katrina

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FROM TIME MAGAZINE:

 

 

 

Cover Story

 

SUSAN WALSH / AP

 

 

FUMBLING FOR HIS FOOTING: After an initial fly-over on Air Force One, Bush finally arrived in person to tour a devastated neighborhood in Biloxi, Miss.

 

From the Magazine | An American Tragedy

 

Dipping His Toe Into Disaster

 

Slow, awkward and at times tone-deaf, Bush mishandled the storm's first days. Now he has his own recovery problem

 

By MATTHEW COOPER

 

 

 

 

Posted Tuesday, Sep. 06, 2005

It isn't easy picking George Bush's worst moment last week. Was it his first go at addressing the crisis Wednesday, when he came across as cool to the point of uncaring? Was it when he said that he didn't "think anybody expected" the New Orleans levees to give way, though that very possibility had been forecast for years? Was it when he arrived in Mobile, Ala., a full four days after the storm made landfall, and praised his hapless Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, Michael D. Brown, whose disaster credentials seemed to consist of once being the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association? "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," said the President. Or was it that odd moment when he promised to rebuild Mississippi Senator Trent Lott's house--a gesture that must have sounded astonishingly tone-deaf to the homeless black citizens still trapped in the postapocalyptic water world of New Orleans. "Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house--he's lost his entire house," cracked Bush, "there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

 

Bush seemed so regularly out of it last week, it made you wonder if he was stuck in the same White House bubble of isolation that confined his dad. Too often, W. looked annoyed. Or he smiled when he should have been serious. Or he swaggered when simple action would have been the right move.

 

And he was so slow. Everyone knew on Sunday morning that Katrina was a killer. Yet when the levees broke after the storm, the White House slouched toward action. And this from a leader who made his bones with 9/11. In a crisis he can act paradoxically, appearing--almost simultaneously--strong and weak, decisive and vacillating, Churchill and Chamberlain. This week he was more Chamberlain.

 

There was no breaking off from his commemoration in Coronado, Calif., of the 60th anniversary of victory over Japan, but there were videoconference calls and the like. The White House is "very, very slow sometimes," says a former Administration official. Besides, members of the A team were on vacation: chief of staff Andy Card was in Maine; Dick Cheney was in Wyoming; even Condoleezza Rice was out of town, shoe-shopping in Manhattan. Many of Bush's best p.r. minds, including media adviser Mark McKinnon, were in Greece at the wedding of White House communications director Nicolle Devenish. Had they been around, perhaps Bush would not have been accompanied only by his dog Barney when he returned from vacation in Crawford.

 

Part of what dogged Bush was long-standing traits. He showed his usual reluctance to ask for sacrifice from Americans, and that added to the sense that he just didn't get it. While Southern Governors facing fuel shortages in the coming days have called on drivers to scale back use of their cars, Bush did so only as an afterthought. "We ought to conserve more," he finally said on Thursday, making it seem like a vague option. The same day, Bush all but spurned offers of help from allies because of the way it would look. "I'm sure he saw it as a sign of American weakness to be taking aid from other countries," says the former Administration official. A Bush aide countered that his boss "wasn't rejecting offers; he wasn't focused on it."

 

Bush did begin to admit that the response was "unacceptable." But even when it came to enacting the role of Consoler in Chief, he sometimes sounded more like a quartermaster, running through long lists of things the government was sending to the Gulf Coast, rather than empathizing with people. That may be why the White House wheeled out his pitch-perfect wife Laura on Friday, to lend some genuine compassion to the moment.

 

Of course, Bush has a history of floundering at the start of a crisis and then finding his voice. Handling Sept. 11 is now considered his finest hour, even though he stumbled dramatically at first. But last week offered no New York bullhorn moment. He can't threaten to get Katrina "dead or alive." The victims didn't need a photo-op gesture of reassurance so much as water, food and escape, plus help for the long haul. And for an Administration that has staked its reputation on fighting the war on terrorism, no one can be very encouraged by the first crisis test-drive of the Department of Homeland Security. What's more, while Americans might have rallied around Bush as he faced a foreign threat, this time the enemy is his own bureaucracy, the one that left American refugees to fend for themselves far longer than anybody thinks is acceptable.

 

As he drove to meet the President, Bobby Jindal, the Republican Congressman from metro New Orleans, complained about aspects of the federal response: "The bureaucracy needs to do more than one thing at a time. It's appropriate to save people with helicopters, but it can't be done to the exclusion of everything else." Jindal, who served in the President's Administration, would like Bush to ask Colin Powell to come back to run the relief operation. Others urge Bush to rope in New York City's savior Rudy Giuliani. Given the President's own performance, passing the buck wouldn't be the worst thing.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...1101329,00.html

 

 

 

 

 

God, I hope this takes him down.

