Katrina Call Records MISSING! How did this go unnoticed today?

[Atman]

HOW THE FUCK CAN THIS HAPPEN, and not even be mentioned at the hearings? We have records of EVERYTHING except this critical conference call, and we're supposed to believe it is a COINCIDENCE?

-------------

Katrina Records Contain A Gap
Missing: Homeland Security Conference Call As Levees Failed

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Homeland Security has not been able to find any recording of a crucial conference call five hours after Hurricane Katrina made landfall - though it has transcripts of other key discussions recorded in the days before and after the storm struck.

Senate investigators want to know who conferred and what they said on a 40-minute call that began at noon Aug. 29, as levees were being breached in New Orleans and government relief efforts were overwhelmed by the enormity of the storm.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wants the transcript for its investigation of why the response was bungled. The public phase of that probe is scheduled to end today with the appearance of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who in recent days has become the critics' favorite target.

<snip>

The Aug. 29 transcript is considered important because the Senate committee is looking into the actions of federal officials before and after the storm, and whether they ignored ample warnings about its potential impact.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., the committee's top Democrat, said evidence shows "we have found enough pre-landfall warnings ... to warrant a full-bore emergency response from the top levels of government before the storm struck."

He said he will quiz Chertoff on the government's fragmented effort before and after the storm. "It is inconceivable to me how the response could have been so weak, given the early alarms," the senator said Tuesday.

Lieberman plans to show Chertoff a timeline that demonstrates how Chertoff's agency was thoroughly briefed on the danger posed by Katrina.

But missing will be any detailed information about the Aug. 29 Homeland Security briefing.

"We have not found recordings of the VTCs

[Horse with no Name]

1. kick

Because this is important.:kick:
I heard someone on the radio today say that if Watergate had happened with this media and this administration, it would have gone virtually unnoticed.

[Up2Late]

13. No worries about folks missing this, you just made the front page!

Congratulations! :toast:

[TaleWgnDg]

27. Indeed. But did anyone know that Homeland Security had . . .

.


Rose Mary Woods, devoted secretary for President Richard Milhouse Nixon
http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/nlp/newsblaster/archives/2005-01-24-08-54-42/web/summaries/2005-01-24-08-54-42-058.html

Indeed. But did anyone know that Homeland Security had Rose Mary Woods on the payroll? Wow! For those not too sure what all this means, she's President Nixon's secretary who "inadvertently" erased those infamous "18 minutes Watergate gap" from Nixon's whitehouse office audio tapes! Yeah, who knew that Homeland Security hired her? And, how the hell did Homeland resurrect her from her grave?

These are important questions.

.

[shance]

2. No Atman. We do care. Reminds me of the destroyed 9-11 tapes.

One of the greatest assets of this Administration is their ownership of all media outlets. They control the message and so they distract with so many things.

I think we will need to spend less time at the computer and more time talking with neighbors and co workers and heading to our Congressmens' offices.

I think that is the way we are going to see more change.

[I Have A Dream]

3. How in the hell do they keep getting away with things like this?

:grr:

[ClintonTyree]

33. Simple......

CONservatives control the media, the media controls the message. No message, no scandal, no outrage. Don't forget, the GOP has been working on this plan for about 30 years. Their plan to control everything from the Corporate Media on up to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government has come to fruition. They certainly worked hard at it, spent enormous amounts of money and bided their time over decades to achieve their sinister goal. I only hope there is something we can do to reverse this or whether it's already too late. It certainly can't be reversed overnight but in the meantime our country is falling apart at the seams.
This is not a very joyous assessment of our current political troubles, but facts are facts and we can't delude ourselves into thinking otherwise.

[KnaveRupe]

34. When they put this plan in motion -

- the Internet didn't exist. Imagine where we would be right now without it.

The Internet is the only thing that has averted complete and utter dictatorship in this country. I shudder to think what America would look like right now if Al Gore hadn't come along to throw a wrench in their plans. ;)

[Atman]

4. Whew...I thought I was the only one who thought this was bizarre!

It reminds me of the Air Traffic Controller's tapes from 9/11, torn up and thrown in the trash so no one would ever know what officials were actually saying. But, after the whitewash today, maybe this really won't matter much after all. The killers will all get off, won't they? *sigh*

[FormerRepublican]

5. Cover up!!

In conference call:

Brown: The levees are breeched.

