AP Katrina Tape Shows Bush........

[Nbadan]

....Lied!

Crooks and Liars (http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/01.html#a7356)

I wanna hear Yonivore spin this!


:lmao

[JoeChalupa]

I heard about this. Doesn't make Bush look too good.

[xrayzebra]

What they got a briefing. So did all the Dimm-o-craps in Lousyanna. Does it
make them look bad. Oh, I forgot, only the Feds are responsible for the safety
of citizens.

[boutons_]

Standard Repug "federal government": totally, intentionally destructive incompetence covered by secrecy and lies.

[Spam]

Damn...with a name like Xray you'd think you'd be able to see Bush for what he really is.

[George W Bush]

....Lied!



"LIED" is my other middle name.

I'm George L. Bush and I approve this message :tu

[xrayzebra]

Standard Repug "federal government": totally, intentionally destructive incompetence covered by secrecy and lies.


what damn secrecy? What lies? They had the press in for the
briefing and released the tape on August 28th. You sir, are a
liar and cheat yourself. Because you cannot and wont speak the
truth.

Hell, the fact the levies might break has been news for years.
Get real about something real, just sometimes.

[xrayzebra]

Damn...with a name like Xray you'd think you'd be able to see Bush for what he really is.

I can and that is why I support him. It is folks like you I see through.

[Crookshanks]

As usual, Dan speaks before knowing all the facts. As xray said, the briefing was done in the presence of the press on Aug 28th. Why are they just now releasing the tape - and calling it a secret tape?

And what it shows is that the President was engaged, he signed the necessary documents and he then expected the various agencies to do their jobs (people like the Mayor and Governor). And, at no time, was he told that the levies would definitely break. When the subject came up, they said there was the possibility that the levies would be topped - quite different from breaking. And even then, the gentleman said they couldn't say for sure what would happen.

This is just another lame attempt by the libs to make President Bush look bad. And, again, it will fail!

[Oh, Gee!!]

at no time, was he told that the levies would definitely break. When the subject came up, they said there was the possibility that the levies would be topped - quite different from breaking. And even then, the gentleman said they couldn't say for sure what would happen.


sounds like someone just finished listening to the Rush Limbaugh Show

[xrayzebra]

sounds like someone just finished listening to the Rush Limbaugh Show

And maybe you should start listening to someone other than the left
wing bloggers. You might find out the real truth. Not just the liberals
dumb views. :elephant

[Oh, Gee!!]

And maybe you should start listening to someone other than the left
wing bloggers. You might find out the real truth. Not just the liberals
dumb views. :elephant


how the hell do you think I know who the poster was listening to in the first place, dumbass?

[SA210]

And maybe you should start listening to someone other than the left
wing bloggers. You might find out the real truth. Not just the liberals
dumb views. :elephant
:sleep

[xrayzebra]

Then you know what dumb statements some have made about secrecy and
and all that crap. There was none. Right? I got hope for you OG, really do.

[Oh, Gee!!]

Then you know what dumb statements some have made about secrecy and
and all that crap. There was none. Right? I got hope for you OG, really do.


I hear a lot of things, Xray. Doesn't mean I agree.

[xrayzebra]

I hear a lot of things, Xray. Doesn't mean I agree.

Doesn't mean you have. I don't agree with all I hear. I just listen, observe
and make my own decisions. All you can ask of anyone. Heck, I have
friends who I don't agree with all the time. Doesn't mean I can be friends.
I don't like some foods either. Does that mean I am going to starve to
death. Don't think so.....LOL

[Nbadan]

As a general rule, ANYONE who uses Rush Limpballs as their primary source to counter-act a thread in this forum always gets the just ridicule that they deserve...


hoping to counteract the damage of the story, the White House leaked Newsweek transcripts from daily noon FEMA conference calls during and after Katrina to show how engaged and concerned Dubya was. Trouble is, these are transcripts that they had initially refused to provide to congressional investigators:

[T]he administration initially told Congress that the transcript for the Aug. 29 call -- the call congressional investigators were most curious about, given that it occurred as the hurricane was actually battering the Gulf Coast -- did not exist, with officials initially telling Capitol Hill that someone at FEMA or Homeland Security forgot to push the button on a tape recorder.

"Everybody has been looking for that transcript,"” former FEMA chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.

A White House official unexpectedly e-mailed the transcript to NEWSWEEK earlier today Wednesday morning -- —initially without explaining that it was the missing transcript. Two officials familiar with congressional investigations said that the document was turned over to Capitol Hill investigators Tuesday night. Administration officials told both Congress and NEWSWEEK that FEMA officials in Atlanta had taped the Aug. 29 conference call by aiming a video camera at a TV screen rather than following the usual recording procedure. The videotape was subsequently discovered and transcribed.

