AP - Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060301/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_video
By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, risk lives in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage of the briefings.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck on Aug. 29 but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

Six days of footage and transcripts obtained by The Associated Press show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

<SNIP>

Words cannot describe this.

And what I clearly saw, was the the total destruction of LA, are you guys with me?

Katrina was so wide, so why didn't these people act like it was a priority?

Republican playground. Residents will be screened for their GOP credentials on exit and entry. They ALSO had the computer models which predicted the exact scenario of a Cat 5 two years ago. They pulled the funds.

I watched the news all weekend, and every single cable channel repeatedly said "GET OUT OF THE AREA RIGHT NOW".

Why people stayed, i have no idea.

Money for gas, money for a car, money for a place to stay for 2-3 days (or longer.)
Many people in New Orleans couldn't afford to leave.

By now, you already KNOW this. Why keep repeating Republican propaganda?
Why keep blaming the victims?

Try this:
You are employed in a minimum wage job.
You are waiting on a $215 paycheck due on the 1st (today is the 28th).
Rent is due on the 1st.
You have $6 in your pocket.
You don't own a car.
The mayor comes on TV and says "Quick, everybody jump in your car and leave town, or go to the Superdome."

What would YOU do?

The thought i keep in my head is, had Kerry won, what would we have done different?

I know for a fact that California will be hit by a major earthquake in the next 50 years. Major damage will occur to some buildings. Politically, who is responsible for stopping that earthquake?

"who is responsible for stopping that earthquake?"

The proper question would be,
'Who is responsible for RESPONDING to the coming earthquake.

1)Local officials SHOULD have Quick Response teams on alert. (1 hour)
2)Medical, Transportation, and Emergency Housing should be preplanned in regional locations (National Guard would do this if they weren't wasted in Iraq)
3)FEMA SHOULD have MASSIVE food, medical assistance, transportation, security, resource co-ordination, communications available ANYWHERE in the US within 6 hours.

The US citizens are ALREADY paying for this.

Probably to the person who is in need. Is 1 hour to long?

Do you know where the fema food bank is within 6 hours of you? If not, why?

Do you know who operates it? Who does the distribution of it? What do they do when they aren't called into action, or should the be permanently on duty?

to be destroyed. I can't recall the DU'er right now, but everything he said about the storm and the levees ended up happening.

someone said

BEFORE THE HURRICANE...blah-blah-blahing about how terrible it would be and how the services were in place and ready to go...

and then he went off to a birthday party, some beach and some golf..
'
Why ANYONE is giving him a pass on this is mindboggling, to say the least..

short because some Americans were drowning on US soil....:sarcasm:

He said in the interview with Elizebeth Vargas, "that he could see the people were in distress and their was chaos",

Really.......if you call actual footage of American bodies floating down American streets distress...if you view thousands of people dying of dehydration chaotic because your FEMA manager was dining in a hotel and worried about his attire...


He's a mentally ill person.....something aint right up in the skull area....

Read "Bush On The Couch," by Justin Frank, MD - he nails Fuckface and even makes him (almost) sympathetic. Especially when you read about his childhood and his fucking criminally negligent parents.

It's a terrific read.

Thanks for the suggestion!!

There were times I wanted to buy a thousand copies and hand them out to every "Bush/Cheney'04" fool I could find.

"Look, you stupid bastards, THIS is what you voted for."

Then I'd slash their tires and hide behind a tree. :) :hi:

I'll represent you gratis.

Use an icepick, by the way, in the side of the tire. Can't be repaired.

But you knew that, didn't you......................... ? :applause:

But it's on the hush-hush, you know.

Say, is that air escaping, or are you just glad to see me?????

it's the sound of my heart expanding at your sudden appearance.

:dilemma:

it was purely hypothetical, you know.

;)

...thanks for that.

I have a cough, and it almost hurt to laugh--and then I couldn't stop laughing.

You're so right...I'd like to hand out copies of the books...the slash the tires. :)

I'll see ya behind the trees!

Thanks for the laugh...seriosly. I needed it.

:)

does making perfect narcissistic/psychpathic sense!
Plus, one can virtually predict what Bush will do or say on important issues.

For example: He will NEVER "retreat" from this Dubai deal, even if he says he will! He'll find some "back door" way to get Dubai the dough. UNLESS he can get Dubai to bow out themselves.

So, how many "events' does he never learn of until after we do?
9/11
the tsunami
Katrina/New Orleans
Cheney shooting gig
Ports deal

I just finished the book, and I can't stop recommending it to friends.

http://hnn.us/articles/7106.html


You do feel sorry for him; but I suspect he's gone too far.

were until he 'saw people screaming on tv." God. All. Mighty.

that this was the SECOND time in his Presidency that he blew off warnings to go on vacation and do nothing. That's TWICE the Jackass was criminally negligent and there he still sits, grinding us into the ground, due to a criminally negligent Congress.

on Larry King Dead the other night.

