Salon: Rove pulling a Sheehan / Wilson / O'Neill / McCain smear on Blanco

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/05/state/index.html

When the spin becomes a lie

Karl Rove has dispatched George W. Bush back to Louisiana and Mississippi this morning, presumably with marching orders to show the sort of respect and compassion he failed to muster his first time around last week. Meanwhile, all the president's men -- and the president himself -- are trying to shift the blame for the Katrina response from the White House to state and local officials.

As usual, however, the White House spin game is a little less than honest. The Washington Post reported on Sunday morning that a "senior Bush official" had complained that, as of Saturday, the governor of Louisiana -- who just happens to be a Democrat -- had not yet declared a state of emergency. Kathleen Blanco, meet Cindy Sheehan. Or Joseph Wilson. Or Paul O'Neill. Or John McCain.

Only this time, the media is on to the game, at least belatedly. As Scott Rosenberg notes, Gov. Blanco did, in fact, declare a state of emergency. She did it on Aug. 26, when George W. Bush was on vacation. The Post has posted a correction.

[Lindacooks]

1. I love this: As usual, however, the White House spin game is a little less

than honest. No shit. That's sinfully mild, though - the White House spin is, as usual, PURE LIES.

[robbedvoter]

2. Wash Post posted a correction only after being bombarded with mail

from readers of Atrios and bartcop.
http://bartcopnation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=2&topic_id=373414&mesg_id=373414&page=
. WaPo quoted a Bush official and never bothered to even google for truth. MSM was caught with its pants down. Again.

[Pirate Smile]

3. It is in full force today. MSNBC had a Republican Representative on

(and they have replayed the interview at least once or twice more already)this morning. He said everything needs to be federalized. All the problems are the fault of the state. The state red tape is why help didn't arrive faster, etc.

He said all of that straight out.

There must be a push back or the lies will start to take.

I'm sorry to say, MSNBC is playing Bush's game today.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. The South will have fits over this. Watch the GOP lose the South

in 2006. I hope MSNBC and Karl Rove and the rest continue to announce loudly on national television that the Blanco needs to let the feds (i.e the YANKEES) take over her state. Mississippi and Alalabama are watching and they are currently GOP states and they will not be amused.

Ha ha! Karl Rove is a moron.

[bostonbabs]

22. agreed...but how? N/T

[Imagevision]

4. ROVE ANTICS BY NOW ARE CLEARLY TRANSPARENT...

TWO KARL ROVES AREN'T GOING TO HELP BUSH'S UNACCEPTABLE RESPONSE TO THE TRAVESTY IN NEW ORLEANS! -- KARL ROVE NEXT MONTH WILL HAVE HIS OWN PROBLEMS TO ATTEMPT TP SPIN HIS WAY OUT OF ONCE FITZGERALD ANNOUNCES INDICTMENTS.

[Mike_The_Computer]

20. Yep, "Rove" has become a household name, synonymous with

"unadulterated bullshit."

[bostonbabs]

23. I think Bush has the same problem N/T

[flpoljunkie]

6. Link to the Washington Post's corrections, posted online today, Sept. 5th

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401255.html


Monday, September 5, 2005; Page A02

A graphic accompanying the Sept. 4 coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly stated when levees were breached in New Orleans. The first breach was reported Monday morning.

* * *

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.

* * *

[Zodiak]

7. Publish the lie

Bury the retraction....this isn't good enough. This had better not just be published online....by separating the article from the retraction, any Bushbot can push the original article as if the retraction didn't exist.

They have told much bigger lies before.

[stevietheman]

27. In all fairness to the Washington Post...

they are posting the retraction above the incorrect article and it's colored in red. Ya can't miss it.

[steelyboo]

8. Honestly, who regularly goes to the paper the next day to check to see if

the article you read the previous day might have had mistakes?
Most people read it with mistakes, and the damage is already done.

[CityDem]

9. What did you expect

He has a long track record of taking the low road.

[vickie]

10. They will not be able to spin this away. The death toll is coming

and it will be horrific. There are also blood curdling recordings of desperate 911 calls that Herr ROve will not be able to spin away. The paper trail and the recordings will not permit the Bush/Rove business as usual smear/swiftboating of the locals.

[AspenRose]

11. Fight it, media, do your job for once

Fight the Rovian smear. Don't you see what happens with these kinds of lies???? Look at the state our country is in, for crying out loud.

DEFEND GOVERNOR BLANCO.

[jillan]

12. Time to mass email Msnbc about the letter Blanco sent on 8/26

Anybody have a link to the letter?