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White House Press Briefing: Angry Reporters Hit McClellan Hard on Hurricane, Ask if Heads Will Roll

 

By E&P Staff

 

Published: September 06, 2005 5:35 PM ET

 

NEW YORK White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan had not had a full-length press briefing in Washington, D.C. for weeks, and after today, may have wished he had postponed this one. With almost unprecedented vigor, the press corps attacked and probe the federal response to the hurricane disaster, the president's personal responsibility and failure to fire anyone who failed in his or her mission.

 

Here is a transcript of the relevant portions.

 

*

 

Q Scott, the reality at hand right now is that the President said that we still live in an unsettled world. This is an administration that has told us since 9/11 that it's not a matter of "if," but "when" that we could be struck by a terror attack and, obviously, other disasters that are the result of Mother Nature. So at this point, where is the accountability? Is the President prepared to say where this White House, where this administration went wrong in its response to Katrina?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: You know, David, there are some that are interested in playing the blame game. The President is interested in solving problems and getting help to the people who need it. There will be a time --

 

Q Wait a minute. Is it a blame game when the President, himself, says that we remain at risk for either another catastrophe of this dimension, that's not manmade, or a terrorist attack? Isn't it incumbent upon this administration to immediately have accountability to find out what went wrong, when at any time this could happen again?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a massive federal response effort that we have underway. We've got to stay focused on helping those who are in need right now and help them rebuild their lives and get back up on their feet. It's a time of many challenges, enormous challenges. We've got to stay focused on the task at hand. That is what the President is doing.

 

Now, in terms of addressing threats, we've made a lot of progress since the attacks of September 11th. And one of the most important things we're doing is staying on the offensive abroad. There are important priorities that we have to continue to address and we are working to address those priorities, too. But we have a major disaster that has occurred over a 90,000 square mile [sic] here in the United States. There are people --

 

Q Right. And there are people who want to know why this government couldn't respond --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. There are people who are suffering, and we've got to respond to their needs, and that's what we're going to keep our focus.

 

Q So no one is prepared to say what went wrong?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We will look at back at the facts and we will get to the bottom of the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right. But right now --

 

Q Will the President support an outside investigation, or does he want to do it himself?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: -- but, David, right now, we've got to continue helping the people in the region.

 

Q Will he support an outside investigation --

 

Q But, Scott, more concretely, an officer of the Northern Command is quoted as saying that as early as the time Hurricane Katrina went through Florida and worked its way up to the Gulf, there was a massive military response ready to go, but that the President did not order it. It could have been ordered on Sunday, on Monday, on Tuesday -- the call didn't come. Why not?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, let's point out a couple of things. There were a lot of assets that were deployed and pre-positioned prior to the hurricane hitting. And you have to look back --

 

Q These assets were deployed, but the order to use them never came. The Bataan was sitting off behind the hurricane.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: I know these are all facts that you want to look at and want to determine what went wrong and what went right. I'm not prepared to agree with your assessment just there. There is a much larger picture here that we have to take a look at, and --

 

Q It's not mine, it's an officer in the Northern Command.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: -- in terms of the President, the President issued disaster declarations ahead of time so that we could make sure we're fully mobilizing resources and pre-positioning them. But this was a hurricane of unprecedented magnitude.

 

Q Right, but the military can't go into action without his order.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll be glad to talk to you about it, but I've got to have a chance to respond to --

 

*

 

Q In view of the national crisis, will the President withdraw his proposal for this tax cut for the richest people in the country? And, also, my second question is, why did we turn down foreign help?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. We have not. We have made very clear -- I made clear last week, the State Department made clear last week that we are going to take people up on their offers of assistance from foreign countries. There are some 94 nations and international organizations that have made offers of assistance -- whether that is cash support or I think water pumps from places like Germany or other areas. We said that if this can help alleviate things on the ground, we're going to take them up on their offers of assistance and we appreciate the compassion from the international community and their offers of assistance.

 

Q And how about my first question?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Your first question?

 

Q Biggest tax cut, permanent tax cut for the richest people in the country -- in view of the national crisis, in view of the deficit --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: The highest priority for this administration right now is the ongoing response and recovery efforts --

 

Q No, no, I'm asking you a question.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm responding to your question. The highest priority right now for this government is the ongoing Katrina response and recovery efforts and helping the people who need the help. There are other priorities, too, and we'll be working to address those, as well.

 

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

 

Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.

 

Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.

 

Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

 

Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.

 

Q By saying you won't answer.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, by saying that there's a time to look at those issues, but now is not the time, Terry.

