From the WH press release: BUSH DIDN'T MOVE TO PROTECT NO AT ALL!

[BloodyWilliam]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

Read the list of parishes covered. Orleans? Missing. Jefferson? Missing. Tarribone? Missing. Any of the parishes that were going to recieve the worst part of the hurricane? MISSING. According to the press release, the only parishes actually protected by Bush's actions are the northern, inland ones.

I'm enraged. I'm actually shocked. We have to put this out there, we have to spread this everywhere we can. Bush didn't lift one finger to help the parishes that needed the most help, even after the governor explicitly requested it.

We NEED to show this to everyone. The truth has to be heard. This is hard, this is real, and this is pretty obvious in the Bush administration's criminal negligence.

[KyndCulture]

1. look at the graphic...

it's a lot worse than just New Orleans... it's the ENTIRE coastline.

[BloodyWilliam]

2. We need to push this.

We NEED to fucking push this. This is a smoking fucking gun. These monsters are at the very best incompetent and at the very worst wholly malicious, conniving murderers. This is worse than we thought.

[fishwax]

9. Excellent graphic! You should send it to various media outlets

but especially to olberman.

[mom cat]

30. And Helen Thomas

[KoKo]

16. Send to Raw Story &John Conyers, and Josh Marshall..

I'll try to do some mailing...

[BloodyWilliam]

18. Can everyone here do it?

Aheh, I'm sort of at work, can't really mail. :)

[whistle]

3. Is this a CYA email or perhaps a pre-dated email none of this happened

[BloodyWilliam]

4. What are you talking about?

It's not an email. It's the press release the WH put out on August 27.

[Brewman_Jax]

5. Map of Louisiana /w parishes

The New Orleans area parishes aren't included. Hmmm...

[Dhalgren]

6. What is their stated logic (!) in leaving any parishes out of

the list of covered ones? I mean, if you were going to set up disaster relief for a hurricane, wouldn't your primary relief targets be the coastline areas? Why designate specific parishes, at all; why not simply include the entire state? This is not only incompetent, it is imbecilic to the point of surreality...

[fishwax]

7. wtf?

:wtf:

talk about incompetence!?

[BloodyWilliam]

10. This is not incompetence

This is negligence on a scale that can only be considered manslaughter, at the absolute least.

[spooked911]

44. Yep.

[Beam Me Up]

12. Not incompetence, not even negligence. This was POLICY.

[Karenina]

32. BINGO!

[Birthmark]

38. Here's the scenario I came up with this morning:

I doubt it's true since it's speculation to about the eighth power, but it's helluvan interesting story.

Suppose those parishes were left out *intentionally* to precipitate a crisis. Think about it. Bush's poll numbers are in the tank. Last time this happened, 9/11 bailed his sorry ass out. This time, Rove thinks that this hurricane is a gift from god. "We'll leave out the parishes most likely to be affected. The Governor (a Dem) won't have the resources to deal with the aftermath. We'll Federalize the rescue (which they attempted to do, no?) and ride to the rescue. BANG! Instant high poll numbers!" Only they got more hurricane than they bargained for. They hadn't counted on 10,000 dead, only a few dozen...all for the cause, don't ya know. That would explain the curious, almost childish, "No one could have forseen the levees failing." nonsense that they've spouted. They weren't expecting the levees to fail, so no one could have expected it from their POV.

Like I said, it's wild speculation, but it's almost irresistible given the way they've done business in the past.

I seriously wonder if I've made up a true story?

[moodforaday]

40. Doesn't make sense

It *does* make perfect sense and is consistent with the admin behavior we've seen since 9/11, until you ask why Bush took so long to arrive at the scene. For three whole days the picture of him strumming the guitar was making the rounds, and he was doing nothing to "assume leadership". He was seen slicing a cake with McCain in Arizona, though; Rice was shopping for shoes in NYC and watching Spamalot, Cheney was buying estate in Maryland, Rummy was watching baseball.

I mean, if they had things planned the way you suggest, wouldn't those plans include an immediate jump into the fray, for the cameras? I was thinking at the time, and still am to a degree, that someone wanted them to appear detached and not caring and incompetent, but why? Why did their advisors allow them to keep vacationing while people were dying in New Orleans? Big puzzle to me. Could it possibly be some sort of PR sabotage? I don't really think so (this would have required major conspiratorial dissent within the ranks very high up), but I can't see any rational explanation. Bush and Co were doing the WRONG photo-ops for so long it seemed surreal. It doesn't seem to fit with the hypothetical plan you suggest.

[spooked911]

45. His actions make no sense besides that he wanted death and destruction

and was happy to see it.