[jillan]

13. I have link to letter posted here

http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973

[Cocoa]

14. how many Washington Post reporters does it take to spread a Rove lie?

six:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680_4.html

Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu

Hsu reported from Washington. Staff writers Justin Blum, Dana Milbank, Jacqueline L. Salmon and Josh White contributed to this report.

[Initech]

15. I normally dont advocate violence, but in this case...

Let's send Rove to Guantanamo Bay. See how he likes it.

[tinrobot]

16. They can't spin this...

Too many dead, too many pissed off people, too many media outlets playing impassioned pleas for help such as Broussard's MTP breakdown.

The blame has already been placed squarely on Bush's desk. They won't be able to recover.

[bostonbabs]

25. I pray that you are right

"When a fish stinks it stinks from the head"...."WHO ME BUSH" asshole

[chomskysright]

17. SHAME: You abandoned us Mr. President: We waited day after day for

assistance. SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME SHAME.

I’ve come to the conclusion that SHAME is the PsyOps maneuver the Dems should and can use. Yes, you have to wait until ‘after the event’ but ‘after the event’ e.g., Iraq War, NOLA, are examples where SHAME can be utilized and it is the neocon Achilles heel if not that of the entire Republican party.

Think about SHAME for a moment. How does it feel to you to feel ashamed---of something you have done or not done. If you are in the place of shame, you have been thinking about something that has already occurred. It is already in your mind. Otherwise, you would not so obviously feel shame.

I gave out 2 diff pieces of paper: 1: ¾ page outline of what CAFTA is, how it affects us (using a public.citizen.org reference) and what Taylor’s non-vote had done. 2. M’s information re: the war: small piece of paper (I think people were more willing to take just a small piece of paper) and as I presented it, I said: “Sir would you like some information about the war” and if they reached to take it, I spoke loudly for others around them to hear, ‘over 1800 dead American soldiers’ and clearly the shame registered for about 75% of those people.

I’m reminded of the very exasperated questioner re: the McCarthy hearings, asking Joe McCarthy something to this effect: “Have you no SHAME sir?”

When I was in Hendersonville today, I mapped out my interactions with probably 200 people as I walked around with my very tall, homemade sign that stated on one side: “GOP = Death” and the other, “Ask Charles about CAFTA.” I stood across from the Republican Party shelter during the parade.

1. quite a few people do not know what GOP means.
2. quite a few people do not know what CAFTA means. The ones that do are perturbed with Taylor. Concommitantly, the sign which was purported to be there, which I did not see, “CAFTA got your tongue” would have, IMHO, pretty useless if useless is defined as lots of people don’t get it except for Mr. Taylor and the GOP regulars and people who knew about CAFTA and were already convinced that it was a bad thing. In other words, I believe it would have a minimal effect if by effect you want to change people’s votes.

So, as a psychologist who has developed questionnaires, the development of materials for distribution in order to educate people has to pay attention to what people know and it has to attend to what the purpose of the material is: to educate? To shame?; to bellow? .

So, let’s back up: what’s the sample of the population like in Hendersonville, NC? I don’t know the actual number but I do know that Hendersonville is a stronghold for Taylor. He strode down the street today, shaking hands with anyone who wanted to and when I asked him, as I popped to the front of the crowd: “Mr. Taylor: Can you tell us about your CAFTA vote”, he paused just very briefly, and he stated, “I did vote for CAFTA” which we know is either a lie or very close to a lie. In any case, his vote did ot register.

Here would be my suggestions for future such gatherings (that is, the population at large, and not as associated with rallies which are associated with preaching to the choir):

1. target the distribution according to the population: Hendersonville is rural in part, quite Republican. CAFTA means lost jobs to those in textiles and agriculture, as far as I can tell. Any documentation of its effects either now or in the future need to be fully exploited and advertised.

2. More, many more Dems, need to come out. I saw 4 older ladies at the Hendersonville Dem HQ and that was IT people save for one other woman I just ran into walking around and Mary Olson and her partner, Pete.

3. Fully exploit the human emotion of SHAME, which is present except in people who are without a superego and there is no reaching them in any case (but probably only 10% of the American population overall is in this category and probably less if you could really target something they are interested in).

And here is the Shame statement for the day: “HOW MANY SOLIDERS PER GALLON DOES YOUR SUV GET?” and frankly that could really be stated otherwise (and in this, we also shame ourselves which is not a bad thing): “HOW MANY SOLDIERS PER GALLON DOES YOUR CAR GET?”

