VIDEO - Bush on CNN: self-congratulatory about his handling of Katrina

[Nothing Without Hope]

preparations and aftermath - He referred to his signing of emergency declarations before the storm as "extraordinary," adding that "in most emergencies, the President signs after the storm hits."

He also said with obvious belligerence that it is just "preposterous" to suggest that engagement of the National Guard troops in Iraq had any bad effect on the handling of the storm and its aftermath.

Bubble Boy lives - just amazing. Watch it and share it.



This is at the Crooks and Liars site at this permalink:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/12.html#a4927

Here's a direct link to the clip in Windows Media format:
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/The-Situation-Room-Bush-Katrina-9-12.wmv

A QuickTime link is given at the site too, but in my hands that link is broken - maybe it will be replaced with a working link later.

(I searched and did not find another post of this clip - if I have missed it, please post the link here and we will move this discussion.)

[niyad]

1. we know the man is completely clueless--now he is BOASTING??

isn't it a usual thing that when someone is THAT out of touch with reality, that they are safely ensconced in the happy dell home and NOT allowed to play with sharp objects, much less things that go BOOOM?

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. Re things that go BOOOM, the new PRE-EMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKE POLICY

which is nearing approval, would considerably raise the stakes. To find out more, start with post #16 downthread and follow the links:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4752689&mesg_id=4753193

[Bernardo de La Paz]

39. Spin at first appears clueless, but you keep spinning it.

It's the nature of spin and the big lie. Like the proverbial snowball.

[cyr330]

2. Has he no shame?

Jesus Christ, I can't believe I wrote that. Of course he has no shame!!! He didn't even win the presidential election, yet he had the nerve to strut around like he did. . . He's had no shame about his lies that have caused the deaths of so many. . . I can't even begin to state the instances where he has had no shame. He will do anything to advance himself or his cronies.

[Erika]

4. He has neither shame nor reality

He lives in the world of the comfortable rich and can't identify with anyone else. He is acting pathetic.

[MelissaB]

3. What documents did he "pre-sign'?

I must have missed that.

Edited to say I nominated this shit for the world to see. :grr:

[MelissaB]

7. kicking for an answer. Did I miss something or is he being his normal

stupid self?

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. Here's the sequence of documents for Louisiana. I assume there were

similar ones for AL and MS and perhaps adjacent areas.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2064469&mesg_id=2067532

The first is the 8/27 letter from Blanco to Bush/DHS asking for state of emergency, the second is the one Bush is preening about signing (the linked DU post has the WH press release about it on 8/27), and the third is a clarification by Blanco to Bush/DHS on 8/28.

Why the Wash Post ignored all this freely available information and also failed to consult Blanco's office before printing that she held up relief by failing to call for state of emergency - in effect blaming her for the deaths of thousands - is an important question. The WaPo admits they printed the lie based on a tip by a "senior WH official." But like the Iraq WMDs and Saddam's involvement in the 9/11 attacks, it's the initial big lie that is remembered by most people, so the smear tactic works very well.

[Maru Kitteh]

15. He declared a state of emergency before the storm - which just goes to

further prove the total inadequacy of the federal response. I wonder how KKKarl's kidney stones are coming along. Were I not ethically opposed I would send him a nice greasy bit of pig carcass (ham) for his recovery. Meat is the prime dietary cause of kidney stones, and I suspect KKKarl's absence at the beginning of the catastrophe is the primary cause of Bush's completely disasterous handling of it. If KKKarl had not been incapacitated at the very least we would have seen a more emotional and sympathetic Bush in the middle of all the incompetence and they would have begun blaming the locals much sooner.

If the boy wonder signed the declaration days ahead of time that makes them MORE responsible, so it's pretty dumb of him to bring it up, but what's new, right?

I found a little something here, but you can find it from other sources as well, I'm sure.

http://fpiarticle.blogspot.com/2005/09/bush-put-dhs-and-fema-into-action-3.html
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Bush put DHS and FEMA into action 3 days before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana
Free Press International
9.7.2005

Three days before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, President Bush declared an emergency in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, according to a White House Press Release.

The President's action authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. one more item to add to the damning timeline.

It's depressing how a front-line newspaper like the Washington Post, with all the FACTS at its ready disposal, in fact, chose the LIE given them by the "senior White House Official" and smeared Blanco. The repeated assertion by Bush Admin mouthpieces- including, sadly but not surprisingly, the Washington Post - that Blanco delayed the relief effort by failing to call for a state of emergency was so transparently false. The question needs to be answered: WHY DID THE WASHINGTON POST GO WITH THE LIE? It stretches credulity to believe that like Bush, they had not checked any of the many available sources of truth. And especially given the sorry record of ass-covering lies from this White House.

