Thank you, Mr. President

[rgraham666]

Sep.*13, 2005. 07:06*PM*

Bush takes blame for Katrina blunders

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Bush for the first time took responsibility today for federal government mistakes in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and suggested the calamity raised broader questions about the government's ability to handle both natural disasters and terror attacks.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at a joint White House news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

"And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong," said Bush.

Facing sharp criticism and the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, Bush scheduled a speech to the nation from Louisiana for Thursday evening. It will be his fourth trip to the devastated Gulf Coast since the storm struck two weeks ago.

It was the closest Bush has come to publicly faulting any federal officials involved in the hurricane response, which has been widely criticized as disjointed and slow. Some federal officials have sought to blame state and local officials for being unprepared to cope with the disaster.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., welcomed Bush's conciliatory remarks. "Accountability at every level is critical, and leadership begins at the top," she said.

Other Democrats were less charitable.

"The season has come for Americans to look homeward ... instead of continuing to spend billions of dollars in Iraq," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.

And Louisiana's Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco, accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of moving too slowly in recovering the bodies. The dead "deserve more respect than they have received," she said at state police headquarters in Baton Rouge.

Meanwhile, R. David Paulison, in his first full day on the job as acting FEMA director, told reporters in Washington the government would step up its efforts to find more permanent housing for the tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors now in shelters.

"We're going to get those people out of the shelters, and we're going to move and get them the help they need," Paulison said.

Bush selected him to replace Michael Brown, who resigned on Monday after being recalled as the top onsite disaster-relief coordinator. Brown, a Republican lawyer with little previous disaster-management experience, drew fierce criticism for his handling of the crisis.

Paulison, a career firefighter with 30 years of rescue experience, said he was busy "getting brought up to speed." Bush promised him in a Monday night phone call that he would have "the full support of the federal government," Paulison said.

The storm displaced a million people, destroyed large areas of cities and communities and heavily damaged roads, bridges, canals and oil and natural gas facilities.

Bush's acceptance of responsibility came in response to a reporter's question on whether the United States was capable of handling another terrorist attack, given its halting and widely criticized response to Katrina.

"That's a very important question," Bush said. "And it's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on - so that we can better respond.''

"I'm not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend the people who are on the front line of saving lives,'' he added. "I also want people in America to understand how hard people are working to save lives down there in not only New Orleans, but surrounding parishes and along the Gulf Coast.''

Much as I dislike President Bush, I am going to give him a thumbs up for this.

It's about time he discovered he isn't just in a position of authourity, he's in a position of responsibility.

Well done, Mr. President.

 

[impressive]

Cynic alert:

He ONLY did it because the approval polls aren't going well for him.

 

[rgraham666]

That may be, Imp.

But we can hope it's an honest attempt at accepting responsibility.

So I'll wait until he's not acted on this before I condemn him.

 

[elsol]

*burp*

It's a political tactic...

"You cheated on me!"

"No, I didn't."

"You cheated on me!"

"Blowjobs aren't cheating."

"You cheated on me!"

"Yes, and I'm really sorry... but you know, this is all your fault."

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Pure]

OR

"Blowjobs aren't Cheating."

"Yes they are."

"No they're not."

"They are and I'm thinking of leaving you."

"OK, to the extent that they are, I apologize."

---

IF anyone saw this on TV*, GWB looked most uncomfortable ('sorry' is not in his vocabularly) as if mother Barb said, "Go out there and apologize and damnit, try to *look* sorry, as well. No wisecracks, or 'digs' "

* "to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

 

[LadyJeanne]

OR

"Blowjobs aren't Cheating."

"Yes they are."

"No they're not."

"They are and I'm thinking of leaving you."

"OK, to the extent that they are, I apologize."

---

IF anyone saw this on TV*, GWB looked most uncomfortable ('sorry' is not in his vocabularly) as if mother Barb said, "Go out there and apologize and damnit, try to *look* sorry, as well. No wisecracks, or 'digs' "

* "to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

Considering that Mama Bush is the one who thought things were working out well for the Katrina vicitims in the Astrodome, I doubt it was she that pushed him into an apology. More likely, Karl Rove.


And did anyone notice that the new FEMA director is our good friend, Mr. Plastic Sheeting and Duct Tape?

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Considering that Mama Bush is the one who thought things were working out well for the Katrina vicitims in the Astrodome, I doubt it was she that pushed him into an apology. More likely, Karl Rove.


And did anyone notice that the new FEMA director is our good friend, Mr. Plastic Sheeting and Duct Tape?

Lmao. What am I supposed to do with all this plastic and duct tape now?

I too was glad to hear Bush say it, even if he choked and sputtered and looked away from the camera like a five year old who's been caught by his momma.

To me he's become like the bad relative, the one you have to put up with, so you keep trying to find some good in him. Everytime something bad happens, I think "Please let him say and do the right thing this time." but the outcome is always the same. He is always the same snickering, sneering and insincere person. No matter how much he and all his people smile and nod their heads and say how much they care, I'm never going to be convinced.

 

[glynndah]

With everyone saying how fucked up things were, pictures printed in every news magazine for almost two weeks and the tv news filled with video of the disaster every night, it would be pretty hard for him to claim things were justy peachy, even though Brownie was doing a helluva job. Now he says that things "might" have been better?

 

[BlackShanglan]

"And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong," said Bush.

That phrase in italics is what troubles me. That's built-in wiggle room from here to Oregon. I predict immense quantities of effort devoted to minimizing that extent.

Shanglan

 

[Guest]

That phrase in italics is what troubles me. That's built-in wiggle room from here to Oregon. I predict immense quantities of effort devoted to minimizing that extent.

