And everyone realizes it. Desperate try, assholes. It won't work.

[bring_em_home_bush]

47. Is he going to blame the officials in Miss and AL too?

This was a failure on the federal level on every count.

First, BushCo. cut funding for flood control projects and planning and preparation for a major hurricane in NOLA.

2nd, BushCo.'s DHS and FEMA failed to coordinate the evacuation of New Orleans--I don't believe any (sane) American will agree that the emergency evacuation of a city of 500,000 in 2 days was the sole responsibility of the city or even the state.

3rd, BushCo.'s DHS and FEMA failed to respond with the slightest hint of competence or concern to this incomprehensible human tragedy for days on end while he played the guitar, ate cake, and waited for NOLA to drown. Every American knows that the federal government takes over in these situations, or what the hell is the purpose of FEMA otherwise?

[For PaisAn]

51. Exactly

Everything you wrote is the bottom line ugly truth.

[HuskerDU]

48. The next time the buck even slows down near

his desk will be the first.

[BrklynLiberal]

49. Excellent article. Hope Blanco can keep up the fight. Hiring James Lee

Witt was a very cool move!!!

[Sparkly]

50. Chertoff blames Blanco

In a Washington briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said one reason federal assets were not used more quickly was "because our constitutional system really places the primary authority in each state with the governor."

First, the governor made her requests in advance in writing. Second, the Chimp said of his disaster declarations last Sunday, "These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials." And third, emergency response is written right into the Homeland Security's job -- "a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort."

So this is bullcrap.

[renate]

52. this was on page 3 (in the online version)

Herbert J. Freeman arrived in a neighbor's boat with his mother, Ethel M. Freeman, 91, frail and sick, but with an active mind. She kept asking him for a doctor, for a nurse, for anyone who could help her. Police told Freeman there was nothing they could do. She died in her wheelchair, next to her son, on Thursday morning.

It was half a day before he could find someone to take away her body, he said. "She wasn't senile or nothing," he said. "She knew what was going on.... I kept saying, 'Mom, I can't help you.' "

[For PaisAn]

53. Blanco just said they've set up their own disaster relief fund

People can go here to donate:
www.louisana.gov

[melv]

55. your link isn't working n/t

[AnnInLa]

58. From the Dep't of Homeland Security Website:

"In the event of a terrorist attack, NATURAL DISASTER, or other large scale emergency, the DHS will assume PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY, as of March 1st, for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Deparment will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness."

Do you think that Gov Blanco and Mayor Nagin took them at their word? Do you think she/he were counting on this happening without having to fill out particular forms or using exact language or wade thru the red tape when communications were non-existent? shit, shit

[brettdale]

60. Afraid for Tomorrow

Bush*t is going to spin away, I feel so sorry for the the Major of New Orleans, the MSM will toe the Karl Rove line.

[Robeson]

61. Bush just declared war on the state of Louisiana people....

...this is such a risky strategy, that it borders on civil war. Things are more desperate than we realize. Anyone who saw that interview on Meet the Press today, knows what the Louisiana officials think about what this administration is doing. The guy said that they have basically stationed their own local police force to guard communication lines, and will fire on anyone who tries to disrupt them, including Bush's FEMA goons. Bush is imperiling this country with this political move to shift blame onto people who have suffered under extraordinary circumstances. Its callous beyond belief...

[VolcanoJen]

62. VERY important to note that the WaPo issued a correction to this story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26.

And then, they wrote this story. Methinks the WaPo is a little pissed at being burned.

Officials Deal With Political Fallout by Pointing Fingers