He wondered what it was going to take for the people of the United States finally to get so pissed off they move their lazy butts and DO something about what's been pulled on them for the past 5 years.

It's horrifying. All these sheep.

AWOL for Guard duty in Alabama, AWOL on 8/6/01 after being warned about bin Laden striking and AWOL after being warned about the levy's possibly breaking BEFORE Katrina struck.

sociopath noun
a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.

DERIVATIVES sociopathic adjective sociopathy noun

There was a caller on Randi today who said * hating black people gives * too much credit. He hates people.

Anybody who knew in advance that New Orleans was going to happen, have the power of the POTUS, do nothing about it before or in the days following, is a sociopath. Add this to all the other sociopathic behavior. Truly, he is.

Bush lies. Again and again. Worst president ever.

I knew it, and yet found myself unbelievably enraged all over again. Seeing it is something much bigger than just hearing about it.

Pardon my language, but shit-fire!

flames coming out his ears. He's filled with loathing and hatred.

MSNBC.

I thought to myself, why are you not outraged. Here is the most clear cut example of a straight out lie. Maybe there is something wrong with me.

But then I settled down and realized that I have known this, at a deeper level, all along.

It's kind of like being angry at a mentally challenged person for not knowing how to tie their shoes. I don't know. It's hard to explain.

:grr:

i don't know if i can forgive america for forgiving him that :grr:

Shame on those who voted for him AGAIN after he sat back and did NOTHING when being warned of a pending attack. Shame on those who knew he sat there and read a goat story to children while a plane/bomb was headed for Washington.

It was clear to all those who would SEE that he was incompetent at best and criminally negligent at worst.

ON edit: MORE RANT. Shame on those who allowed an tape of the alledged Osama bin Laden to SCARE them into voting for * in 2004. I mean GEE, instead of being exhausted from "being on the run," the boogie man looked FAT and HEALTHY to me.... Shame on those who bought the Sleeze Boat scum theme that John Kerry didn't really earn his medals... geesh... a guy volunteers to go into battle for his country into the line of fire and people actully BUY the argument that he was a coward???

End of rant. Got to go to work.

And he has united a small minority of the US population behind him and no matter what he does, no matter how absurd, no matter how dishonest, they will NEVER find fault with him. Instead, they will fervently blame someone else in an attempt to dilute the issue.

I'm convinced that if bush gave a press conference in which he endorsed child molestation, these people would jump in line behind him. You'd probably hear "Well, they're going to have sex one day so what difference does it make how old they are? It's inevitable."

...of who leaked this vital and secuity sensitive information.....

I watched the hearings and he looked seriously pissed--

I think they set him up to take the fall like they did Tenet with Iraq...
and while I don't want to give heckofajob a bunch of praise he has way more balls then Tenet apparently.

our president is a sociopathic liar

an intuition person - you didn't have to be, the facts forecast an absolute disaster.

...I figured it heralded a potential catastrophe. It's criminal negligence that permitted N.O. to drown when it was patently obvious to the casual observer that trouble was on the way.

Worst president ever.

the national Hurricane Center guy goes thru it...

Until that question is answered, i won't be satisfied.

I'll bet Olbermann would have a big show on it, if he can get the tapes.

come on--- IMPEACH THIS GUY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

on Hardball the guest from the right said it was understandable that Bush didn't jump into high gear since, culturally, we all discount weather reports anyway.

Really - not making that up.

In actual fact, weather reports have gotten BRILLIANTLY correct since I grew up in the 1950s. They are remarkable tools these days, and everyone knows that including Kate.

And remember -- ALL the different models had that hurricane going exactly where it did for days ahead of time. It did shift a wee bit away from NO in the final 3 hours or so, but that level of specificity and accuracy was unheard of in my day, and the fact that ALL the different computer models forecasted the same thing was pretty unheard of too. No serious person would have written off such predictions.

it doesn't do justice to the problem at hand. It wasn't about what info the public had access to (although we had a lot), it was about what he had access to. Sound familiar to another clusterf topic? Bush was repeatedly warned and informed in full by people who knew and he chose to ignore the problem.

but didn't I see the image of a WHOPPER of a storm headed straight for New Orleans/Mississipi from satellite photos?

DUH... I think it was a pretty good BET NO was gonna get hit.

and showed him saying he was right there to take care of everything! Now can we impeach him?

the katrina tape...oh no...this story may be the final rock around bush's neck. (I hope)

once again been laid bare for all to see....but who will see this?

Will the networks pick this up?

Will the traditional media finally demand accountablility?

I doubt it.

But, as Lily Tomlin said, "No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up."

bad as we thought. To me he DOES look like the scapegoat.
--

A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and then- Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown told the president and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.

He's the scapegoat, yes, but he has honestly earned every lousy thing said about him. But he shouldn't be standing there alone, that I agree.

...seriously.

The cops planted evidence AND OJ was guilty.

Brown is inept AND a scapegoat.