 

***

Q Scott, a question about the "plenty of time" assertion that you make -- would it not behoove the efforts to, in fact, save lives and secure property if the people and procedures that are responsible for the inadequacy before are excised as quickly as possible? That is to say, should the accountability be determined immediately and that part be removed?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, what should be done immediately is that we get help to the people who need it, and we continue to do that. We have been doing that; we're continuing to do that. I know some just want to engage in the blame game. There will be a time to talk about all these issues. We've got problems to solve, Bob --

 

Q But --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Bob, we've got problems to solve and we're going to stay focused on solving those problems and helping those who need it.

 

Q But don't you -- the question would be, don't you want to have your best resources available and best people in place to solve those problems?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you're speculating about things at this point. I'm not going to engage it that. There will be a time to look at all those issues.

 

Q But the President, himself, said that the response was not adequate. It was run by certain --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: For those who were waiting on assistance and didn't have it, absolutely, it wasn't adequate. We made that clear last week. There were some people who needed help yesterday and they were still waiting on assistance. That's why we -- when we identified those problems, we made sure they were getting fixed. That's why we've moved quickly to resolve the issue at the Convention Center in New Orleans. And now you have -- a tremendous amount of progress has been made on the evacuation of people. You have some 700 shelters that have been set up -- maybe a little bit less -- with some 230,000 people who are in those shelters, and that includes states around the country. We appreciate all those who are responding and meeting those needs.

 

Q One last question. The person who says that he found out about the Convention Center seeing it on the media -- that is to say the FEMA director -- is still in place. Is that satisfactory that somebody would have responded like that?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, this is getting into -- we're somewhat engaged in a blame game. We've got to --

 

Q It's not a blame game. That's accountability --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, we've got to --

 

Q It's accountability.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

 

Q Is "Brownie" still doing a "heck of a job," according to the President?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We've got to continue to do everything we can in support of those who are involved in the operational aspects of this response effort. And that's what we're going to do. There will be plenty of time --

 

Q If he fails at it, he's not going to be good at it going forward. That's what Bob is saying.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: There are people working round-the-clock with FEMA. The Secretary, the FEMA Director and many others who are working round-the-clock. And we've got to do everything we can in support of their efforts to make sure people are getting what they need.

 

Q Does the President really believe we could respond to a terrorist attack with any -- amount of weeks, months?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We've actually done a lot of exercises, David, to prepare for possible attacks, but --

 

Q Do you think most Americans agree, based on --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: But the most important thing we've got to do is focus on --

 

Q You mean exercises for Hurricane Katrina.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We've got to focus on prevention, and that's what we're doing by staying on the offensive.

 

Q Well, let's talk about it. Are you saying the President is -- are you saying that the President is confident that his administration is prepared to adequately, confidently secure the American people in the event of a terrorist attack of a level that we have not seen? And based on what does he have that confidence?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and that's what he made clear earlier today, that obviously we want to look and learn lessons from a major catastrophe of this nature.

 

Q Yes, but you're telling us today there will be time for that somewhere down the road. Well, what if it happens tomorrow?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We can engage in this blame-gaming going on and I think that's what you're getting --

 

Q No, no. That's a talking point, Scott, and I think most people who are watching this --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact. I mean, some are wanting to engage in that, and we're going to remain focused --

 

Q I'm asking a direct question. Is he confident --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to remain focused on the people.

 

Q -- that he can secure the American people in the event of a major terrorist attack?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: We are securing the American people by staying on the offensive abroad and working to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

 

Q That's a talking point. That's a talking point.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact.

 

Go ahead.

 

Q No, it's not. And you think people who are watching this think that's -- from what does he derive that confidence, based on the response --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: David, I'm interested in the people in the region that have been affected and getting them help. We can sit here and engage in this back and forth --

 

Q The whole country is watching and wondering about some --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: The time for bickering and blame-gaming is later. The time for helping people in the region is now.

 

***

Q There have been suggestions that the initial White House response was delayed somewhat because a number of key people were on vacation last week. During that critical 24-hour period after the levees were breached Monday, who in the White House was in charge of crisis management?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Andy Card is the chief of staff, and he was in close contact with everyone. And the President is the one who's in charge at the White House.

 

Q Scott, the President on Saturday referred to the problems of bureaucracy. It's now Tuesday. The Vice President heads down there on Thursday to deal with it. Can you cite for us a specific bureaucratic impediment that has been identified and corrected today?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that in terms of the specifics, that the Secretary -- Secretary Chertoff, or FEMA Director Mike Brown can provide you the operational aspects of the specifics of what have occurred on the ground today. They'll be doing a briefing later today. But there continues to be good progress made when it comes to evacuating people.

 

Like I said, most of the people have been evacuated. I think there's a relatively small number. All those that were sent to places where people were evacuated, I think have been evacuated out of New Orleans. The levees, those are getting repaired.