[ima_sinnic]

50. I have wondered the same thing

it does seem so deliberate, and so maniacally cruel and unimaginable.
Has any journalist ever come out and outright asked The Imperial Idiot <i>why</i> he waited until Thursday to send in the National Guard?

[HereSince1628]

8. Why? Why? George

[jsamuel]

11. Look at Parish Voting Record, Vote for Kerry? No help

Missing:

Assumption
Updated: 5:44 p.m. ET

Democratic Kerry
5,585 52% 100% of precincts reporting

Republican Bush
(Incumbent)
4,966 46%


Iberville
Updated: 5:44 p.m. ET

Democratic Kerry
8,259 56% 100% of precincts reporting

Republican Bush
(Incumbent)
6,333 43%


Orleans
Updated: 5:44 p.m. ET

Democratic Kerry
152,610 78% 100% of precincts reporting

Republican Bush
(Incumbent)
42,847 22%


St. James
Updated: 5:44 p.m. ET

Democratic Kerry
6,407 58% 100% of precincts reporting

Republican Bush
(Incumbent)
4,545 41%


St. John the Baptist
Updated: 5:44 p.m. ET

Democratic Kerry
10,305 53% 100% of precincts reporting

Republican Bush
(Incumbent)
9,039 46%

Note that some did vote for Kerry and are listed and some are not listed that voted for Bush.

[rocktivity]

17. We need to see the voting records of ALL the parishes

to see if we can really make this stick. Is that possible?

:headbang:
rocknation

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

28. If you can't brainwash 'em, drown 'em.

[rocktivity]

13. They'll just claim that Governor Blanco should have noticed.

But coupled with the voting records of the counties, we may have grounds for criminal intent.

:mad:
rocknation

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. She followed up... Please check this out!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4692732#4693271

[NYC]

15. See this thread from earlier:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4692732

Same discussion.

[Just Me]

19. Holy shit!!!! OMFG!!! HE INTENTIONALLY LEFT OUT,...

,...AREAS MOST IMPACTED!!! WTF? W-T-F?!?!?!?!

[HereSince1628]

20. actually it looks like a cut and paste mistake...talk about incompetent

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Blanco had the parishes expected to be most affected separated from the remainder...it looks like the text block with the remainder got pasted into Bush's statement.

People may have died because of a friggin word-processing mistake!!!!

[onenote]

24. not a cut and paste error

The list you refer to was in Gov. Blanco's Aug 28 letter, not her Aug 27 letter. So the WH can't simply claim they picked up the wrong list from her letter.

onenote

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. "Word-processing mistake"??......

...These people don't make mistakes...they know exactly what they're doing.

[Just Me]

33. I'm not buying incompetence. We're dealing with extremely,...

,...calculative and vengeful and dark-hearted people, here.

[spooked911]

46. Yes, it was some really sick plan-- done intentionally

[Alizaryn]

21. Save it incase it disappears

Nice catch.

[halobeam]

22. These "missing counties" are included in the 8/29 posting ..

on whitehouse.gov

snip....

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 29, 2005

Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Louisiana




The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 29, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local government in the parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance.

Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Carroll, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn for emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance.

[HereSince1628]

23. The 8/29 statement is for Federal Disaster Assistance

it might not technically be considered an announcement of the State of Emergency.

If you were a bureaucrat getting ready to release emergency rescue you might have reason to look at the first one and not the second.

[mom cat]

37. Please post a copy of your original of the 8-29 declaration with

white house letterhead, etc

[BrklynLiberal]

26. kick

[Garbo 2004]

27. Never mind. n/t

[yodermon]

29. They have an out.

Read my post here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4692732&mesg_id=4694307

[mom cat]

31. Not really..New Orleans Was in the direct path that day and many of

the "red" parishes were not. Furthermore, it does not make sence that the parishes away from the coast, and northwest of the likely strike point were included, but those along the coast were not. There can be no out!

[Just Me]

35. Nope. The EXPLICITLY PRIORITIZED RELIEF,...

,...AWAY FROM THE AREAS WHICH CLEARLY WOULD SUFFER THE MOST DAMAGE.

They have no way out from intentionally making choices which resulted in American deaths and desperation.

[mom cat]

34. Has anyone captured this Aug 27 doctument before today? Does

anyone have proof of capture earlier? If so when...Please doctument.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22805&mesg_id=22835

Is this real or a botched, rushed up predate? Bush wants to prove that he made the declaration first. Could this be a case of a bad job at rewriting history. In either case, please post also in this thread in this location...Thanks.
PS, our compiled thread has the aug 27 th (?) declaration, but that is because is was posted from DU by me today.

