It turns out that we can’t fault the President for being misinformed or “out of the loop” after all.
Instead.. we can simply fault him for LYING to the American people after Katrina… and being completely INCOMPETENT in his response… oh.. and for using his FEMA director as a scape-goat.
Crooks and Liars has the AP video
If the site is down for some reason.. I’ve downloaded the video (of course!) because it’s just too damned indicative of the kind of deceit and higher-than-thou attitude that the US Administration has portrayed ever since 9/11
Here are my links to the Associated Press video
Windows Media Player
Quicktime Movie
So apparently we had it all wrong… Bush wasn’t misinformed, or didn’t read the paper.. indeed, he probably didn’t NEED to read the paper, because he was already directly dialed into FEMA, who was clearly on top of the situation.
The revelant contradiction:
During the FEMA briefing which Bush was watching, the Director of the National Hurricane center said:
I also want to make absolutely clear to everyone that there the potential for large loss of life is still the coastal areas with the storm surge.
I don’t think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not but that is obviously a very, very grave concern
and the FEMA director/a.k.a scapegoat said:
My gut tells me… that this is a bad one, a big one…. this is, putting it mildly, the big one.
Yet, 4 days later, on Good Morning America, the President said:
I want people to know, there’s alot’a help coming [4 days late]. I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levies.
I’ve accused President George W. Bush of lying before (about Iraq WMD).. and I’ve even retracted those accusations because of lack of concrete evidence or other evidence proving otherwise.
But… in this case… there can be only one conclusion.
President George W. Bush FAILED in his duty to protect the American people. He was made absolutely aware of the situation… and when his response to the Hurricane was criticized, he blamed misinformation and ignorance.
He lied and tried to cover it up.
1300 people died… 2300 people are still missing.
I cannot FATHOM a Prime Minister of Canada doing this and surviving. The public outcry and pressure put on him by his own party would force him to resign at the least.. and in the case of a minority parliament like we have now… likely lose a confidence vote.
I just don’t understand how he can still be in Power… and how people could put up with him for another 2 years!!