Bush: Huh?

Chertoff: Huh?

Brown: The levees are breeched, I said!

Bush: Oh, that's nice. All those brown people will drown.

Chertoff: Yes, sir!

etc. etc. etc.

[uppityperson]

6. arrogance.

gee, where'd they go? arrogance.

[Vickers]

7. A 40 minute call? Probably just small talk.

:sarcasm:

[hunter]

42. It probably was "small talk"

After they all agreed to cover for one another.

[ripple]

45. And coordinated their wardrobes n/t

[AuntiBush]

8. Respectfully...

How in the heck can we keep up with all the scandals (like never before)? We're being bombarded daily with sooo many scandals upon scandals it is hard to keep up.

I have not forgotten Katrina, nor do I let anyone else.

Hang tight. Me thinks everyone is trying to save our country (including victims of Katrina) by trying to get dark Vader.

[Fovea]

10. It's the Fitz, all the Fitz, and just the Fitz

we may talk among ourselves about the wall of sleaze that is the pugparty, but it is all about taking off the head.

If Cheney, Rove, etc go down, the rest will lose their focus. It isn't just about the executive, but the executive provides cover for the house and senate fascists.

So it is about the Fitz, and my constant prayers for his sucess. That is how the reality based community will bring down the Big Lie Republicans.

[AuntiBush]

17. You're not the only one in constant prayer

Poor God. He's overloaded these days, honestly... and so are we.

Isn't this just the most disgusting, pathetic times you thought you'd NEVER live to witness? I mean, one runs out of words to describe it all.

[VOX]

24. How true! *Every* day brings news of some outrageous right-wing business..

I'm afraid to even read the news online now -- every day there's some horrible story about the latest right-wing atrocity or travesty. The transgressions are piled up so high now that it's staggering.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who can still support this administration just isn't right in the head (or heart). :grr:

[anitar1]

26. I read it, even if I don't want to. Every thing is so horrible

every day , that it constantly appalls me. Never thought I would live to see this.The thought I have also appalls me.

[Ignis]

37. Perhaps that's the BFEE game plan:

1. Create so many scandals that the sheeple (working from FAUX News reports, of course) can only assume that the entire government--both parties--is corrupt.
2. ...
3. Profit!

[benny05]

9. The witnesses get too much advance notice

Susan Collins and her ranking DINO give more than ample time for these things to happen. I'm certain Sen Levin will have something to say...

[SeattleGirl]

11. This one slipped under my radar

Because there are so many things going on. Thank you so much for posting this. It's definitely something people need to know about.

[Zodiak]

12. this represents the next phase in Bushco deflection

1. deny
2. blame it on low-levels or better yet, Democrats
3. blame it in incompetence or ignorance "we didn't know those terrorists would use planes"
4. stonewall and rely on a complicit Congress or justice department to not pursue the issue
5. get rid of the evidence
6. assert that they are the kings and what they say goes

Pick your scandal and this paradigm applies

[HuskerDU]

39. Sorry to go off track, but who are the people in that picture

besides D Boon?

[Zodiak]

50. wow...D. Boon is the one I thought people wouldnt know

The first is Zach De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, aka the "angry prophet"

The second is Billi Jo Armstrong from Green Day

The third is Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy

All four write politcal lyrics...all four hate fascism

The quote is from Zach De La Rocha

[tanyev]

14. There was this thread, but it didn't get much notice.

Buried under an avalanche of Cheney threads and Valentine hearts! :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x420750

[Up2Late]

15. "...He could not say who was on the call." I'm really sick of the I FORGOT

...BS! It's time to start challengeing these guys with "Selective Memory!!!"

I personally have had short term memory problems ALL my life, but I'm not a high ranking Government official! This is B*llSh*t!

<http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-chertoff0215.artfeb15,0,7150624.story?coll=hc-headlines-nationworld>

"...Video teleconferences normally are recorded and then transcripts are made. Senate and House investigators sought recordings or transcripts, and the department made available transcripts of calls from Aug. 28 through Sept. 2.

