CNN reports: President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government’s failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal … Read More
Katrina Follies
The article in the Wall Street Journal (registration required — UPDATE: I’ll put larger excerpts below the fold) should put to rest the conservative meme that FEMA (and the federal government) needs a specific request from local government before it can act in the face of a disaster. The articles points to the Department of Homeland Security’s National Response Plan, … Read More
Bush Displeased
Nice article in WaPo by Dan Froomkin. Key grafs: Is Bush the commanding, decisive, jovial president you’ve been hearing about for years in so much of the mainstream press? Maybe not so much. Judging from the blistering analyses in Time, Newsweek, and elsewhere these past few days, it turns out that Bush is in fact fidgety, cold and snappish in … Read More
“Good People” – Part Deux
This is what Bush said today: Now, as far as my own personal popularity goes, I don’t make decisions based upon polls. I hope the American people appreciate that. You can’t make difficult decisions if you have to take a poll. That’s been my style ever since I’ve been the President. And, of course, I rely upon good people. Of … Read More
Brownie Is Toast
Breaking News: FEMA Director Mike Brown resigns. He wants to spend more time with his horses. Now FEMA has an empty seat in charge. *Sigh*. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Black People? WHAT Black People?
Check out the subheadline in the Comcast news heading pictured here. It says "Bush Denies Race An Issue In Relief". Now look at the racial makeup of the people that Bush is visiting. Mostly white. There’s two kinds of "colorblind". There’s "colorblind" in the sense one refuses to see racial differences which don’t matter. That’s the good kind. Then there’s … Read More
Ignoring Icebergs
Josh Marshall points to an interesting paragraph in an upcoming Newsweek article: Analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency have begun war-gaming scenarios for what might happen in Iraq if U.S. force levels were cut back or eliminated, say counterterrorism and defense sources. The officials, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive subject matter, declined to discuss specifics … Read More
Katrina Exercise
It’s been two weeks now, and they still don’t get it. As reported here, this is the latest moronic utterance from the Bush Administration: "There are a lot of lessons we want to learn out of this process in terms of what works," Cheney said. "I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the … Read More
“Good People”
I’ve been having flashbacks all week. They go back to 2000, when I would often engage in political debates with a conservative co-worker. I remember one conversation went something like this: ME: "But you have to admit that Bush isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer." HER: "Yeah, but that alone is not an important qualification to be President. You … Read More
Cronyism Update
I have nothing to say about this, other than "No surprise": Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration’s first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush’s former campaign manager and a … Read More
Dubya Should Have Read Clinton’s Biography
Sadly, that would require Dubya to, you know, read. Because if he had, he might have come across this prescient quote (via Atrios): "… I went to Florida a few days after President Bush did to observe the damage from Hurricane Andrew. I had dealt with a lot of natural disasters as governor, including floods, droughts, and tornadoes, but I … Read More
Mr. 38%
Newsweek has Bush polling at 38% — the lowest of any President in their history of conducting presidential polls. More importantly, it says: Reflecting the tarnished view of the administration, only 38 percent of registered voters say they would vote for a Republican for Congress if the Congressional elections were held today, while 50 say they would vote for a … Read More
“Go Fuck Yourself Mr. Cheney” — The Rest Of The Story
Remember the Mississippi local who shouted "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney" while Cheney was being interviewed on CNN? His name is Ben Marble. Doctor Ben Marble. He’s an emergency room MD who plays in alternative rock bands. His house in Gulfport, MS was destroyed by Katrina. He was visiting it on September 8 when he learned that Cheney was down … Read More
A Day Late; A Dollar Short
Breaking news: FEMA Chief Relieved of Katrina Duties WASHINGTON – FEMA Director Michael Brown is being removed from his role in managing the Bush administration’s Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and is returning to Washington. Brown, who has been under fire for the federal government’s slow response to the storm that devastated much of the Gulf Coast region, will be replaced … Read More
Condi Thinking About Giving The Silent Treatment To Iran President
From AP: "Iran needs to get a message from the international community that is a unified message," Rice said at a news conference that focused mostly on talks she plans to hold in New York next week during the special session of the U.N. General Assembly. She said she might say "hello" to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if they come … Read More