[WritersBlock]

51. I've got the original PDF saved - dated 27 August.

It's the same as the little thumbnail showing the green counties here:

http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=4786

According to the legend, the green counties are designated for "public assistance." The white counties.... "no designation."

[onenote]

36. here's more evidence of their incompetence

Here's a link to the FEMA declaration. It doesn't mention the "area in the path of Katrina." It simply lists Parishes...the wrong ones.
http://www.fema.gov/news/eventcounties.fema?id=4786


As I understand the formal process of obtaining a Presidential declaration of an emergency, after the Governor makes a request, it is evaluated by FEMA, who then makes a recommendation to the President. The process after that is described in an official FEMA publication (A Guide To Federal Aid in Disasters, 4/95) as follows:

After Presidential declaration: The Governor, appropriate Members of Congress, and Federal departments or agencies are immediately notified.
The director, FEMA, appoints an appropriate FEMA (or other Federal) official as the Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO).
Concurrently with the President's action, the Associate Director, Resource and Recovery, based on the Governor's request:
1.designates the kinds of assistance to be made available, and
2.the counties or other political subdivisions that are eligible to receive such assistance.

So FEMA is supposed to designate the specific counties (Parishes in LA) eligible for assistance. AND THEY SCREWED IT UP.

onenote

[HR_Pufnstuf]

39. Bush Denied - People Died

nt

[demo dutch]

41. Has this been forwarded to the PRESS?????

[tex-wyo-dem]

42. kick!

[Nothing Without Hope]

43. This is also being discussed in another thread. IMPORTANT QUESTION:

WHAT IS THE EXACT WORDING OF THE ACTUAL LETTER SENT BY BUSH TO BLANCO ON 8/27? All we have - the evidence of the missing parishes - is in the online copy of a WH press release describing this letter.

WE MUST GET THE EXACT WORDING OF WHAT BUSH SENT TO BLANCO. She certainly specified the "missing" parishes in both her letters to Bush (8/27 and 8/28).

Here is the other thread discussing this issue:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4692732
Thread title: Have you guys seen this from Bob Harris? What in the hell?

THE EXACT WORDING OF WHAT BUSH SENT TO BLANCO ON 8/27 IS UNKNOWN. All we have is an online WH press release describing it - there may be an error. We need to rule this out. If what Blanco received is the same as what is at the White House site, THEN WE BLAST THIS WIDE OPEN!!!

I wrote Keith Olbrmann about it yesterday.

[banana republican]

47. 2004 congressional election map







http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/u/usa/congress/la2004.shtml

[notadmblnd]

48. email it to Cynthia McKinney

nt

[Be Brave]

49. kick

[enough]

52. kick

[roseBudd]

53. saving it to my hard drive

[Redstone]

54. Dupe.

[Redstone]

55. But, but, but...I need help with this one, I really do.

Can someone PLEASE tell me what what you think they'll possibly come up with for an excuse? They'll have an excuse, of course, but how can they POSSIBLY defend the notion that they thought the inland counties wold be damaged more than the coastal counties in a goddamn hurricane?

I think my brain's going to blow up. I'm going to have trouble sleeping until someone demands an explanation from Scottie or someone, and I'll probably vomit when I hear the answer.

I don't think I can stand much more of this. What can they possibly say to try to shuck and jive us on this one?

Any guesses?

Redstone

[Mein Bush]

56. Bush: This is a pretty color! Let's protect this color.

[banana republican]

57. yes protect the color n/t

[B Calm]

58. You would have to be brain dead to say Bush did everything

he could to save lives. Never ever forget the fact Bush thought his vacation was more important than running the country during a natural disaster!

[deacon]

59. OMG! nominated,,,,,,,, n/t

[halobeam]

60. kick

[Land Shark]

61. If they got it wrong in the start, they now claim to have it right...

the "combined disaster declarations" map at FEMA shows entire state coverage for southern Louisiana:
<http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/2005graphics/storms/Katrina/Combined%20Disaster%20Declarations.pdf>

On another thread, it is argued that the first paragraph incorporates by (silent) reference the "immediately affected" parishes and the second paragraph names the rest of the Louisiana parishes to SUPPLEMENT the most affected. But that is a STRAINED and not the most natural interpretation of the text of the Aug 27 declaration of emergency. One would most naturally assume that the listing of the parishes is the listing of ALL parishes affected.

and a FEMA worker on the fly might use the list to deny certain aid to a parish, claiming it's "not in his jurisdiction" or something like that.

It may be the a COURT OF LAW given access to all documents might interpret it correctly. But this DOCUMENT IS A DISASTER for operating on the fly, and perhaps also a convenient excuse to be used...when convenient.