But Aug. 29 was not included. "It could have been as inadvertent as someone not pressing `record,'" Knocke explained. He could not say who was on the call.

"There is no record of it having been recorded," he said.

The missing transcript's contents were outlined in a one-page Homeland Security Department e-mail obtained by The Courant. The memo discusses a call, conducted between noon and 12:40 p.m. that day, during which emergency management officials went over the deteriorating situation in Gulf Coast states...."

[Tin Man]

16. The "18 minute gap" of KatrinaGate

Not much of importance transpired in that videoconference anyhow - just some smalltalk about a few levees being breeched - nothing major... :sarcasm:

[mom cat]

41. How is that for inflation!

from 18 minutes wirh Nixon's secretary to 40 minutes with Buch ... thats about right, :evilgrin:

[stepnw1f]

18. Cover-up! (nt)

[Julius Civitatus]

21. Everything is a cover up with this people!

Seriously, very time there's an investigation to any of their wrecks, shit suddenly "disappears." They take us for complete idiots, and this is further proof we no longer live in a nation of laws.

[Rainscents]

19. None Stop cover up!

[Wordie]

20. K&R

[jsamuel]

22. WTF?

[serryjw]

23. Nixon got re-incarnated!

n/t

[f-bush]

25. Sounds like a Rosemary Woods event-that means...

IMPEACHMENT!!!!

[KittyWampus]

38. destroying evidence and obstructing justice

[annabanana]

28. committee membership... YOU know what to do...

Republican:
Susan M. Collins Chairman (R-ME)
Ted Stevens (R-AK) )
George V. Voinovich (R-OH)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Lincoln D. Chafee (R-RI)
Robert F. Bennett (R-UT)
Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
John W. Warner (R-VA)

Democrat
Joseph I. Lieberman Ranking Member (D-CT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
Thomas R. Carper (D-DE)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)

[Solly Mack]

29. Kick

[The Flaming Red Head]

47. Damn wouldn't we all like to have the chance

to do that to them.

[Solly Mack]

48. It just might be fun at that

:hi:

[Just Me]

30. Maybe, they're missing because the conference never happened.

Maybe.

[Solly Mack]

31. They have the outline of what was discussed at the conference

but there's no recording or transcript of it.

A memo that outlines the conference was found though for Aug 29th - so the conference did take place. Otherwise, why fake a memo of a conference that didn't take place - a memo that would lead to questions. Unless, of course, they all took the day off to go partying and don't want the world to know they were getting drunk instead of handling a natural disaster.

[Disturbed]

32. Shrub gets a pass once again.

Teflon may be on the way out but this asshole still has a heavy sheet of it covering his ass.

[LiberalinNC]

35. Honestly, NOTHING surprises me anymore w/ this administration!

[texpatriot2004]

36. Remember Katrina nm

[JudyM]

40. Motto for '06:they bungled Katrina, they'll bungle other security problems

[dogday]

43. When in doubt - wipe it out

shred it, burn it, destroy it, but don't release any information.... Doesn't anyone else get tired of this shit from them...

[Nikki Stone1]

44. Like the old Nixon tapes

Hmmm

[The Flaming Red Head]

46. The grownups aren’t running things anymore

The level of incompetence and negligence in handling Katrina is so high and so far reaching it’s inconceivable that there are any mature adults in Fema or Homeland security or in the Whitehouse. These people are not realistic and don’t have the cognitive level of the Clinton cabinet. They are just not smart enough to handle something of this magnitude. They are too greedy, corrupt, and spoiled and have no sense of responsibility for their fellow man. They’re selfish small minded idiots who probably couldn’t even balance a Wal-Mart cash register at the end of a shift and wouldn’t have their positions or offices if the not for their family connections.

[yardwork]

49. Look for a major news dump late tomorrow (Friday) afternoon

This administration always sneaks things into the late Friday news - after watching what they've actually revealed this week alone, imagine what they're hiding!

[newyawker99]

51. Atman

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
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Thank you.


NYer99
DU Moderator