I can't recall offhand how many times the Administration has invoked the "dog ate my homework" excuse this year, but I'd have to take off my shoes to count them.

They really had to weigh the benefits of this one -- in order to try and prove that a narcissistic, elitist frat boy actually gave a shit about a bunch of dying poor people they had to bust their own lies:

Under questioning by congressional investigators as to why he went home at 10 p.m. on Aug. 29 amid conflicting reports about flooding and levee breaches, Rapuano indicated that the administration did not believe the White House was supposed to be a command center. He says he went home believing that FEMA'’s Michael Brown had all the resources he needed and that extensive search-and-rescue efforts were under way in New Orleans. Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said earlier this year: "The White House is not an operational institution. It doesn't run the nitty-gritty in natural disasters, and it doesn't direct bombing sorties in Iraq."

Some congressional investigators say it now seems somewhat ironic that having belatedly found the Aug. 29 conference-call transcript, the administration is now touting it as evidence of deep presidential -- and White House -- involvement in the crisis.

Once again, the White House proves that when Congress asks for documents for the purposes of a legitimate investigation -- well, that's just beyond the pale, executive privilege, national security, blah blah blah, fill in the blank. But leaking those very same documents to spin the press in a convenient moment of CYA, or if something needs to be declassified as part of a larger PR smear campaign, well that's just fine and dandy.

I don't know what deity might be brewing up this perfect storm of payback for Dubya but he does not seem to be interested in having a friendly conversation with the Boy King at the moment.

Firedoglake (http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2006_02_26_firedoglake_archive.html#11412645970609 7473)

:hat

[Crookshanks]

Once again, Dan gets his "facts" from the far-lefties!

[Nbadan]

So now MSNBC is a 'far-left' web-site?

:rolleyes


But the administration initially told Congress that the transcript for the Aug. 29 call—the call congressional investigators were most curious about, given that it occurred as the hurricane was actually battering the Gulf Coast—did not exist, with officials initially telling Capitol Hill that someone at FEMA or Homeland Security forgot to push the button on a tape recorder.

“Everybody has been looking for that transcript,” former FEMA chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.

A White House official unexpectedly e-mailed the transcript to NEWSWEEK earlier today Wednesday morning—initially without explaining that it was the missing transcript. Two officials familiar with congressional investigations said that the document was turned over to Capitol Hill investigators Tuesday night. Administration officials told both Congress and NEWSWEEK that FEMA officials in Atlanta had taped the Aug. 29 conference call by aiming a video camera at a TV screen rather than following the usual recording procedure. The videotape was subsequently discovered and transcribed.

While the newly discovered transcript does provide new evidence of initial presidential engagement in the Katrina crisis and of conflicting information about the state of New Orleans levees on Aug. 29, it also exposes some contradictions in previous administration explanations about the role of the White House and top officials in handling the crisis.

MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11626997/site/newsweek/page/2/)

[xrayzebra]

^^So Dan, you think they had a secret meeting. Good.

[Nbadan]

^^So Dan, you think they had a secret meeting. Good.

Did you even bother to read the article? I'm starting to think you may have some sort of mental deficiency X-Ray. Have you seen a doctor lately?

[xrayzebra]

My medical records are secret just like Clinton's. Oops, another secret. Sorry.

Yeah, I read it. The word "possibly" was used how many times? And now all
the libs are reporting it as a secret meeting. Everyone, from years ago had
been reporting that the levees could break, there is nothing new there. Come on
Bush did what anyone would do. Told everyone to get ready and thought they
would. The really sad thing is that locals did nothing to help their own people and
the people themselves did nothing to help themselves.

[SA210]

senile

[Yonivore]

Yeah, yeah, the media and the Democrats--sorry for the redundancy--have jumped on the Hurricane Katrina bandwagon yet again. CNN aired a report repeating the factual error that the Associated Press made yesterday, confusing breaches of the levees with overtopping of the levees. President Bush said it wasn't anticipated that the levees would be breached; the video to which Bush haters are now ejaculating doesn't contradict that statement. It talks only about the possibility of levee overtopping.

Is it possible that all of these reporters have somehow missed all of the post-Katrina discussions about the important differences between levee overtopping (widely predicted before Katrina hit, including by CNN), and breaching of the levees, which apparently resulted from design or construction defects -- or just freak physics? It seems almost inconceivable that all of those involved in misreporting the video can claim ignorance.

