Think Progress

28.

By Nico Pitney on Feb 9th, 2006 at 11:28 pm

28.

The number of “government agencies, from local Louisiana parishes to the White House, [that] reported that New Orleans levees were breached Aug. 29, the day Hurricane Katrina roared ashore.” The Bush administration was first informed at 8:30 ET on August 29; Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff claimed at the time he learned of the breach “midday” on August 30.



39 Responses to “28.”

  1. Colorado Jyms says:

    Think Progress: HeLLO? Where are you on the Cheney-Libby story. I usually go to you guys first.


  2. Colorado Jyms says:

    My link didn’t work

    Libby is singing on Cheney. It’s the best thing since Fitzmas


  3. TerrytheTurtle says:

    #3 and 4 – I’m confused by that, I had Libby as falling on his sword for Cheney and stalling as long as possible, then being pardoned by Bush and off to Fox News to run his own show. It played on CNN a while ago, the take there was that it was hypocritical for the Veep to leak the NIE while at the same time go after the person who leaked the wire-tapping NSA stuff. Time for the alert level to go up – got your duct tape?


  4. Spudge_Boy says:

    Where is Ruppert with his standard “It was the local democratic governments fault.”

    It looks like the locals were doing there job, while Bush had cake with Senator John McCain in Arizona

    null

    President George W. Bush joins Arizona Senator John McCain in a small celebration of McCain’s 69th birthday Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, after the President’s arrival at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. The President later spoke about Medicare to 400 guests at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in nearby El Mirage. White House photo by Paul Morse

    and played guitar with Country Singer Mark Wills in San Diego:

    null

    President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/ABC News, Martha Raddatz)


  5. AvengingAngel says:

    Not surprisingly, Michael Brown and FEMA seemed to do just fine with four hurricanes in the 2004 swing state of Florida, home of presidential brother Jeb Bush.

    For the details, see:
    “FEMA: Florida Election Management Agency.”


  6. Neal says:

    Must read!!! The cronyism stench is even larger then we knew!! Read “Unholy Trinity: Katrina, Allbaugh and Brown” http://realnews.org/rn/content/i…tent/ index.html
    (Courtsey of the Randi Rhodes Show website)


  7. yowzer says:

    White House den of liars
    .


  8. richb says:

    multiple failures here, the time to act was prior to the Hurricane’s impact…that to me is local. Coast Guard personnel were air lifting the next day…that’s a federal response that worked. I don’t recall seeing the chaos in Mississippi.

    local gov’t has a threshold on what it can do, Federal response to my best knowledge has never been ‘instant’ and had the residents that mistakenly stayed or been unable to leave stocked up for a few days to tide them over as well as the local gov’t properly stocking the convention center and other buildings, that dire need in mid week could’ve been mitigated.

    NO excuse for the federal govt’s failures….but NO excuse for local either.


  9. Gus, the Loving OBGYN says:

    The last time Brown spoke publilcly he blamed Dept. Homeland Security/Chertoff. Interesting to see what he does today.
    In the end we don’t need to look at the details. America has one dead city while Iraq absorbs all of our hard earned money. Right here. Right now.


  10. Archon says:

    #8

    Neal your link doesn’t work. It has elipses in the middle of it.

    I was curios what the article said.

    Archon


  11. truth says:

    Spudge_boy, thanks for posting that picture of Bush fake-playing the guitar with Mark Wills on August 30th. The day after learning the levees had breached, Nero fiddled.


  12. thot's n TN says:

    bush was celebrating the deaths of the people in the lower 9th ward of N.O. that’s why he was laughing and joking on the 29th of August 2005. This bastard is a mass murder when are we going to take him into custody,.

    How many Poor and Black Americans have died in N.O. and how many are losing their last shred of property under this bastard?

    Impeachment is too kind of a word for this adminstration……


  13. Archon says:

    Check out the Bill Press show from 6 am to 9 am EST on Sirius satellite radio or on local stations in larger markets.

    Check the url:

    http://www.billpressshow.com/

    Then listen to Thom Hartmann from 12 to 1 on Sirius and 12 to 3 PM EST live stream on the net.

    http://www.thomhartmann.com/showlisten.shtml

    Then finish the day with Ed Schultz from 3 to 6 PM EST Live stream on the net and Sirius satellite radio.

    http://www.wegoted.com/

    Join the revolution.