It's not an either/or...both are true.

Follow?

:hi:

(imagine it in Johnny Cochran's voice, R.I.P.)

IMPEACH

I remember how we went over the Katrina models as the hurricane approached. I remember the discussions and disagreements about where it would hit directly and most of all I remember NOLA posters who were moving to safety. When we realized they would not take the direct hit, some of us were relieved and one of them was more worried than ever since he anticipated every damn thing that happened. I will never forgive these murderers.

I hate to get a laugh from other people's misery, but today is as good a day as any... There are crews finally going door to door to find DEAD PEOPLE in New Orleans -- months and months after the fact. This is SO SICK.

Patriot ACT, bah-humbug! I can't BELIEVE what I'm reading and hearing today.

Radio_Lady in Oregon

...NOT DOING A DAMN THING TO SAVE NON-REPUBLICANS!

That's the fucking truth. They did nothing because the affected people in NOLA weren't REPUBLICANS. All the republicans filled up their SUV's and high-tailed it long before the hurricane hit, leaving only the poor.:grr:

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:rofl:

Heckuva first post, Brownie! Welcome to DU...:eyes:

nt

http://www.gnocdc.org/orleans/4/46/transportation.html

I should know. I used to be one of them, about fifteen years ago. So much for well over 100,000 of us just taking the ol' jalopy up I-10 for a leisurely jaunt to Baton Rouge or Houston. And then the few people who tried to walk across the bridge got guns pointed in their face by suburban police. What were we supposed to do, swim Lake Pontchartrain? :grr:

:popcorn:

show was over.

There seem to have been more than the usual opportunities for :popcorn: today so I ran out and had to get more, by the time I came back my entertainment had been curtailed, lol. I have no doubt, though, I will have plenty more opportunities to eat my supply!

Maybe we can give W a pretzel!:popcorn:

as did the folks in the hospitals.

as to the poor folk who stayed due to lack of transportation or lack of money, many were longtime residents of the area... they have ridden out many hurricanes in the past.

no reason to think this one would be different.

known this one would be different.

I have a big problem with this whole story. I'm not sure an evacuation order was given. I hope someone can tell me if one was or not. If not, then surely government officials are to blame.

On the other hand, if one was given, i'm not exactly sure what the laws are regarding mandatory evacuations. Is it against the law to disobey them? What rights do law enforcement have in making sure people get evacated. Can you be arrested if you stay?

Is it a violation of a civil liberty for a police officer to enter a house and forcibly remove someone who doesn't want to go? I would think so, but i'm not sure.

Granted it is more fun to say, "BUSH LIED, BLACK PEOPLE DIED" over and over. And thankfully it was enough to drive his poll numbers into the ground.

But as you point out, people mistakenly decided to stick it out and they died because of that decision.

better than you... and guess what else Chumly. It's a huge winner for Dems. Thanks for the tip.

That tape really blew me away. Isn't criminally negligent manslaughter revealed in those tapes?

something but why in the end didn't he?

Clinton about Bin Laden. "If I don't think about it, it won't/doesn't happen"...is our president's mindset. In his own world!

just a focus group out there, remember?

He is seriously intellectually challenged. Cannot imagine anything other than his rosy scenario outcomes. So all his decisions/actions are flawed, incompetent.

what, something like two thousand?

Has Anybody Here Seen My Old Friend...? 5,000 Katrina Missing (9KidPics)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5560370

and let's not forget this little factoid which proves Bush killed these people, either intentionally or through criminal negligence:

*** NYT reports study of Katrina dead - MOST DIED AFTER THE STORM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5632930
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/national/nationalspecial/18victims.html?th&emc=th

There is no better word for it. Bastard.


(on second thought, not you, Razz)

"Bush didn't ask a single question during the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck on Aug. 29"

Yessiree, that's our hands-on, plugged in, policy wonk of a President.

Just when you think it can't get any worse you get to see the actual workings of this administration and you realize....hey, it's even worse than I thought.

You don't give him any credit at all. By the way, the photo below comes off the White House (of ill repute) website. You would think there would be just as soon people forget this.

Hell he was on vacation, so he wasn't working - whatever it was it could wait till he got back yes?

Swine bastard power mad frat boy nitwit. He couldn't waste his time in casinos or yachts or just sit in an office and pretend to run a company for daddy like a lot rich kids with more money than brains do - they are useless but basically harmless. But this monster, this dry drunk narcissistic twit with a scary taste for killing by proxy - no he has to become president so we all will know for all time that he is totally unqualified for the job and thousands lie dead while he smiles and eat cake. I would compare him to Nero but Nero was actually brighter than this disgrace. He's America's Ethelred the Unready (a saxon king of England who pretty much did nothing as the Danes over ran half of England) Bad king John (who's abuses led to the Manga Carta) and George the Third ('nuff said)

I think he really meant to say "We are fully prepared to sit on our hands and do nothing."

of a mega-million Hollywood disaster movie I sent an email to a local talk host(Lynn Cullen-Pittsburgh) that she read on the air asking why the President was flying out to photo-ops instead of straight back to the WH to monitor the situation.