The Democrats sent out an email this afternoon that contains a flat misrepresentation:


The tapes directly contradict Bush's now infamous claim after Katrina, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
That statement is false, and the Democrats must know it. The level of dishonesty on exhibit here is disgusting.

[scott]

It depends on what your definition of "is" is.

[Yonivore]

It depends on what your definition of "is" is.
No, it depends on what your definition of "overtopping" and "breach" are.

[scott]

They talked about the imminent flooding of New Orleans and the death and destruction to follow on the Weather Channel for 2 days leading up to Katrina... pardon me for not giving a fuck if it was caused by a "breach" or a "overtopping".

[Yonivore]

They talked about the imminent flooding of New Orleans and the death and destruction to follow on the Weather Channel for 2 days leading up to Katrina... pardon me for not giving a fuck if it was caused by a "breach" or a "overtopping".
And the President pleaded with local and state officials to order a mandatory evacuation on the Saturday preceding landfall.

And, the imminency of the flooding was based on a cat 4 or 5 landfall, not a cat 3.

[scott]

And the President pleaded with local and state officials to order a mandatory evacuation on the Saturday preceding landfall.

And, the imminency of the flooding was based on a cat 4 or 5 landfall, not a cat 3.

What was the strength of the hurricane when this tape was made on Aug. 28?

[Yonivore]

What was the strength of the hurricane when this tape was made on Aug. 28?
I have no idea.

[scott]

03 GMT 08/28/05 25.0N 86.2W 115 939 Category 3 Hurricane
06 GMT 08/28/05 25.1N 86.8W 145 935 Category 4 Hurricane
09 GMT 08/28/05 25.4N 87.4W 145 935 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/28/05 25.7N 87.7W 160 908 Category 5 Hurricane
15 GMT 08/28/05 26.0N 88.1W 175 907 Category 5 Hurricane
21 GMT 08/28/05 26.9N 89.0W 165 902 Category 5 Hurricane
03 GMT 08/29/05 27.6N 89.4W 160 904 Category 5 Hurricane


http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at200512.asp

[scott]

Bush lying or not lying or flooding being caused by breaching or overtopping is rather irrelevant, so I'd expect it to be the topic of discussion between the partisan Tweedle Dees and Tweedle Dums of this forum...

What's telling is the apparent lack of concern from Bush when told of "The Big One." That makes twice that Bush has immediately responded to being told of a major disaster on American soil with a blank stare. Plain and simple, the guy isn't a good leader.

[SA210]

Bush lying or not lying or flooding being caused by breaching or overtopping is rather irrelevant, so I'd expect it to be the topic of discussion between the partisan Tweedle Dees and Tweedle Dums of this forum...

What's telling is the apparent lack of concern from Bush when told of "The Big One." That makes twice that Bush has immediately responded to being told of a major disaster on American soil with a blank stare. Plain and simple, the guy isn't a good leader.

The Great Leader at work during disaster.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b381/livindeadboi/bush_petgoat_chapter2.jpg

[Nbadan]

Bush lying or not lying...is rather irrelevant

Yeah, tell that to the kids who have lost their parents, wifes and husbands who have lost their spouses, and relatives and friends who have lost friends and loved-ones in Iraq. It's important to establish a pattern of deception for some people to finally wake up.

[Nbadan]

And the President pleaded with local and state officials to order a mandatory evacuation on the Saturday preceding landfall.

So did Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco, so what's your point?

There it is at 1:59 of the tape. Dubya reassuring State and local officials that the FEDS are 'fully prepared' to not only help during the storm, but also to move in all the resources and assets they have at their disposal after the storm to deal with the loss of property and the loss of life.

[Dos]

now comes the blanco tape.. lol... people need to learn that govt. can F**K anything up.. but I guess some people still believe govt. is the answer for everything...

WASHINGTON - As Hurricane Katrina loomed over the Gulf Coast, federal and state officials agonized over the threat to levees and lives. Hours after the catastrophic storm hit, Louisiana's governor believed New Orleans' crucial floodwalls were still intact.

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"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29 — the day the storm hit the Gulf coast.

"We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee," she said on a video of the day's disaster briefing that was obtained Thursday night by The Associated Press. "I think we have not breached the levee at this time."

In fact, the National Weather Service received a report of a levee breach and issued a flash-flood warning as early as 9:12 a.m. that day, according to the White House's formal recounting of events the day Katrina struck.

Not until the day after Katrina roared ashore did the White House confirm that its surge had, in fact, breached the levees — a delay that critics charge held up repair efforts and allowed the deadly flooding to worsen.