    Archon


  14. Democrat Soldier says:

    Yet another lie from the Federal government on their action, or reaction, to the disaster? Actually, it should be their non-reaction to the disaster.

    Once “Heck-of-a-job” Brownie testifies, the liars just might be held responsible for their non-action.

    By the bye, why did Brown say he wouldn’t testify if Pres. Bush would pay his legal fees? Does that mean his ‘truthfulness’ depends on the amount of money he gets? Loyalty for sale, anyone?


  15. Archon says:

    It is usually called “Blackmail”. If you were to tell an elected official, “I won’t release damaging news of you if you give me money”. They could prosecute you for blackmail.

    However, if you are a friend of the President or former adminstration employee it is apparently legal to threaten to realease damaging info unless your attorney bills are paid by the White House.

    These people have NO ethics or morals. They promised to return these to the White House.

    Archon


  16. Democrat Soldier says:

    Once the average American people are faced with the extent of incompetence of the current administration, the Republicans will be relegated back to the minority party.

    I can’t happen too soon! While 2006 may not bring the change, I believe it will reduce the numbers of Republicans.

    Unlike Gary Ruppert, I won’t make any (false?) promises to cause myself bodily harm in case my prediction is incorrect. While I have hope for the American people to wake up to the truth about the elected Republicans, it’s the voting companies that count the votes, and we know to whom they give all their donations.


  17. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    If Michael Brown is threatening to reveal facts that dispute the Administration’s version of events unless his legal fees are paid (did I understand that correctly?) then:

    1) I do not want one more penny of my tax money going to this man. Taxpayers are not obligated to pay his fees. If he’s choosing to pay a lawyer to accompany him while he testifies, that’s his choice. And his responsibility.

    2) There is no point in the White House caving because we now know that what the WH told us was happening was not what actually happened, according to Mr. Brown.

    3) If the WH does agree to pay his legal fees, then shouldn’t we all just assume that he will lie and contradict this information?

    Then again, maybe the WH “plan” was for Brownie to impugn his own credibility so they can continue to deny what he might say. It wouldn’t surprise me.

    Yeah, I’m cynical. I know it.


  18. Keith H. says:

    If I remember correctly, that was the period of time when our man, who says his number one job is to ‘protect amurikins’, was busy ‘getting on with his life’.

    The idea of brownie stating that he wants defence money from the White House ‘or else’, is just so twilight zone. I think we’re all asleep in the same nightmare.

    If brownie talks, then he’ll be doin’, ‘a heck of a job’!


  19. Grand Moff Texan says:

    Yes, and CNN has video of Bush lying on Friday about levees breaking on Tuesday when he knew on Monday that they’d already broken.

    Here’s a link to the relevent web reports.

    Someone needs to go dig up the video.
    .


  20. Paul in Mexico says:

    You all got it backwards. Andrew Card told Brownie that the White House would pick up his legal tab if he would resfuse to testify in front of the senate hearing.

    Andrew Card also asked him not to answer certain questions.

    We all know this is all totally illegal and breaks all kinds of laws. Will anything be done about it?

    Dont think so.


  21. Tony W says:

    Nice to see Brownie,fighting back against that Bush lap dog Norm Coleman…still can’t figure out how Minnesota elected that bozo


  22. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    #23 If it is true that Andrew Card asked Brownie not to answer certain questions, then that would be considered “tampering with a witness”, wouldn’t it? Or were you just making a sarcastic joke, Paul? Because if what you said is true, then I would like to know if this does constitute witness tampering.


  23. Spudge_Boy says:

    Michael Brown didn’t ask for the White House to cover is defense bills. He said that he would fully cooperate with and answer all of the questions of the Senate panel, unless the White House extended to him executive privliage.

    In other words: “You make it so they can’t asked me any questions or I am squealing like a pig.”


  24. Pete Bogs says:

    Mark Wills looks like he’s afraid Bush will drop the guitar… he does have a history of dropping balls…

    George Bush doesn’t care about black people…


  25. Gerald Gibson says:

    #25 ..or a conspiracy


  26. Spudge_Boy says:

    Well, you see, the White House didn’t come to the aid of Brownie, so he is squealing today, just as he said he would.

    WASHINGTON – Top Department of Homeland Security officials were told about New Orleans’ levee failures the day Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, former disaster chief Michael Brown said Friday, contradicting agency officials who said earlier they were unaware of the severity of the problems until the next day.