Why the hell could I figure out we had a disaster that was about to eclipse 9-11 but idiot boy couldn't? Or his f'in scared of the boss advisors?

Incurious George strikes again! Gawd I can't figure out why this jerk even has 34% approval!

and it was a ploy to enable a presidential power grab and lots of money/property funnelled to cronies.

The Bushies are STILL trying to use Katrina to destroy Posse Comitatus:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x511437
thread title (2-24-06 GD): White House Katrina Report says MILITARY should be involved, blames no one
Excerpt from WaPo article: “In a 228-page report that emphasized bureaucratic problems rather than failures of leadership, White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend detailed a host of problems in the federal approach to the most destructive natural disaster in the nation's history. ]The report contained 125 recommendations for improvement -- including 11 critical steps to be taken before the next hurricane season begins June 1.”
Of special concern is the expected statement that the military will play a greater role, but exactly what this is supposed to be is not spelled out, and I believe this vagueness is deliberate. The National Response Plan will be rewritten, and extreme and detailed care will have to be taken that it is not approved with language that effectively destroys Posse Comitatus, allows federalization of the National Guard, or gives other unconstitutional powers to the President and the military.

:kick:

If anyone to deliver a proper lambasting, its Keith.

These bastards should be jailed.

it took six months to figure this out?

Everybody knows it was Blanco & Nagins fault. <sarcasm on>

Portion, yes.

(Nice user name.)

Lol, I originally registered just to post a reply on a Katrina thread.

In my opinion they do share a large portion of blame because they are responsible for establishing local and state evacuation plans. Nagin failed to order an evac in a timely manner and failed to use the resources he had available.

Ninety percent of the city's population was evacuated before the storm. I'll take that every time. Let's see how your city does with two days notice.

The most lethal state failure was in not setting up a proper communications system that could survive the storm and flooding. The money was there, but not being spent.

Meanwhile, Nagin leads all candidates in the mayoral race polling. And that's with his base scattered among several states. He must have done something right.

http://www.oxfordpress.com/business/content/shared/news/nation/stories/12/NATKATBLANCO1215A_5REP.html

I just saw it on the news a few minutes ago. I live on the Coast.

Also... http://factcheck.org/article348.html

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/28/no.poll/

"Nagin's closest competitor for the job is Mitch Landrieu, who has tepid support among both whites and blacks, according to the poll. Only 17 percent of blacks and 18 percent of whites said they would definitely vote for Landrieu, who is white, while 42 percent of blacks and 49 percent of whites said they would consider it."

Noam would hold all politicians accountable, not just the most repugnant repukes.


http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051017/davis

To equate Blanco and Nagin with Bush is just asinine, especially after the tapes of those conference calls.

Blanco had a disaster plan left to her by the former REPUBLICAN governor. Nagin did, unfortunately, delay evacuation orders, but he did not have the resources to DO the evacuations. Those school buses didn't have drivers, for one thing.

The cry by this administration and its supporters that there's "blame on all levels of government" is just a huge effort to deflect that the massive amount of blame belongs on them. Period.

You do yourself no favors by Passing Through long enough to peddle GOPO talking points on the disaster made worse by the Bush administration criminally negligent at best inaction or at worst quite purposeful genocidal acts.

1) Blanco was Lt. Gov from 1996-2004. Gov from 1/2004 till present. She knew the plan and had time to change the plan.

2)Nagin ordered evac only 20 hours before landfall.

3)City employees could have driven the buses. Anyone could have driven the buses.

4) All levels of gov did fail. Every report states such. You seem to be one of the few that does not believe the Gov and Mayor failed also.

May I suggest that when you disagree with someone you do not resort to profanity and the ever popular "talking points" claim when you disagree. This is a discussion forum not an "Echo Forum."


Peace Out

and reported. Bush stiffed Congress and hasn't answered questions. What Bush did and did not do about Katrina remains a secret. We got a peek today. Its big news. We waited six months for any truth to come out. Now we see why. Yes, I'm hostile.

Bush is the only one that could have gotten help to a city this size. Thinking that Blanco and Nagin could have done anything is ignorant. As a matter of fact, Blanco asked for helped days before the hurricane hit. What else was she supposed to do? Nagin is mayor of the city. He had no authority outside of asking people to leave. Your driving the buses idea is a right-wing theory that would have never worked. Again, your being ignorant and uninformed.

Bush cut funding for rebuilding the levees, he put an unqualified person in charge of FEMA, he ignored the warnings before and during the hurricane, and now we know he was informed days ahead of time. Oh yeah, he also lied about it.

Nice try though.

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vehicles attempting to bring water and supplies to the area and disabled local communications? Please explain. As people were dying of dehydration, in seems that the feds were more interested in keeping aid out. You must have seen on television the head of the ninth ward speak on television and a sheriff who were pissed because the feds intentially cut their communications. Now tell me what that was about?