 

Q Were those bureaucratic impediments that have been corrected? Or was that a --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the bureaucratic impediments that the President is referring to is about getting assistance to the people who need it. Yes, there are a number of agencies that are acting, but they have issued waivers to rules and regulations. The President wants to cut through the red tape in the bureaucracy and make sure that the assistance is getting to the people. One thing that he talked about in the Cabinet meeting today at length was, look, we've got to make sure that there aren't rules in place that are preventing assistance from getting to those who have been displaced, or have been evacuated, who are no longer in a home of their own, they're in a shelter. And we've got to take that assistance to them.

 

So, yes, that is part of -- all that is part of cutting through the bureaucracy and red tape.

 

Go ahead.

 

Q Scott, there's words that James Lee Witt had said, that -- people who had been there within three hours after everything broke loose. Why was Mr. Brown not on the ground?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: He was, prior to the hurricane.

 

Q Well, why didn't he bring in the troops? Why didn't he deploy all the necessary assistance that was needed?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: There were -- disaster medical assistance teams were deployed. Search and rescue teams were deployed ahead of the hurricane.

 

Q But why didn't he -- but why weren't teams deployed to the Convention Center? Why weren't teams deployed to the Superdome? Why were people without water, without food? Why was there looting in New Orleans for survival? And you're talking about zero tolerance. Why did these things happen over a period of days, and you start seeing Mr. Brown on the air talking about he didn't know about the Convention Center and other things. Why?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, you're getting into all the after-action analysis, and I can't tell you all the --

 

Q And you're saying there is not a blame game, but you open the door to the response --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: I can't tell you that everything you said is factually correct, and they've got -- we've got to look at all the facts. We've got to determine what worked, what didn't work, and apply --

 

Q Well, what's not working? What's not working in your view right now?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and apply lessons from that.

 

Q What do you see that's not working right now? What is not working? Because these people are dying from dysentery now --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, last week --

 

Q -- infection now; they're displaced, homes are gone. Does anyone in this administration know anyone that's down there --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you need to talk to people on the ground --

 

Q -- beyond Trent Lott?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: -- people on the ground who have --

 

Q Does anyone in this White House know anyone that's there, beyond Trent Lott, that's lost a home, that has lost family, that's displaced?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: The President visited with a number of those who have been affected by the hurricane. We went down to Mississippi and Louisiana on Friday. The President visited with a number of people in the Biloxi area who have lost everything they had. The President saw firsthand --

 

Q Does anyone in this administration know anyone personally who's been affected by the devastation?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, the President has talked about those, and the President has visited with people who have lost everything they have. I know people that have been displaced, friends of mine. And it's terrible when you go and see the devastation on the ground. We've seen the devastation on the ground. We've seen the homes that are no longer there. We've seen the flooding that has covered a large portion of New Orleans and that has taken lives. There are people who continue to suffer and we need to get them help. And that's why our focus is on getting them help.

 

*

 

Q But even with the -- just to be clear, though, you're saying that Katrina, if you need to spend the money on Katrina, that comes first, and tax cuts would have to wait?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, Mark, I'm saying that there are a number of important priorities. First and foremost is helping the people who have been affected by Katrina. And there are other priorities, too, and we're going to address those priorities. And you can do -- you can do those -- all of those priorities.

 

Q So they'll have to wait?

 

Q So there will be --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, in terms of the -- you're asking about the congressional timetable. Congress -- the Senate has come back into session, the House has come back into session this week. The Senate has put out what their schedule is for this week. Right now they're focused first and foremost on Hurricane Katrina, and also on addressing some of the appropriations needs. And they've already put out their schedule, and so you ought to look at that schedule.

 

Q Scott, given the failure of leadership in the first days of this crisis, and given your reticence to get rid of any of the people associated with that leadership --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Those are your words, not mine.

 

Q -- wouldn't it be more appropriate to follow the suggestion of appointing somebody as the coordinator, overall coordinator for the relief effort who is not associated with that failed leadership? Probably a former retired military person who could more easily coordinate the logistics and the coordination between the military...

 

MR. McCLELLAN: No, we're going to continue to work in support of those who are overseeing the operational activities, and we appreciate the job that the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Chertoff and all those at FEMA are doing to address the ongoing problems.

 

Again, this is getting into trying to finger-point and play the blame game. This is not the time for that. There are people who are really in need. Terry was down there in the region. He saw what has happened to the people on the ground and how they have lost everything --

 

Q I think they might want some answers, too.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and how they have lost everything they had.

 

Q In addition to help, they might want some answers, too.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: And they're going to get them. But now is not the time, Terry.

 

Q No, it is the time, Scott.