    “I find it a little disingenuous,” Brown, who at the time headed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told a Senate oversight committee. “For them to claim that we didn’t have awareness of it is just baloney.”



  27. Spudge_Boy says:

    Then of course there is this just out:

    Washington Post
    February 10, 2006
    Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq

    The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of “cherry-picking” intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

    Side note:

    I love the poll on the page where this article is.

    The Republican nominee for either president or vice president was named Nixon, Bush or Dole in every presidential election in the last 55 years except for which one?

    1960
    1964
    1976
    1992

    Same ol’ sh!t for 55 years.


  28. progressive and proud says:

    Pablo is right; the Administration told him they would pick up all counsel’s tab is he keep his browniehole shut. Brownie sees that being in bed with this cabal any longer is detremental to his career and, possibly, health.

    The White House is just a home base for the new Mafia.


  29. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    There is something that I would seriously like to have explained to me. What is the full argument that says that the executive should not have to reveal the advice he gets from people? I heard the president stumble through an explanation of it last night, and he said (in essence) that if the advice he gets from people is revealed, then no one would want to give him advice in the future.

    To me, the problem with this “reasoning” is that it seems like an excuse to allow people to say that they advised the president one way when they really advised him to do the opposite. And protecting that advice would mean protecting the lie being told afterwards.

    Aren’t we supposed to have an open government? If someone from, let’s say, the oil industry were to advise someone in the administration, say the Vice President, why should they be allowed to keep that advice secret? Exactly what and who is being protected? I don’t understand.

    In the end, it sounds to me like what the president is saying is that someone might want to secretly advise him one way but publicly suggest otherwise, and that it is important that this lie be publicly maintained. Or is there something else I’m missing?

    I would appreciate any serious help with this. Thanks to all.


  30. big papa says:

    Does anybody know if Michael Brown was sworn in?


  31. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    #34 big papa,

    According to what Senator Specter said when the AG testified, it would still be a crime to give false testimony to Congress whether or not you were under oath. That suggests to me that the oath is just for show, or to add a second charge of perjury to lying to Congress if the witness lies. Either way, he would not have a license to lie to them, since he could still go to jail for it even though he wasn’t “under oath” (an expression so scary to the president that he refuses to subject himself to it).


  32. Sharon Cox says:

    Big Papa, yes to your question. Brownie was sworn in on C-Span for this morning hearings..On going as I type..


  33. Archon says:

    #33
    Wayne,

    I would think it would depend on your definition of “advice”.

    Is someone just whispering in the President’s ear at a dinner party or has a company submitted a written opinion on legislation?

    Written correspondence or official meetings I would suppose are public record and should be available according to your open governement theory. However, I don’t know how you could ever enforce making everything the President is told or recommended in passing part of the public record.

    Someday the President will be a Democrat again and I don’t think you want that standard to apply. I wouldn’t want that.


  34. Spudge_Boy says:

    Brown: First and foremost I find it a little disingenuous that DHS would claim that they were not getting that information because FEMA held continuous video telephone conferences– So for them to now claim that we didn’t have awareness of it I think is just baloney…

    null


  35. Wayne A. Schneider says:

    #37 Archon,

    Thanks. I’m not talking about whispering in the president’s ear at a dinner party. I’m talking about meetings where official policy is formulated.

    For the record, in case the trolls plan to jump on me for this, I already believe that it was wrong for Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Task Form meetings to be kept secret, so please no one accuse me of “double swtandards.”

    Written opinions used by the government should be public record. And the Vice President’s Energy task Fporce and Legislation Writing Team should have been made public. I do not understand the rationale for keeping it secret.

    That is what I need to learn. Why is it important to keep the advice (in writings or in meetings) that the president gets secret? Mike Brown is, apprently, alluding to keeping his dialog with the administration over Katrina secret. Under what explanation is this justified?

    Why is it bad to have the advice a president gets made public?



  36. Paul in Mexico says:

    I am sorry for the misinformation. It was not Andrew Card who promised Brownie legal support, it was your no up or down vote asllowed supreme court nominee.

    Harriet Miers write Brownie an e-mail putting out the facts. It was Andrew Card who asked Brownie not to answer all the questions truthfully.

    I got the latter from RAWSTORY.


  37. TripMaster Monkey says:

    The List (TM)

    The List

    The List (TM)



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