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or mitigate the fact that the PRESIDENT of the COUNTRY heard the warnings, continued his vacation, and then LIED to the American people saying that NObody anticipated the breaching of the levees.

There is ONE federal administration and the buck stops on BushCo's desk for HIS failure to act and HIS lies. We can argue who else could have done more, but the fact is this president is clueless, incompetent, careless, uncaring, and a shameless liar. THAT is what these tapes show.

Deflecting the discussion to "all levels of government failed" shifts the focus of this particular revelation.

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I missed last evening's news, but saw a clip of the tape in question this morning.

It really makes your boy look bad. No surprise here--I've loathed Shrub since he was my Governor. But more & more people are finally waking up.

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Wonder why? If this is an Echo Chamber, why do we have so many long threads where long-time DU'ers fight like siblings?

Sincere sympathy for the fact that everyone has seen that damning tape of Bush. Defending the indefensible can't be much fun.

using them, picked up people drove out of NO and later was arrested?

Where everything's coming up roses?

You know, the thing that disgusts me the most with the whole "Blanco and Nagin/state and local" mantra is how it completely dismisses the continuing misery in Mississippi.

Remember Mississippi? That OTHER state that suffered the ravages of Katrina? The state whose misery can NOT be blamed on Blanco and Nagin? The state who's continuing problems inconviently prove that maybe other states beside Louisiana (such as yours, for instance) as a rule are not set up to handle this sort of devastation without help from the federal level?

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WTF are you talking about? Nagin requested people to evacuate earlier that weekend and made it mandatory for the city (first time ever for N.O.) on Sunday morning (I saw that press conference live).

Also, Gov. Blanco declared a state of emergency on Aug. 26
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973




http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4839666

Not State Ememergency Management, Not Local Emergency Management.

Do you wait until your children are drowning before you step in and help or do you help lead them to safety before disaster strikes?

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May Bush be damned by his own words about no one expecting the levees to break.

evacuation plans and in the foot-dragging and blocks after the storm, it was MIHOP as well.

But what is the blood and devastation of thousands more to these terrible people? They are war criminals and traitors and murderers many times over already, and they don't care if they can pursue their greed for power and money.

and in the aftermath. These people are too evil for words. Remember Cheney flying to Mississippi to check on his oil wells? "Property over People" perfectly symbolizes this greedy cabal. I wish them the harm that they have wrought on others, and I wish that their hypocrisies will come to light.

with am opportunity to use nature to clear out "unpleasant people" that they couldn't do themselves. This was a perfect chance to use malignant neglect to accomplish "the clearing of valuable real estate" and they saw dollar signs in the chance to get development and speculators in after the "cleansing" of the population.:evilfrown:

I've heard so many rethug types refer to NO as a modern day Sodom that needed to be wiped off the face of the earth that I was only horrified, not surprised, when Katrina went down. I am speechless when I am asked by my colleagues and neighbors to explain why I'm a "Bush-hater" (their term).

"But, he's a born again Christian. He didn't cheat on his wife with a fat intern. He's pro-life." See the bullshit I have to listen to in Texas? I could have put up with it if he'd only remained governor here instead of taking the presidency...

Ever get that hopeless feeling where your hair is standing on end, you're shaking and the only thing that could possibly happen next is a horrifying disaster you can't stop? I got while watching CNN on September 11th and while watching video on my computer during Katrina. And I just got it again after watching this video. Unbelieveable. I'm shaking mad again...

I felt that at the time that this was going down and cannot understand nor believe that people fall for this "I had no idea this was happening until I saw the people screaming for help" routine. The information was available for anyone who had eyes or ears to understand what was heading for Louisiana. My God, it had already destroyed parts of the Yucatan peninsula and hadn't it torn up Florida first? Come on, some things are common sense.
Welcome to DU, by the way...:hi:

martial law and kill posse comitatus for once and for all. The good people of NOLA wouldn't comply, so they finally had to relent and let supplies and provision come in, but just a little. That started on Friday after Katrina hit and was a big media deal on Saturday when Bush was there for photo ops.

Don't forget the arm-twisting the Bush administration did on poor Gov. Blanco:

**** WP, A01: White House Shifts Blame #
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1750979
(see several posts, incl #20 for FEMA,
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html


A Mole in Gov Blanco's office reports
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4644904

NPR Reports: GW to Blanco "I'll send in the troops if you answer to the WH"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4715924&mesg_id=4715924
and: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4714874&mesg_id=4714874
Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4839666






And here are some other spine-chilling articles and discussions:

Newsday: Bush urges larger role for military
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1805660
Link: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usbush26,0,3017289.story?coll=ny-nation-big-pix

Check out the President's powers through FEMA. And he wants MORE!!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4790112&mesg_id=4790882
Link:
http://educate-yourself.org/nwo/FEMAsecretgovt1995.shtml