 

Q Scott, a follow up.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead --

 

Q Did the Mayor or the Governor turn down any requests made by the administration?

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think from this podium that we want to stay focused on ways we can work together, so I don't think it helps any situation to get into all those internal discussions that are going on, on issues of that nature. This isn't a time when people are trying to look at who's to blame, or try to shift responsibility. This is a time when we're all trying to work together to get things done.

 

Q But that hasn't stopped you from suggesting pretty subtly that the local and state officials bear some responsibility.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you for your comment. I'm trying to get to other questions here.

 

 

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/ne...t_id=1001055403

 

 

 

 

 

God, it makes my head hurt "blame game blame game blame game blame game", STFU WITH THE SLOGANS BUSH PUPPETS.

[fermentor666]

Dailykos photo diary of the Bush response taken directly from their site:

 

 

SUNDAY, August 28

 

A region is hit with a massive Cat 4 hurricane.

 

 

Meanwhile, Bush, Condi Rice, and Dick Cheney are all on vacation, and can't be bothered to interrupt it for the largest hurricane to hit the United States in generations. Especially since it had little to do with the "war on terror".

 

MONDAY, August 29

 

While an entire region of the United States awakens underwater:

 

 

 

Bush says, "Let them eat cake". McCain says, "I'll bring the cake!"

 

 

(White House picture)

 

TUESDAY, August 30

 

Tuesday rolls around, and the world watches in horror as the true scope of the disaster becomes apparent:

 

 

(CBS News)

 

Meanwhile, our very own Nero fiddles plays "pretend country star" while a whole region of his country drowns:

 

 

(Associated Press)

 

WEDNESDAY, August 31

 

It has been three days since the hurricane hit, yet people are still stranded without a hint of an organized, competent federal response.

 

 

Bush finally decides to show up for work, ends his five week vacation two or three days early (to great fanfare from the Bush acolytes), heads back to DC after he "surveys" the disaster zone:

 

 

FRIDAY, September 2

 

While people are still in need of rescue:

 

 

(LA Times)

 

Bush grounds Coast Guard helicopters and pulls servicemembers from duty to stand as backdrops to one of his photo ops:

 

 

And so on, and so on, and so on...

[fermentor666]

DailyKos:

FEMA's braintrust

by kos

Tue Sep 6th, 2005 at 12:26:30 PDT

 

So we know Mike Brown, disgraced horse lawyer, was given his job at the head of the US' chief disaster response agency because he was a former roommate of Bush's 2000 campaign manager -- strong credentials in an administration where party trumps the Stars and Stripes.

 

Well, the rest of FEMA's braintrust is little better:

 

The Chief of Staff is a guy named Patrick Rhode. He planned events for President Bush's campaign. Rhode has no emergency management experience whatsoever. From Rhode's official bio (PDF):

His first position with the Bush Administration was as special assistant to the President and deputy director of National Advance Operations, a position he assumed in January 2001. Previously, Mr. Rhode served as deputy director of National Advance Operations for the George W. Bush Presidential Campaign, in Austin, Texas.

 

The Deputy Chief of Staff is Scott Morris. He was a press flak for Bush's presidential campaign. Previously, he worked for the company that produced Bush's campaign commercials. He also has no emergency management experience. From Morris's official bio (PDF):

Mr. Morris was also the marketing director for the world's leading provider of e-business applications software in California, and worked for Maverick Media in Austin, Texas as a media strategist for the George W. Bush for President primary campaign and the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign.

 

With credentials like those, is it any wonder this was the gang that couldn't shoot straight? And who appointed these jokers to their respective positions?

 

Ahem, the guy who now wants to "lead" the investigation into his own incompetence, ol' Dubya himself.

[fermentor666]

FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations

 

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11d...000e2511c8.html

 

FEMA turns away experienced firefighters

 

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048

 

FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national...serland&emc=rss

 

FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national...serland&emc=rss

 

FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm

 

FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans

 

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=..._id=68561&rfi=6

[fermentor666]

FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid

 

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826

 

FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ack=1&cset=true

 

FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ll=chi-news-hed

 

FEMA turns away generators (See entry from 3:32 P.M. by Ben Morris, Slidell mayor)

 

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

 

FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"

 

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470

[tony blair]

thank you man^

 

shout outs to all of you that are critical thinking folks!

[hottnickels]

i can't say it enough

 

FUCK THE FEDS

 

[oneeightyone]

wow, fema fucking sucks.

 

for 8onus :

 

any news on the d.c situation?

 

last i heard they werent receiving donations at the dc. armory.

 

PG county is receiving a couple hundred people so maybe volunteer work is going to come up there.

 

i'm pretty lost on info in the area.

