Bush finds time to meet with the one guy in America who thinks the Katrina response was good. Amazing how that happens. What else is on Pravda this morning, citizen?
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In other news, the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have united to celebrate the Manhattan Project.
Apparently, the voters of New Orleans thought the response was pretty good too, since they re-elected the jackass who screwed the pooch on the city level to another term as mayor.
One does not equal the other, Cyrus.
Oh, the horrendous criminal incomptence of your federal Government was all his fault, was it?
One does not equal the other, Cyrus.
You’re right. The problems with the feds were brought on in part largely because of the horrible preparedness and response by the city and the state.
But of course, Blanco and Nagin have those big D’s after their name so the most they get is a tepid “they weren’t perfect” criticism. Meanwhile it was those black hating Bushies that “let New Orleans drown.”
And blah blah blah blah….
Nimrod, are you in third grade? Where did i say it was “all” Nagin’s fault?
Learn to read.
So you agree that there was horrendous criminal incompetence of your federal Government, then?
“Where did i say it was “all” Nagin’s fault?”
How dare you infer what I was implying!
i>You’re right. The problems with the feds were brought on in part largely because of the horrible preparedness and response by the city and the state.
Bullshit and you know it. Not talking about preparedness, we’re talking about response.
Bush met with Michael Brown?
First responders are local responsibility. FEMA isn’t even structured to be a first responder.
In the absence of adequate local support, the Fed should have responded immediately instead of sitting on their hands…doesn’t change the chain of responsibility though.
You can blame a slow reacting bureaucracy for that. Nobody knew which button to push to get the Fed there faster, but the Fed should have been intuitive enough not to have to wait for the call.
Nagin did the best he could, but I’m not endorsing his stance that the Fed’s [lack of] reaction was racially based.
A couple of thoughts:
1) given that Bush’s ineptitude was apparently “brought on” by Nagin and Blanco (at least, that’s how I read Jay’s statement), it’s funny how incredibly DEFENSIVE all the conservatives here are. Next time they try to protest that they’re willing to be critical of Bush, we’ll remember how they stuck by him during his worst, mst blatant failure of leadership (domestically, of course). All of which highlights the fact that conservatives like Jay and Cyrus are only brave enough to criticize Bush in toothless, meaningless ways. Grow some balls, guys.
2) Given that Bush wasn’t really to blame for the Federal government’s failures, why does the White House feel have the need to stage fake events like these? And why are Cyrus and Jay too timid to even address this disturbingly manipulative and dishonest “event”? C’mon, guys, your nervousness is frankly a bit embarrasing. It’s just a blog, after all.
OOoooohhhhh, Dr anatole doing the old liberal “I’ll talk tough on a blog because i’m scared to do it anywhere else” routine.
I’ll address more of your concerns when you clear all the straw out of your arguments, but again, I’ll ask you to show where i said that since Nagin was inept, it absolves Bush. Still waiting…..
I specifically said Jay said that, not you. But it is interesting that you still find it beyond your courage to event so much as address the topic of the original post: Bush’s fake Katrina event posturing. Is it so excruciating to post your admittedly embarrasing point of view, even under an assumed name?
Of course Bush greeting Rockey had NOTHING to do with Rockey’s being a GOP candidate for office…
Mistakes happen. Failures of leadership in the face of crisis – I don’t blame Bush for that necessarily. But I do blame the fact that he cannot learn from his mistakes. 9/11 happened and it took an act of God to get a commission to suggest steps that might improve our preparedness. Scarce little of the recommendations have been implemented. Katrina happens and we still haven’t done much to change the command structure to better prepare for the unexpected. This is what I would expect from a manager who’s been a constant failure. And so we continue on without any collective wisdom of our past errors.
I thought Bush was supposed to be the CEO President? Tell me what other CEO would behave as he has and not get lynched by stockholders?
Agreed, Z adura. From what I’ve heard, there were already concerns about the rebuilding of the levees, using the same soft soil that eroded in the first place. This is a perfect example of how the ACOE should learn from its mistakes, but it looks like business as usual.
Speaking of business as usual, I lived in New Orleans, and my parents lived there for seven years. Louisiana is as corrupt as Haiti or Russia. Without precise oversite, all the aid and funding in the world won’t help a flea if it doesn’t get to the right people.
Remember, Louisiana has been home to politicians who have given us great quotes like Edwin Edwards:
“I could not lose unless I was caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy”
Jay is such a dumbass, constantly harping on the state and city responses.
A few simple points for Jay:
1. This is about Bush bringing in some idiot to prop him up on this issue.
2. My tax dollars were part of the billions and billions apparently wasted on federal disaster response preparedness (AKA Crony affirmative action)
3. The state response was crippled by Bush sending so much of the LA. National Guard troops that were trained for hurricane response to Iraq.
