Unreleased e-mails show admin in chaos in wake of Katrina

[kpete]

The Back-Channel Chatter After Katrina
A series of previously unreleased e-mails shows an administration in chaos in the wake of the storm.


By Mark Hosenball
Newsweek

Feb. 27, 2006 issue - At 9 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans, FEMA Director Michael Brown appeared on "Larry King Live" and announced, "This is a catastrophic disaster... We've got some storm surges that have come across the levees." Less than an hour later, at 9:51, Brown received ane-mail from White House chief of staff Andy Card, who told him he had been kept "well-informed about your reports. Anything you want me to do??" Brown replied, "Thanks for writing, Andy. This is a bad one. Housing, transportation and environment could be long term issues."

Card may have been concerned, but he wasn't in a position to be of much help. Like President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and homeland-security adviser Frances Townsend, Card was on vacation when the hurricane struck. Back at the White House, the job of monitoring the storm was left to Kenneth Rapuano, Townsend's deputy. At 10 p.m., Rapuano left the White House to go home for the night, believing everything was under control.

more at:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11434022/site/newsweek

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. Sounds like spin to get Bush & Cheney off the hook - we can't let that

happen.

[rodeodance]

2. the Hourse report lays blame on Chertoff mostly and I heard it barely

memtions Bush---vague statements like 'administration'

[smoogatz]

3. They're the worst possible administration in a crisis. They're panicky,

uninformed, incompetent and stupid. They have no plan in the event of a national emergency except to round up dissenters and put them in pens. They want unfettered power so they can "keep us safe" from their critics--they could care less about Osama, obviously.

[KoKo]

4. And, their vacations always come first ....n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. I actually think that their very public absense from the scene was planned

They wanted an excuse to evade the blame for what they knew was coming: the devastation of New Orleans and a large area of the South.

In the DHS National Response plan, the responsibility is clear - it belongs to the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense, both under the President.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4668155
Rumsfeld was way out of town too.

They are trying to make everyone forget that Bush, Rumsfeld and Chertoff already had the power AND THE RESPONSIBILITY to act quickly, effectively and pro-actively. Instead, they used the situation for a power grab for the presidency and have tried to scapegoat Brown, a lower-ranking official who was clearly unqualified for his position (I believe deliberately - FEMA was SUPPOSED to fail to justify a power grab for the military).

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. kick n/t