 

That are2 is sex, that fuck the feds makes it that much better.

[Telo]

My god..

 

You can only imagine the disease and nastiness that can come from all of this standing water.

 

Any and all types of mold, Airborn illness, and just plain flat out grime.

 

I wouldn't touch that atreet water with a ten foot fucking pole.

[Pfffffffffft]

[fermentor666]

Barbara Bush has this to say about refugees inside the Astrodome:

 

" And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

 

 

 

There's never been such a disconnect between the presidential family and the American people. It really is a "Let them eat cake!" situation. I only pray for beheadings.

[shai]

Originally posted by Pfffffffffft@Sep 7 2005, 01:00 PM

Quoted post

That's money right there.

[villain]

Originally posted by oneeightyone@Sep 7 2005, 11:14 AM

wow, fema fucking sucks.

 

for 8onus :

 

any news on the d.c situation?

 

last i heard they werent receiving donations at the dc. armory.

 

PG county is receiving a couple hundred people so maybe volunteer work is going to come up there.

 

i'm pretty lost on info in the area.

 

That are2 is sex, that fuck the feds makes it that much better.

Quoted post

 

 

They recieved some families in the DC Armory today. I guess you can donate too. I heard about people donating directly to the people in need. Just listen to NPR, they update this story. 88.5 FM WAMU

[Dick Quickwood]

i like that piece hotnickels.. it's hot as fiyah

[8onus]

Originally posted by villain+Sep 7 2005, 08:12 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (villain - Sep 7 2005, 08:12 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-oneeightyone@Sep 7 2005, 11:14 AM

wow, fema fucking sucks.

 

for 8onus :

 

any news on the d.c situation?

 

last i heard they werent receiving donations at the dc. armory.

 

PG county is receiving a couple hundred people so maybe volunteer work is going to come up there.

 

i'm pretty lost on info in the area.

 

That are2 is sex, that fuck the feds makes it that much better.

Quoted post

 

 

They recieved some families in the DC Armory today. I guess you can donate too. I heard about people donating directly to the people in need. Just listen to NPR, they update this story. 88.5 FM WAMU

Quoted post

[/b]

 

 

YEAH PRETTY MUCH, IF YOU GOT SHIT JUST TAKE IT DOWN THERE, THAT IS MY ADVISE, GIVE IT RIGHT TO THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO NEED IT,(I JUST REALIZED I HAD CAPS ON, dont feel like re writing). i'll be dropping off clothes and bumming out ciggarettes for a minuite or two tomarrow.

 

in other news...anyone seen this shit?

'The terrorist Katrina' is a 'soldier of Allah'

[saraday]

 

my news blackout is going well. i watched adult swim for the first time in a while last night.

 

it was awesome.

 

glad to see ppl are donating. lots of my friends have recieved/about to recieve their red cross assisstance. just to let you know where the money goes, each evacuee recieves: $150 clothes voucher (walmart or target), $40 food voucher, $25 voucher to goodwill. i think they're also giving vouchers for $500 for travel (hotel rooms, airline tickets, rental cars, etc). the state has made it possible for people in the affected parishes to qualify for food stamps. it goes by the amount of people living in their household. for instance, if there are 3 people in the household, they're eligable for $363/month in food stamps.

 

i heard it's been a pain in the ass to wait in line for the vouchers, etc... but totally worth it. thumbs up to people who've donated what they can. it's made a big difference to the people out here.

 

--

 

there are over 1500 kids starting school in Lafayette today. the school my mother teaches at is getting 200 of those students.

 

--

 

the only thing that sucks about all of this: employers (where i live) are giving people from new orleans dibs for their open positions. normally it wouldn't bother me, but i'm unemployed and frustrated that i'm not being considered for jobs that i'm WAY overqualified for.

 

oh well, as they say out here:

C'est la vie! (such is life)

[saraday]

this is prob. the saddest thing i've ever read about all of this:

 

http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18337.shtml

 

 

note: Bradshaw and Slonsky are paramedics frorm California that were attending the EMS conference in New Orleans. Larry Bradsahw is the chief shop steward, Paramedic Chapter, SEIU Local 790; and Lorrie Beth Slonsky is steward, Paramedic Chapter, SEIU Local 790.[California]

 

Two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's store at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained locked. The dairy display case was clearly visible through the widows. It was now 48 hours without electricity, running water, plumbing. The milk, yogurt, and cheeses were beginning to spoil in the 90-degree heat. The owners and managers had locked up the food, water, pampers, and prescriptions and fled the City. Outside Walgreen's windows, residents and tourists grew increasingly thirsty and hungry.