Sen. Warner & Snow: "revise" Posse Comitatus & Insurrection Acts (live from floor speeches)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2086673&mesg_id=2086673

WaTimes: Bush seeks to federalize emergencies (end Posse Comitatus Act) #
(includes McClellan's comment about automatic trigger - txpt http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050926-2.html )
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1808662
Link: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050927-121122-3262r.htm


Is Suppression of a Coming Revolution the Reason * Wants to Repeal Posse
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5059477

"The translation of this is martial law in the United States,"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5049914#5049927
Giving Democracy The Bird; Bush Asks Congress for Martial Law by Ted Rall
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1012-29.htm

looky here: northcom already planning for martial law
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2152195&mesg_id=2152195
Link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/11/disaster.force/index.html

Bush on MSNBC to Matt Lauer: "We are planning all this out..."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5033428
Link (Video): http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/bushoct1105mattlauermilitary.wmv

Chertoff wanting to circumvent Posse Comitatus for some time now:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2086673&mesg_id=2091953
Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4770157#4775691

NOLA: Plan would let president take control in disasters
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2176540
Link: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1129997967245220.xml

Large-Scale Role for U.S. Military in Disasters Described As 'Inevitable'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x164798
Link; http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybng&story_id=84144435&ID=blackenterprise

Bush says he may need more power in disasters #
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1778930 (See #10 & others)
Carolab Post #10 Response to Original message
10. Oh, dear God, here it is: DICTATORSHIP.
And THIS is what Roberts is for--to extend *'s "powers".
This whole thing was premeditated for two reasons:
1. Get people to distrust the agencies "in charge".
2. Privatize the duties of these "inept" agencies.
SO transparent.
Link: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/12629945.htm

Thank you RazzleDazzle. I plan to read them all.

them all grouped together that way. We get pieces here and there all of the time, but the shit is flying so fast and furious it gets hard to focus on one particular turd long enough to see just how bad it really is, and how often it comes up. That whole martial law, extra prison stuff really scares the shit outta me.

I had the same thought even without your masterful martialling of evidence. Just kept hearing those bastards harp on the need to have a "military role", which would of course with the "war on terror" tieing down the real military, have been contracted out to Blackwater, etc.

who were looting as compared to the 20,000 people who were starving

Negligence bordering on pure evil.
:thumbsup:

I don't put a whole lot of stock in it, but my church has taken in a family of Katrina survivors from NO. The pastor, whom I work for, says that not only that family (a black family I should probably mention) and other survivors swear to high heaven they heard a couple of explosions near the levies before they "broke".

Like I said, I don't put much stock in it, but it's funny you should put it the way you did. Odd that I don't though. I'm a guy who thinks this administration was complicit in 9/11, but I guess in my head it's about controling/manipulating a country and perhaps the entire world.

I guess I'm just holding out hope that such an act would not be committed for reasons that would obviously be qualified as a helluva lot more petty in the grand scheme of things.

If not, then when are the DEM leaders going to go on TV and challenge the Republicans in power to explain why it is not impeachable?

offense?

And his lifelong willful ignorance has catastrophic, fatal consequences. The man is a sociopath and should be permanently locked up.

Really, I'm serious here - I'll bet $ to donuts that fucking numbskull was daydreaming about his vacation, hence no questions from * during the briefing.

FUCKING LIAR!!!!!!

This is exactly how I feel but I still hesitate to type it. I am so angry. This stupid, uncaring spoiled rich kid fake cowboy who has not one ounce of curiosity or imagination or one ounce of leadership capability--I am so furious.

An entire city was wiped out and thousands of people have died with many still missing. This is completely unforgivable.

liars, idiots, and incompetents.

No one could anticipate the breaching of the levees despite a gazillion REAL warnings?!?!!?



But yet we were all to anticipate a "mushroom cloud" based upon info from the lying criminal Chalabi and his lying band of toadies and thieves?!?!?!?


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

of course he didn't. The man is a DUMBO, unfit to be president, totally, completely incompetent, way way way over his head.

Paul Begala once said something about him like: I've never seen someone with so much confidence that has so little to be confident about. Only he said it better.

They said they just got the tape, it showed Bush being briefed before Katrina AND HE DIDN'T ASK ONE SINGLE QUESTION.

he's a total Fu*cking LIAR!!!!!!

:grr:

After being told (in dramatic and agonizing terms) that a major American city is about to hit with a major catastrophe, HE DOESN'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS??? Any chance this is on video?

It's not political anymore...

The man is simply incompetent!!! Surely the GOPers can see that now!

And he lies...

Damn murderous assholes mustered up nothing!

Knew what was going on.

Deriliction of Duty is a serious crime and Bush's immediate resignation is in order.

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Why isn't the US media all over this??