4. Their command and communication equipment went to Iraq too. As well as many of the vehicles able to operate in those conditions.
But, all Jay wants to talk about is the mayor and the governor.
Steve, bureaucracies operate in a bubble. They are trained to do the same thing over and over again. In many cases they do their work efficiently and effectively. Take the USPS or IRS, for example.
Bureaucracies are relatively unsuccessful at changing course, which is why we need effective oversight and accountability. Unfortunately, with this current batch of Republicans and their faultless leader, nothing is ever wrong, no mistakes ever made. So long as the Duggers and Jays of the world sop it up, we will continue to accept failure.
This administration has been one of the worst at taking responsiblility for anything, but bureaucracies exist independent from political policy. As you said, they exist in a bubble and sort of create their own culture.
Not sure if I’d use the Post Office as efficient and effective, because they didn’t even get my change of address correct. And the DMV or Dept. of Social Services is hardly a model of efficiency. But what I assume you meant was bureaucracies are effective at what they do, which is true. But they are slow moving and slow to adopt change, which is why there was an almost emotionless response by higher government to Katrina.
Katrina has struck just outside of New Orleans.
Katrina, eh? Isn’t that the hurricaine?
Yeah, it made landfall yesterday. I think the levees are going to break.
Ah, well if the levee breaks, we need to file a JR/1174 to get the ACOE to repair it.
Yes, but first, can you requisition a GT-9984.A to get federal response down there.
They’re one hallway down. Should I walk the form over?
No, we need to get that approved from Tumbler.
Tumbler, yeah, that’s funny. Ok, I’ll get that done in triplicate. Can we use the tube system?
Been broke for two months now. Requisition a courier.
Can’t.
Why?
Liability. Couriers were too expensive due to injury concerns.
Sigh. Ok, I’ll fedex it over.
Use two day ground.
Why? I could just walk it over in a half hour.
Budget restrictions. We’re only cleared for two day ground if we can’t get approval, and Jason’s gone for the day.
Alright, I’ll get the paperwork filled out and I’ll FedEx it two day ground. Tumbler should receive it by Thursday.
Cool. I think we dodged a bullet on this one.
Steve, it is conventional wisdom to say that bureaucracies are not models of efficiency, but I disagree. The USPS has managed to maintain constant prices as adjusted by inflation while moving from a statistical deficit to surplus, which they’ve maintained for 30 + years. Their customer satisfaction rate is in the 90% range and their ontime delivery rates are 90%+. That is pretty efficient by just about any measure.
If you want to see what economic inefficiency looks like, try Republican-style crony capitalism. It’s hard to imagine a worse system than the current defense appropriations apparatus.
So you’re saying a Republican White Male President (who’s rich too!) calls in and overrides a Democratic woman governor and a Democratic black mayor.
Yeah… won’t be any racial/political tension there.
“George Bush doesn’t care about Black Mayors!”
There was a nice piece on NPR last week.
Not too long after the hurricane, Bush dropped in for a photo op with a nice old lady in the Ninth Ward.
George put his arm around the old lady and told her a whole bunch of people were going to show up and fix up her house. He put his arm around her and made her promise to make him some gumbo in the new house.
NPR went back to see the woman a year later.
Do I need to tell you the rest?
Still no conservatives are willing to explain why Bush would need to stage a phony event hyping his Katrina response. It’s just too uncomfortable a subject.
Chirp.
Chirp.
Race Card for Farris! Congratulations.
Yeah, that’s what I mean. There is a preset system for local and state authorities to request federal help, and they didn’t follow the proper procedure. But I still would like to see an emergency procedure that allows the Fed to react to obvious problems.
On another issue, arguing that troops are mis-deployed and therefore aren’t available is a moot point. Nobody can predict the future and it sucks they’re gone. Mobilize whomever you can from wherever you can.
My point against bureaucracy is, on a government level, its very nature of chain of command and procedure makes it hard to circumvent it..there is blame to spread around on all levels of leadership on this one.
FEMA under Clinton worked; Bush, because he hates government, wrecked FEMA. People died because of that. If you don’t understand that connection, you’re either an idiot or evil. If you’re a Republican, it’s probable that you’re both.
“There is a preset system for local and state authorities to request federal help, and they didn’t follow the proper procedure”
Well…. Not exactly.
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/politics/blanco.asp
http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/04/blanco.papers/
Anyone else getting a distinct Fruedian vibe from Cyrus?
FEMA under Clinton worked; Bush, because he hates government, wrecked FEMA. People died because of that. If you don’t understand that connection, you’re either an idiot or evil. If you’re a Republican, it’s probable that you’re both.
Please explain in detail exactly how Bush “wrecked” FEMA?