 

The much-promised federal, state and local aid never materialized and the windows at Walgreen's gave way to the looters. There was an alternative. The cops could have broken one small window and distributed the nuts, fruit juices, and bottle water in an organized and systematic manner. But they did not. Instead they spent hours playing cat and mouse, temporarily chasing away the looters.

 

We were finally airlifted out of New Orleans two days ago and arrived home yesterday (Saturday). We have yet to see any of the TV coverage or look at a newspaper. We are willing to guess that there were no video images or front-page pictures of European or affluent white tourists looting the Walgreen's in the French Quarter.

 

We also suspect the media will have been inundated with "hero" images of the National Guard, the troops and the police struggling to help the "victims" of the Hurricane. What you will not see, but what we witnessed,were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief effort: the working class of New

 

Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, "stealing" boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded.

 

Most of these workers had lost their homes, and had not heard from members of their families, yet they stayed and provided the only infrastructure for the 20% of New Orleans that was not under water.

 

On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us left in the hotels in the French Quarter. We were a mix of foreign tourists, conference attendees like ourselves, and locals who had checked into hotels for safety and shelter from Katrina. Some of us had cell phone contact with family and friends outside of

 

New Orleans. We were repeatedly told that all sorts of resources including the National Guard and scores of buses were pouring in to the City. The buses and the other resources must have been invisible because none of us had seen them.

 

We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City. Those who did not have the requisite $45.00 for a ticket were subsidized by those who did have extra money. We waited for 48 hours for the buses, spending the last 12 hours standing outside, sharing the limited water, food, and clothes we had. We created a priority boarding area for the sick, elderly and new born babies. We waited late into the night for the "imminent" arrival of the buses. The buses never arrived. We later learned that the minute the arrived to the City limits, they were commandeered by the military.

 

By day 4 our hotels had run out of fuel and water. Sanitation was dangerously abysmal. As the desperation and despair increased, street crime as well as water levels began to rise. The hotels turned us out and locked their doors, telling us that the "officials" told us to report to the convention center to wait for more buses. As we entered the center of the City, we finally encountered the National Guard. The Guards told us we would not be allowed into the Superdome as the City's primary shelter had descended into a humanitarian and health hellhole. The guards further told us that the City's only other shelter, the Convention Center, was also descending into chaos and squalor and that the police were not allowing anyone else in. Quite naturally, we asked, "If we can't go to the only 2 shelters in the City, what was our alternative?" The guards told us that that was our problem, and no they did not have extra water to give to us. This would be the start of our numerous encounters with callous and hostile "law enforcement".

 

We walked to the police command center at Harrah's on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that we were on our own, and no they did not have water to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We held a mass meeting to decide a course of action. We agreed to camp outside the police command post. We would be plainly visible to the media and would constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the City officials. The police told us that we could not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set up camp. In short order, the police commander came across the street to address our group. He told us he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge where the police had buses lined up to take us out of the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We called everyone back and explained to the commander that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong information and was he sure that there were buses waiting for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there."

 

We organized ourselves and the 200 of us set off for the bridge with great excitement and hope. As we marched pasted the convention center, many locals saw our determined and optimistic group and asked where we were headed. We told them about the great news. Families immediately grabbed their few belongings and quickly our numbers doubled and then doubled again. Babies in strollers now joined us, people using crutches, elderly clasping walkers and others people in wheelchairs. We marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain, but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.

 

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

 

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

 

Our small group retreated back down Highway 90 to seek shelter from the rain under an overpass. We debated our options and in the end decided to build an encampment in the middle of the Ponchartrain Expressway on the center divide, between the O'Keefe and Tchoupitoulas exits. We reasoned we would be visible to everyone, we would have some security being on an elevated freeway and we could wait and watch for the arrival of the yet to be seen buses.

 

All day long, we saw other families, individuals and groups make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally berated and humiliated. Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the City on foot. Meanwhile, the only two City shelters sank further into squalor and disrepair. The only way across the bridge was by vehicle. We saw workers stealing trucks, buses, moving vans, semi-trucks and any car that could be hotwired. All were packed with people trying to escape the misery New Orleans had become.

 

Our little encampment began to blossom. Someone stole a water delivery truck and brought it up to us. Let's hear it for looting! A mile or so down the freeway, an army truck lost a couple of pallets of C-rations on a tight turn. We ferried the food back to our camp in shopping carts. Now secure with the two necessities, food and water; cooperation, community, and creativity flowered. We organized a clean up and hung garbage bags from the rebar poles. We made beds from wood pallets and cardboard. We designated a storm drain as the bathroom and the kids built an elaborate enclosure for privacy out of plastic, broken umbrellas, and other scraps. We even organized a food recycling system where individuals could swap out parts of C-rations (applesauce for babies and candies for kids!).