Jack Cafferty is foaming at the mouth. As he should be. This is so disgusting it's beyond words.

wrong

Nobody could have imagined planes being flown into buildings

wrong


Nobody could have foreseen a civil war in Iraq

wrong

Nobody could think that those exit polls are correct

wrong

W stands for WRONG!! :mad:

but because of this (and so much more) I think we should start building and preparing the gallows. Calmly let the rest of the country know when they come to their senses we're ready for when they LEGALLY (you see this feds? I know you're watching us "subversives") decide what he deserves. Leave em hanging in the desert sun for the carrion-feeders.

And this is coming from someone who's opposed to the death penalty, but then, his guilt is fucking obvious. The blood of THOUSANDS deserves retribution.

your son. I hope you didn't even know him.

But I AM sorry for and grieve his loss, and the loss of every other person sent over there.

A group of friends from back home, no clique, everyone was very different, but we all got along great. Back when we were teenagers, he was a thug, but he was cleaning his life up, and wanted to become a police officer. He was 2 weeks from coming home from his 2nd tour when he died.

In effect:

"These horrible scenarios were based on a Cat 5 storm. When Katrina hit it was a Cat 3 and no one could have forseen the levees failing/damage wrought by a Cat 3 storm."

WH's spin machine got in front of this one fast, but it doesn't change the fact that this adminstration was criminally inept/negligent. I gotta admit though, during the tape, Brown actually seemed be concerned about the possible consequences of Katrina. I'm not acting as Brown's apologist, mind you- At the end of the dat, I want to see him in cuffs along with the rest of them...

Dr. Max Mayfield flat-out TOLD the Bush White House that Katrina had the potential to become a CAT 5 storm that would bring massive casualties and catastrophic destruction, and they tried to make him a scapegoat for doing his job. I HEARD Dr. Mayfield say the exact same thing on CNN. Katrina was a CAT 5 storm when it hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The damage and carnage inflicted is testimony to that.

Every weather news outlet - The Weather Channel, accuweather.com, weatherunderground.com, NOAA.gov - was issuing bulletins and warnings. EVERYBODY who had access to a television, the Internet or the radio KNEW it.

That excuse don't fly.

if I'm not mistaken...

I thought the same thing. If we're correct, it seems a bit inept on the part of WH/FEMA to have downgraded thier emergency response plans.

Regardless of the strength of the hurricane, the response was bungled and the WH can't shake that off no matter how hard they try.

flummoxed by a cat 3?

jeezusgodonafuckingcrutch!!! HOW IN THE HELL DO THE KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THESE HALF-ASSED EXCUSES?

:mad: :argh: :grr: :grr: :grr:

Katrina was revised to a cat 3 much later, and now the wh is saying they knew it was a cat 3?


Report Revises Katrina's Force
Hurricane Center Downgrades Storm to Category 3 Strength

By Peter Whoriskey and Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A03

Hurricane Katrina will go down in the history books as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, but not by a long shot the most powerful.

The National Hurricane Center released a summary report on Katrina this week that downgraded the storm's intensity at landfall in Louisiana on Aug. 29 from Category 4 to Category 3. The winds in New Orleans, which lay to the west of the storm's center, were probably even weaker than that, at Category 1 or 2 speeds, the report said.

Estimates of Katrina's power are expected to play a central role in the ongoing investigations into what failures led to the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.

One of the key points of contention is how well the existing levees, which were said to be capable of withstanding a Category 3 hurricane, performed.

Leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency responsible for New Orleans's levees and ultimately accountable for their failure, initially blamed the problems on the fact that the storm was more powerful than the Category 3 event for which the levees had been designed.

snip...
As recently as last week, federal and Louisiana officials responsible for the region's levees were describing Katrina as a Category 4 or 5 storm. Edmond J. Preau Jr., Louisiana's assistant secretary for public works, told a Senate panel that Katrina essentially delivered a Category 5 blow to the Gulf Coast.

more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122101960.html

after this tape is widely viewed?

I mean, it's not like we don't have a fucking smoking weapons cache by now... but seriously. Spread it far and wiiiiiiiiide.

He only popped in to give them encouragement and then went away to more pressing duties before the discussion took place.
If he had heard the rest of it he would have been right there to help but Brown didn't involve him so he didn't know.

I'll betcha we are going to hear something like this tomorrow.

And I recommend you go take a look at the Katrina timeline again.
It's more horrifying than I remembered.

http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline

-------------
Sunday
Everyone, including Bush, was informed about the seriousness of the storm and the danger of the Levees.

Monday
The storm hits in the morning.
The Levees are breached later that morning.
That evening Gov. Blanco requests help from Bush. "We need everything you've got."
.
.
Tuesday
.
.
.
Wednesday
.
.
.
Thursday
.
.
.
Friday
Bush's aides show him news video tapes of people screaming, Bush begins to get an inkling that something might not be right.



Whew!

Even Kennedy, Kerry and Boxer. Please go to Russ Feingold's site and thank him for reading the entire Bill of Rights to Congress in protest TODAY. Where is the coverage on DU??