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. Remember how the White House mouthpieces, including the Wash Post,

were claiming that Gov. Blanco held up relief efforts by not asking Bush/DHS for emergency status for too long? Lies, of course.
Read about this sorry smear job, done at the behest of a "senior WH official" and the almost invisible WaPo "retraction" in this thread, for example:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4748555
Thread title: Wash Post exposed shilling for WH re: Blanco smear, issues retraction....

Now in today's little exhibition on CNN, the blivet** is referring, I assume, to the letter he sent to Blanco on Aug 27 in response to her letter the same day asking for a state of emergency. (She sent another letter to him with further clarifications on Aug 28). I assume there were similar letters from the Governors of AL and MS. He is really preening with self-satisfaction over the great effort of signing those declarations of state of emergency asked for by the governors before the storm actually hit.

In other words, he's congratulating himself for signing the declaration responding to the very Blanco letter calling for a state of emergency that the WH smear-masters were pretending didn't exist not that long ago.

[MelissaB]

9. Can he possibly be so stupid?

I know. I know. Don't even ask.

I recommend everybody watch this video at least twice. Listen his speech and language. He rehearsed these answers. Listen to him when he says, "I knew a big storm was coming..." Phony baloney.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Yes, he's clearly rehearsed. His handlers not only think he's that stupid,

they also think the American public is. Every other time the Poodle Press has let them get away with it, at gravest cost to us and to the rest of the world. Will it really be different this time? If not now, then it will never happen.

[CrispyQ]

34. "A big storm coming"

First, he found out about a big storm coming, then he addressed the American people about the big storm coming, then he signed something into effect becasue of the big storm coming. All that in about 15 seconds.

Delivered with a joking, light hearted manner.

WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE!!

[MelissaB]

10. Thanks for the answer.

:hi:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. If the people will not adore me as I deserve

I shall adore myself!

He has no shame.

[Jim Sagle]

6. Kicked and recommended.

[nonconformist]

13. "when did you realize the severity of the storm?"

Bush: "Uh, I was uh, I knew that a big storm was coming, uh, on Monday, so I spoke to the country on Monday morning about it and I said 'there's a big storm coming'"

Well, thanks for stating the FUCKING OBVIOUS there dickwad.

And wtf - MONDAY??? No, there wasn't a big storm COMING on Monday. It was here already.

Yeah, you're extraordinary alright.

[tuvor]

14. God, he talks like a proud second-grader.

Vocabulary and all, "extraordinary" notwithstanding.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Yes, I think it's clear that he has deteriorated mentally. Very easy to

see in this striking video presentation comparing his speaking (without notes!) in Texas about 10 years ago and the way he is now.
http://www.adbuzz.com/bushbuzz.htm
Some mental health professionals have suggested that Bush shows some signs of presenile dementia of some kind. If so, that's progressive.

Now keep that in mind and now consider the new official Pentagon policy, nearing approval, for PRE-EMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKES. If you have not read this thread, I urge you to do so:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1770759
Thread title: Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan

Read the language in the NYT version of the story, near the bottom of the thread - if the President THINKS they MIGHT want to use biological or chemical weapons or other WMDs, that's enough justification to nuclear-bomb them. Under this policy, the Iraq invasion would have been nuclear. And I truly believe they intend nuclear attacks on Iran and probably Syria.

Unless this is exposed and stopped - and what is more important than avoiding a nuclear World War III? - then Bush's palsied finger will be on that button and at his - or his handlers' - whim nuclear missles will be launched.

You know they want to invade Iran, and they've been giving clear signals that they want it to be nuclear. For the back story, read this entire thread and the links in it:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4252778
Thread title: Three extremely important threads on Iran nukes & the Bush agenda

And from this thread today, Syria is another probable target:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1773970
Thread title: U.S. Envoy: Syria a Terrorist Hub for Iraq("All options are on the table")

Put it all together and look at Bush, the man with the finger on the button, again. We must convince the American people that there are all too good reasons to FEAR the Bush Administration, not just be angry with them. This has to be exposed and stopped, or nuclear World War III is on the way. It's that important.

[Nothing Without Hope]

26. BTW, I see you're in Vancouver. Allow me to thank you for your city's

wonderful, kind, and highly effective lifesaving team that came to St. Bernard Parish (about 30 miles east of New Orleans, as I recall) days after the hurricane and days before the US authorities finally arrived. They saved dozens of lives - the people were STILL stranded without food or water. (Despite their care, one lady still died of advanced dehydration.) The blog/diary from their mission is heart-rending, when you imagine what those poor people were suffering. My understanding (I hope someone will correct me if this is wrong) is that when the US authorities FINALLY showed up, they asked the Canadians to leave. This despite the close relationship they had already developed with the grateful folk of St Bernard parish.