[deutsey]

18. When is the bullshit going to end?

When the fuck is this going to end?

[Ishoutandscream2]

19. Surprise, surprise. The country doesn't come first to Rove

His boy Bush does. Scum once again rises to the top.

[mark11727]

21. Those "senior Bush official"s sure can shoot their mouths off, eh?

But they never, EVER, find fault with their Preznit.

[no im not crazy]

24. Of course this is going on

The Fascist lie machine is at it again, and their lap dogs the press are nodding in agreement. Oh sure, some will post "retractions" on page four hundred. But that's about it. The media, will, again, and as usual, support the faux-President. A man who right now is jumping with joy about the devastation, because, as far as his sick mind is concerned, it brings his faux-Jesus closer to coming. And, if ANYONE here is surprised at all the "Republican upsets" we see in 2006, expecting these events to someone change the ALREADY DECIDED RESULTS of those elections, they're fools.

I don't want the man impeached. I want him arrested. MY jumping for joy day is when Federal troops break into the oval office and take him away at gunpoint, and then we get to see the bastard paraded around in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

[bostonbabs]

26. That is what should happen....I pray for it.

I have a friend who was the consulate general from Panama for 7 years. He loves America. He says that not until the people take to the streets will there be change. I am beginning to agree. Protests....college campuses will in action soon and I fear that the echo boomer's are indocrinated.....

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

28. "Already Decided Results" is...

... absolutely right. Too many of us, for whatever reason, simply refuse to acknowledge the truth of this. The ballot box is an illusion now. It's no longer possible to displace these illegitimate, neocon, fascists via democratic process--they've completely removed it. We will do it via revolution or not at all.

[MellowOne]

29. But, but, but.....

""As usual, however, the White House spin game is a little less than honest. The Washington Post reported on Sunday morning that a "senior Bush official" had complained that, as of Saturday, the governor of Louisiana -- who just happens to be a Democrat -- had not yet declared a state of emergency. Kathleen Blanco, meet Cindy Sheehan. Or Joseph Wilson. Or Paul O'Neill. Or John McCain.""

Bush declared a state of emergency BEFORE Katrina hit. Why would the governor have to declare it again?

[LSK]

30. i thought it was Aug 28, not Aug 26???

According to the document on the Governors website (http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf), it was Aug 28. What says Aug 26?

[PinkyisBlue]

31. Rove Needs a New Hobby

Like making license plates for $.50 per hour in maximum security.

Seriously, when will this guy give it up? The "folks" are onto him.

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. Here are the THREE RELEVANT DOCUMENTS: Blanco's two letters to Bush & DHS

and Bush's response.

1. 8/27: Governor Blanco asks President to Declare an Emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina. Here is the Press Release with the text of the letter:
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976

2. 8/27: Bush responds, declares emergency, backdated to 8/26. This is the WH press release:

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

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 27, 2005

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists 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, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA [phone].

3. 8/28: Gov. Blanco sends another letter to the DHS and the President with additional clarification:
http://www.gratisnet.com/KatrinaHelp.pdf

So the "senior Bush official" was lying through his teeth, as usual. Too bad Wash Post news editors have such a taste for licking those GOP Guccis (joke goes, they wear them because they can't tie their shoes) that they don't fact-check statements by known liars before putting them into print. Although they issued a correction, far fewer people will see that and will continue to cite the original article as "evidence" that the governor did not call a state of emergency.

Edited to add: GREAT PHOTO MONTAGE!!! That really gets to the heart of it. Unless you're a neocon, it's heartbreaking.

[Nothing Without Hope]

33. NYT article on Rove spin instructions - blame it on the state & local

officials and say "Now is not a time for blame, it's time to move forward." Of course, #2 flatly contradicts #1, but that just keeps your shamelessness limber.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05bush.html

September 5, 2005

White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and ANNE E. KORNBLUT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 -

(snip)

It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan.

The effort is being directed by Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, and his communications director, Dan Bartlett. It began late last week after Congressional Republicans called White House officials to register alarm about what they saw as a feeble response by Mr. Bush to the hurricane, according to Republican Congressional aides.

(snip)

In a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove's tough political style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.

"The way that emergency operations act under the law is the responsibility and the power, the authority, to order an evacuation rests with state and local officials," Mr. Chertoff said in his television interview. "The federal government comes in and supports those officials."

(snip)

I guess even smooth, habitual, one could say professional liars have it tough when the truth is so clearly opposite to what they say and readily available to their audience. Hey, it's hard work!

[Nothing Without Hope]

34. self-delete; accidental post duplication n/t