If they are too cowardly to vote for Russ' moderate amendments, how do you think they will have the courage to impeach??

...beyond the ramifications about the Katrina disaster, how did that tape get released?

Could it be that the rats are *really* starting to jump off this ship?

Again, WOW.

:sarcasm:

Now here's a technical question: Is the video camera taking that shot above of sufficient resolution to capture the screen at the end of the room?

The AP tape shows that the cameraman was using video, not taking stills. The White House claimed that the tapes of the meeting were lost. This photo and the AP tape show that there was at least one additional recording being made--in the room with the President himself. AP claims that they got their tape from a FEMA office in Atlanta, which set up a video camera to record the conference.

But is it possible that the AP tape comes from this camera, at this angle and distance, just edited to show only the TV screen at the end of the room? I presume that the White House uses high-definition digital video.

I ask this because I have a hunch that the recording made in the presence of the President may have fallen into the possession of the fellow in charge of the recovery effort. That would be our boy Karl Rove. Could Rove perhaps be behind the release of this tape? I don't yet know, but I'd like to find out.

at his back

... who took the video which was turned into the still picture above. The "official" videotape was "lost" or never made, including the camera angle you describe (see below). The AP video of the conference is claimed to have come from Atlanta--the FEMA headquarters there, I should guess--by placing a video camera in front of a TV screen showing the conference, sort of like how people put out crappy DVDs of recently released films by taping the film from inside the theatre. My question is whether or not the camera the guy in the photo below is using is good enough to be cropped and edited back into just a recording of the conference itself.

I'm wondering if either the Atlanta story is bullshit and the AP video actually came from over the President's own left shoulder, or, if the AP video (and the corroborating photograph above) shows that there was obviously a (second and totally official) videotape of the conference made which was not disclosed to Congress.

Here's a thumbnail of the shot I'm talking about. On the far right side, underneath the oval seal on the wall, you can see the cameraman squished into a corner.

the levees. How could you not have had any questions about something of this magnitude?

Unbelievable.

If this just simply blows by the press & they don't pound Scotty boy with this, I don't know what they want.

of this lunacy...

the problem; he does not appear asleep at the switch, what held him back and Fema from responding to it properly? Has Homeland Security Department crippled Fema's ability to respond?

they hung Brownie out to dry, the bastards!

Remember, they wanted to federalize and Blanco said no. Probably, anticipating getting their greedy little hands on private contracts...

This is the "smoking gun" with regards to Katrina.

Bush knew and lied and thousands died.

Just like Iraq and the events of 9/11.

Bush knew and lied and thousands died.

covering it.. im recording it to my harddrive *hug* Tv Card.

Also got the port security part from earlier in the show.

and why we are losing Iraq...

OK, it isn't, either.

to everyone you know. There is NO justification not to IMPEACH anymore. None.


I hope you have all recommended this post.

Bush appeared from a narrow, windowless room at his vacation ranch in Texas, with his elbows on a table. Hagin was sitting alongside him. Neither asked questions in the Aug. 28 briefing.

"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," the president said.

A relaxed Chertoff, sporting a polo shirt, weighed in from Washington at Homeland Security's operations center. He would later fly to Atlanta, outside of Katrina's reach, for a bird flu event.

was thinking about his photo ops--hmm, where can I do my photo ops to make it look really good. Remember the German report from DerSpiegel (I believe) who said they set up a table with food in front of some of the hurricane victims, then took it down after his photo op and left.

.....RECOMMEND THIS STORY

Your Recommendation:

Average (303 votes)
4.1 stars
» Rec

I bet you'll be in the upper teens by the Sunday morning political shows.

Where's Mary Matalin? I mean, Karen Hughes. How is that insane woman going to spin this now? HUH??

annticipated the leaves being breeched?

Because the President said to Diane Sawyer on September 1st, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did not anticipate a serious storm."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060124-3.html

:wow:

but I am curious.

:shrug:

of unmidigated stupidity I have ever witnessed. All the moron had to say was, "We knew it was a possibility, but we really weren't sure it would happen so we weren't expecting it."

That's it, that's all he would have had to say to protect himself on this. Instead he tells another BOLD FACE lie. I mean if this is the best advice that Bush can get he needs to be crucifying Karl Rove on an upside down cross rather than putting his presidency int he guy's hands.

Unfreakingbelievable...

I'm speechless but this really doesn't surprise. This guy and his select friends are all mentally ill.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4493167
I'm interested by the flame wars regarding evacuating New Orleans

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4474155

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4476472
So what is ChimpCo's response to Katrina???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4479933
MAP: LSU scientists have projected Louisiana flooding

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4482955
Did anyone just hear that broadcast by Bush? WTF? He's getting WEIRDER!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4482602
Is it just me or does anyone else get a bad feeling about the Superdome?

Oh Fuck Bush!! We haev everything in our archives.

to the Quakers (American Friends Society). They do so much good work without proselytizing.