 

This was a process we saw repeatedly in the aftermath of Katrina. When individuals had to fight to find food or water, it meant looking out for yourself only. You had to do whatever it took to find water for your kids or food for your parents. When these basic needs were met, people began to look out for each other, working together and constructing a community.

 

If the relief organizations had saturated the City with food and water in the first 2 or 3 days, the desperation, the frustration and the ugliness would not have set in.

 

Flush with the necessities, we offered food and water to passing families and individuals. Many decided to stay and join us. Our encampment grew to 80 or 90 people.

 

From a woman with a battery powered radio we learned that the media was talking about us. Up in full view on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw us on their way into the City. Officials were being asked what they were going to do about all those families living up on the freeway? The officials responded they were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.

 

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway". A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

 

Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot". We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.

 

In the pandemonium of having our camp raided and destroyed, we scattered once again. Reduced to a small group of 8 people, in the dark, we sought refuge in an abandoned school bus, under the freeway on Cilo Street. We were hiding from possible criminal elements but equally and definitely, we were hiding from the police and sheriffs with their martial law, curfew and shoot-to-kill policies.

 

The next days, our group of 8 walked most of the day, made contact with New Orleans Fire Department and were eventually airlifted out by an urban search and rescue team. We were dropped off near the airport and managed to catch a ride with the National Guard. The two young guardsmen apologized for the limited response of the Louisiana guards. They explained that a large section of their unit was in Iraq and that meant they were shorthanded and were unable to complete all the tasks they were assigned.

 

We arrived at the airport on the day a massive airlift had begun. The airport had become another Superdome. We 8 were caught in a press of humanity as flights were delayed for several hours while George Bush landed briefly at the airport for a photo op. After being evacuated on a coast guard cargo plane, we arrived in San Antonio, Texas.

 

There the humiliation and dehumanization of the official relief effort continued. We were placed on buses and driven to a large field where we were forced to sit for hours and hours. Some of the buses did not have air-conditioners. In the dark, hundreds if us were forced to share two filthy overflowing porta-potties. Those who managed to make it out with any possessions (often a few belongings in tattered plastic bags) we were subjected to two different dog-sniffing searches.

 

Most of us had not eaten all day because our C-rations had been confiscated at the airport because the rations set off the metal detectors. Yet, no food had been provided to the men, women, children, elderly, disabled as they sat for hours waiting to be "medically screened" to make sure we were not carrying any communicable diseases.

 

This official treatment was in sharp contrast to the warm, heart-felt reception given to us by the ordinary Texans. We saw one airline worker give her shoes to someone who was barefoot. Strangers on the street offered us money and toiletries with words of welcome. Throughout, the official relief effort was callous, inept, and racist.

 

There was more suffering than need be.

 

Lives were lost that did not need to be lost.

[Poop Man Bob]

Good post, sara.

[!@#$%]

these stories are heart-wrenching

 

i have been accepted into volunteer training, finally

for october 5, deployment a couple days later for three weeks

i think they are expecting a disaster relief operation unlike any the red cross has ever seen; the training classes are about once every week and continue all the way through november

[saraday]

awesome. i really wanted to sign up for the training, but i just can't at the moment.

 

not only can i not afford it, but i don't think i could handle seeing things like that..

 

some friends went a few days ago.. they said the stench of death was overwhelming

[dumy]

Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 7 2005, 12:41 AM

FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid

 

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826

 

FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...ack=1&cset=true

 

FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ll=chi-news-hed

 

FEMA turns away generators (See entry from 3:32 P.M. by Ben Morris, Slidell mayor)

 

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

 

FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"

 

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470

Quoted post

 

 

BUMP, IMPEACH THE BASTARD

[Tyler Durden]

It's good that it's pretty much a well known, and accepted fact, by everyone that the "official response" has been nothing less than atrocious. Unfortunately, it usually takes something like this to get people motivated enough to not let the officials draw their attention away from the real problem. Maybe things will finally get done to get this country back in the right direction...

[saraday]

my friend in slidell lost his house. it's really sad.

 

 

 

 

[Guest beardo]

 

im sure half you jackasses have seen this, but i thought it was funny

[!@#$%]

gold.

[oneeightyone]

PLATINUM!

[FILTER.BFG]

2 time diamond

[shai]

That story sara posted was pretty much what I expected.

 

In the end, the offical policy seems to be so completely out of touch with reality that it wouldn't surprise me if these folks never trusted the system again.

 

I, for one, wouldn't blame them...it's hard to forget execution by bureaucracy.

[Guest KING BLING]

Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 6 2005, 07:11 PM

 

Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.

 

Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

 

Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.

 

Q By saying you won't answer.

Quoted post

 

 

This particular section made me wish I was in the room to be like "damn, oh no he didn't..."