The rampant confusion is highlighted in the two Federal Emergency Management Agency video briefings, obtained this week by the AP, revealing disaster plans and damage reports detailed by officials as the storm smashed into the coast.

The tapes — and particularly the pre-storm Aug. 28 video that includes an appearance by President Bush — prompted widespread criticism by Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike who said the government should have been better prepared for the storm that flooded New Orleans and killed more than 1,300 people.

That video "makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said Thursday. "It was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. That's what made the failures in response — at the local, state and federal level — all the more outrageous."

After AP's broadcast this week showing some of the Katrina briefings, the Homeland Security Department refused Thursday to release videos from five other days immediately before and after Katrina hit. The agency insisted last year — in response to AP's requests under the Freedom of Information Act — there were no such tapes. Now it acknowledges more tapes exist.

"We do have tapes," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. "We have the tapes from the v-tels (video teleconferences), and we've provided the transcripts — they've been in the public domain for months."

In the Aug. 29 video, Blanco is not shown in the video but is heard as a disembodied voice speaking from an emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La., to 11 people sitting around a table at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington. She sounds uncertain about the reliability of her information and cautioned that the situation "could change."

Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher said Thursday that "our people on the ground were telling us that there could be overtopping and breaching, but it was hard to tell" by the noon briefing.

Another official who was heard but not seen on the video was then-Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, who was at the federal emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La. He implored officials to "push the envelope as far as you can," noting that he had already spoken to Bush twice that day and described the president as "very, very interested in this situation."

Brown has criticized the White House for miscommunications that led to some delays. But he said in an interview Thursday he never blamed Bush. He also said there was confusion among officials over whether levees were breached at the time of the noon video conference call. But he said he was convinced of the breach by 1 p.m.

The video shows weather forecasters predicting the storm's path and also briefly cuts to White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin asking Blanco about the status of the levees and the situation at the Superdome in New Orleans.

By that time, an estimated 15,000 evacuees had gathered at the stadium, where food and water was beginning to run out, said Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana's emergency preparedness deputy director. Smith also reported up to 10 feet of flooding in neighboring St. Bernard Parish and that there were 45 patients on life-support at one area hospital that lost its power.

Still, "the coordination and support we are getting from FEMA has just been outstanding," Smith said.

Mississippi officials were less complimentary, reporting significant damage to hospitals, flooded and collapsed emergency operations centers and people trapped on the roofs or in the attacks who were begging for help.

The Homeland Security Department played down the new video. Knocke said it "reveals nothing new because the transcript had previously been released."

The new video came to light a day after the AP obtained footage of an Aug. 28 briefing — the day before Katrina hit — that showed officials warning the storm might breach levees, put lives at risk in the Superdome and overwhelm rescuers. Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff were among those on the videotaped call.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said it "confirms what we have suspected all along," charging that Bush administration officials have "systematically misled the American people."

Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California renewed their calls for an independent commission to investigate the federal response to the hurricane. The House and Senate have conducted separate investigations of the federal response, and the White House did its own investigation.

[scott]

people need to learn that govt. can F**K anything up..


Truer words have never been spoken in the SpursTalk Political Forum

[xrayzebra]

Yep, Bush lied, need a investigation. So says Reid. Here is another article on
the Governor of Louisana and the flooding.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_VIDEO?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-03-02-21-00-56

[Nbadan]

In the hours after Katrina hit, communication at the State level was almost non-existant and what there was was spotty at best. So it's not surprising to learn that first reports by Governor Blanco were that the levees had not been breached when in fact they were, however, this lame attempt to once again blame the Governor for the FEDS mishandling of the levee breach crisis in no way minimizes the fact that Dubya is caught on tape reassuring both State and local officials that 'the FEDS' were prepared to react to any crisis Katrina may bring along the gulf coast region, which as we learned later, clearly wasn't the case.

Also, this AP story is filled with so many qualifiers it should be classified as a opt piece rather than serious reporting. Clearly, someone at the FED level leaned on the AP to help diffuse the outrage over the FEMA shortcomings brought to light by the AP tape which was initially cloaked under 'national security' privileges by the FEDS. They knew they were at fault and tried to hide it. Blanco and Nagin never tried to hide anything.

[boutons_]

The blame goes all around, nobody can deny that.

But as irrefutable proof of indefensible dubya/DHS/FEMA total fuckup becomes available (no doubt, the story of the horrible disaster aka "the dubya/dickhead/Repug years", comes out), all the right-wingers can do is blame state/city.