It’s funny, but because the state of Florida was so well prepared for the hurricanes that hit us in 2004, FEMA was able to do their job without much of a hitch.
Of course in the warped mind of conspiracy minded dumb-ass leftists, the response in Florida was good ONLY because Bush wanted to secure a win in that state in the November election.
It’s amazing how FEMA was able to act accordingly, and get what they needed to the locals without too many problems. Why was that? Because the STATE WAS PREPARED. People who were told to evacuate, got out. Cities and localities used resources available to get people out who couldn’t get out on their own.
Because of the way our state and local officials prepared, those four hurricanes caused only 107 unfortunate deaths.
I don’t absolve the Bush administration of anything. Pink Pig Boy Anatole is yanking that out of his butt. The federal response could have been better. There was a communication breakdown after the storm cleared and everybody thought the worst was over when it was just beginning.
However, that doesn’t take from the fact that not a single liberal I have seen posting comments here, nor Oliver have EVER seen fit direct any criticism at Blanco and Nagin. The worst they got from Oliver? That the state and local performance “wasn’t perfect.” That stings.
Until those on the left can start dealing with that using a little intelletual honesty, then I’m going to call them out every time.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=929383&page=1
Where’s the intellectual honesty?
Crazy Jay: “federal response could have been better”
More Crazy Jay: “The worst they got from Oliver? That the state and local performance ‘wasn’t perfect’”
The Punch Line: “Until those on the left can start dealing with that using a little intelletual honesty….”
High-larious!!!!
Jay, I’m not going to do a search from last November, (I’m not even sure if that’s still possible, given the site problems here) but I can guarantee you that Nagin and Blanco were criticized, both by Oliver and by liberal commenters. I specifically recall making the distinction that liberals were willing to heap scorn on everyone, but that conservatives restricted their scorn to Everyone But Bush. And you still are.
The subject of this post is that the Bush Administration is staging fake events to boost public approval of Bush’s Katrina failure. What’s incredible is that you, Jay, are still so conspicuously avoiding the subject. It’s rather sad, and I don’t know why you’re so afraid to even touch the subject — anonymously — on a blog comment page. Is the subject simply that radioactive, that indefensible? What other conclusion can reasonable people draw from your timidity?
Whoops, early September, I mean.
Forgive me then. That one post from Oliver where he may criticized Blanco and Nagin must have been buried amongst the 30 or so posts where Oliver was hammering Bush/FEMA/the Feds.
Liberals willing to heap scorn on everyone? Not if they have a D by their name.
Conservatives with the integrity to criticize Bush’s desperately fake staged events? Why no, they’re more comfortable changing the subject.
Nagin sucked. Blanco sucked. The federal response sucked big hard and in so many ways it isn’t funny. Happy now Jay?
I don’t live in Louisiana. I may, however, someday rely on federal disaster preparedness which Katrina showed to be sadly fucked up after 4 years and tens of billions of dollars supposedly spent to upgrade and fix.
Incidently, where does this guy get off rolling around in an “honorary” FEMA trailer? Is it his only form of housing or is it his Recreational Camper that he is camping in for a week while going to brownnose the president? He better live in the goddam thing or he gets Barbara Bush’s “Katrina’s most insensitve public asswipe” award.
Of course in the warped mind of conspiracy minded dumb-ass leftists, the response in Florida was good ONLY because Bush wanted to secure a win in that state in the November election.
OK, maybe that doesn’t explain why the response was so good. But I bet it does explain why George Bush was there personally to hand out the ice.
It’s funny, but because the state of Florida was so well prepared for the hurricanes that hit us in 2004, FEMA was able to do their job without much of a hitch.
Funny how that happened just before an election in a Republican state where the governor is the president’s brother, and it was SO efficient that they gave a lot of money to people who had not even been harmed.
In Florida that year, all you had to do was look sad, and Jeb could get you a FEMA grant.
Jeb. The president’s brother. Election year. Handing out federal money like candy on Halloween, no questions asked.
New Orleans. Black. Votes overwhelmingly Democratic. No important elections in 2005. Do. The. Math.
I’m as big a cynic as they come but that is a pretty big insinuation that any adminitration would sacrifice an entire US city because of race or the lack of elections.
Granted, the response was piss poor, but do you really think Cheney and Bush are sitting there saying “Let them poor niggaz get washed into the sea ’cause they ain’t gonna vote for me no how’?
“Granted, the response was piss poor, but do you really think Cheney and Bush are sitting there saying “Let them poor niggaz get washed into the sea ’cause they ain’t gonna vote for me no how’?”
No. The reality is they didn’t give a damn. Never attribute to malice what can be properly attributed to neglect.
Yeah, you’re probably right on that one, Bush didn’t lift a finger during California’s energy crisis