For any of you who have not yet read this story, you should. Here's the blog/diary (and you'll find an email address to which you can mail thanks):
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/usar/index.htm

and here's a DU thread discussing it and praising those lovable, wonderful Canadians to the skies:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1763297

[IndyOp]

17. Remember what Uncle Joe advises: Keep the lie simple, big,

and repeat it often!

:mad:

On edit: Accuracy

[Nothing Without Hope]

19. Here are quotes from Goebbels and Hitler - they understood the BiG LIE

just as Bush and his Administration do.

In view of the primitive simplicity of their minds they more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big.

Such a falsehood will never enter their heads and they will not be able to believe in the possibility of such monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation in others; yes, even when enlightened on the subject, they will long doubt and waver, and continue to accept at least one of these causes as true.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, part I chapter X

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
--Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda under Hitler

Part of the reason why this approach works so well is a fact of human nature pointed out by Cicero two thousand years ago:

It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)

[Maraya1969]

18. He declared an emergency for the NORTHERN part of Louisiana

Don't forget that. Governor Blanco had to "answer to the White House" to get him to help the people that were hit the worst - the poor and the black.

[Lubernaut]

20. Narcissistic Personality Disorder

He exhibits all its traits. At some point in his life he will encounter a narcissistic injury so devastating he will see himself for what he really is. I hope it happens soon.

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. And quite possibly presenile dementia - see post #16

upthread here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4752689#4753193

[sub.theory]

23. Complete Denial

* is in complete denial about how bad things are in New Orleans, how badly his administration screwed up (again!), and most of all about just how bad things are going in Iraq. He's dangerous. Fortunately, it seems America is starting to wake up and realize all this.

[Nothing Without Hope]

28. They'd better wake up NOW. See the PRE-EMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKE POLICY

which is nearing approval as the new official policy. More in reply #16 and the links therin:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4752689#4753193

[Nothing Without Hope]

25. Too bad he wasn't wearing THIS (Photoshop-improved) jacket:

[phusion]

27. Look at Nagin

I think he wants to hit Bush.

[Nothing Without Hope]

30. Yes, he's said before he'd like to punch him and the CIA might "wipe him

out." And Bush has done NOTHING to endear Nagin to him since then. Instead, we've seen endless repeats of that stupid photo of the school busses, as if Nagin had the drivers or other resources to use them to evacuate. It's part of the WH-directed smear campaign to avoid blame and he knows it. He knows they LET his city drown and thousands die.

Here's Nagin just after the levee breah, desperate for the promised sandbag-dropping BlackHawk helicopters that never came, furious when he could not reach Bush to plead for help:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4523783

And here's Nagin saying that he was so angry with Bush (in a conversation with him during the early relief operations) that the CIA might want to "wipe him out":
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4612799

[bluedawg12]

29. He is totally in over his head. n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

31. One more point for the night: PEOPLE ARE STILL DYING IN NEW ORLEANS

AND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH. Not everyone has been rescued, far from it. For example, I just read Will Pitt's wonderful post about the guy who went to New Orleans to find his girlfriend (Will knows the guy). As this guy paddled around New Orleans in his boat, there were people needing rescue - whom he took into his boat - and one house where a crying baby lay between two sitting people who were dead. He saved the baby.

Who knows how many thousands of people are STILL dying?

Here's Will's story - don't miss it:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4752099

That's just one man's experience - and he rescued multiple people in New Orleans. How many others are out there still waiting...and dying?

Meanwhile, the unspeakable creature squatting in OUR White House squeals about the "extraordinary" job he's doing and refuses to hear any criticism. As usual. Well, let's just marginalize him and his criminal, incompetent crew before they destroy us all. It's time and past time for multiple impeachment and some criminal indictments at last.

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

33. kick n/t

[freemen2005]

35. * is clueless and proud of it

[TOOLZ]

36. NAGIN'S REACTION is CLASSIC!

He's looking away, impatient, annoyed at another Bush press conference the whole time. Then he stares right at him when Bush emphasizes how "Extraordinary" he himself has been -- like, "you really are an EXTRAORDINARY asshole!"

I'd love to see those two stranded without power in a flooded ghetto and see who rises to lead.


<www.toolz.blogs.com>

[Nothing Without Hope]

37. So true. They can make Nagin stand in the entourage, but they can't

control his face and body language. They won't let him speak the truth, but anyone who watched his face during that sorry performance knows his deep outrage.

Let's hope they pay attention and that THIS time the blivet** and his spin-masters don't carry the day. George Lakoff says they are failing miserably at this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2079322
thread title: Lakoff - Dems need to start framing post-Katrina now!

[Nothing Without Hope]

38. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

40. kick - will post more in this thread tonight n/t

[redacted]

41. Kicked, recommended. Completely astonishing.

Thanks hope! See this post for more twisted language from another bubble boy:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4772180