Shanglan

Yes.

And I believe he may have waited too long for the forced apology. For many, this is too little and too late.

 

[rgraham666]

Yes.

And I believe he may have waited too long for the forced apology. For many, this is too little and too late.

It is, in many ways, for me as well. And I sincerely doubt that he will actually make an attempt to do more than uncover scapegoats.

But for once, for a moment, he almost sounded like a President.

So I'll give him credit for that. Otherwise, I'll be just like our 'friend'.

 

[Guest]

It is, in many ways, for me as well. And I sincerely doubt that he will actually make an attempt to do more than uncover scapegoats.

But for once, for a moment, he almost sounded like a President.

So I'll give him credit for that. Otherwise, I'll be just like our 'friend'.

Very true.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Otherwise, I'll be just like our 'friend'.

That seems astonishingly unlikely in all of the best ways.

 

[Couture]

Good one on you George.

 

[amicus]

Jesus! You guys never stop do you? Bring back Clinton the cigar man and the stained dress or Kennedy and Monroe, at least there was a little perversion there.

Fudge. You people Suck!

Hey, I can say what ever I want!

http://english.literotica.com:81/stories/showstory.php?id=120021

amicus the virgin

 

[Guest]

Ami -

You want me. Admit it.

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Ami -

You want me. Admit it.

He can step in line behind the rest of us.

 

[Couture]

Jesus! You guys never stop do you? Bring back Clinton the cigar man and the stained dress or Kennedy and Monroe, at least there was a little perversion there.

Fudge. You people Suck!

Hey, I can say what ever I want!

http://english.literotica.com:81/stories/showstory.php?id=120021

amicus the virgin

Almost a 100% of the people who posted to this thread, praised the president for taking responsibility. And you come here without reading and say, "You people suck."

Why so mean tonight amicus? Did someone file your briefs?

 

[Guest]

He can step in line behind the rest of us.

 

[Guest]

i NEVER chime in on these things, i lack the verbosity and clarity to make my point...and sometimes i dont even know what it is. this case is a bit different, however.
i heard on talk radio that Bush was in a meeting with someone *god i hate when i forget names*...she asked him and i quote:

"Mr. President, will you remove Mr. Brown from FEMA?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Well, since everything that went wrong."
"What went wrong?"



oh and...WHY IS FEMA GIVING MONEY TO PAT ROBERTSON?
oh yeah, katrina was a sign from god...how could i forget?!

 

[rgraham666]

He can step in line behind the rest of us.

Seconded.

 

[Goldeniangel]

i honestly don't care why he did it.

i'm just happy that for once in his life he's had to own up to making a mistake, and whether or not he believed he really had made a mistake, its' goign to work his way into his psyche and it's going to cause him pain to think about.

and THAT i approve of.
who nkows, maybe after this he'll actually start acting like a president occasionally instead of just someitmes sounding kinda like one. i dont have too many hopes in that direction, but stranger things have happened.

 

[rgraham666]

Hmm. I hadn't thought of the pain aspect of this.

Yet another reason to like it.

 

[thebullet]

My feelings have changed over the course of the last week or so. My first feelings, like everyone else, were horror and disbelief. As the days lengthened and still no help was sent to New Orleans, my feelings turned to anger.

I understand that my vehement opposition to Pres Bush makes one think that I was looking for an excuse to attack him, but that just isn't so. I was just plain angry, regardless of the political stripe of the Mayor, the Governor, or the President. I mostly blamed the President under the assumption that he had ultimate authority - which is true.

Watching what went down after the feds finally sprung into action - too late, of course - it now seems to me that this thing was mostly a cluster fuck caused by the inability of the people at the top to determine who was in charge.

Michael Brown looks like the short-term guy with the "your're it" syndrome, i.e. he's the designated loser for now until the administration figures out if they have to sacrifice anyone else who is higher up on the food chain.

But it looks like the problem was mostly due to the reconfiguration of the government after 9/11, downgrading the status of FEMA and placing political cronies at key positions in that agency. The issue of who really was in charge was apparently a nebulous one, especially in the eyes of the only ones that mattered: the higher ups at FEMA and Homeland Security.

Each guy was looking for someone else to make the decisions, or waiting for the states to make the decisions for them.

Of course the President isn't completely absolved from blame. He should have come back from his vacation early and applied some pressure. That WOULD have gotten things moving, as it eventually did.

The administration made bad choices when it downgraded FEMA to a sub-agency of Homeland Security. It made bad choices when it fired the experienced men at the top of FEMA and replaced them with politcal gladhanders.

The mechanism should have sprung into action and it didn't. There is plenty of blame to go around, but I see no malicious intent, just ineptitude. Those calling this a racist (lack of) response by the President - or at the very least an economic decision - are almost surely wrong.

The mechanism wasn't working properly and no one knew it because they hadn't been confronted with a major emergency since the changes to the mechanism went into effect. Well, now we know the mechanism is broken.

I am confident (pretty much) that by the time the next emergency hits, the government will have learned the lesson of Katrina. FEMA will have authority and experienced leaders. And the government's response will be quick and effective, regardless of who is President.

 

[amicus]

All these Monday morning quarterbacks, sighs, who miss the point entirely.

Apparently those of you who hate the Bush administration so much, would have appreciated a massive federal presence within hours following Katrina's landfall?

Notwithstanding the separation of State's rights, or the laws that restrict when Federal military forces can be used in a civilian context.

"Bureaucrat: An official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment."

That be from my 14 pound Random House Unabridged dictionary.(not my own personal one, the definition, I mean)

You may often wonder why I rail against big government and bureaucrats running such things as schools and hospitals.

People hired by government agencies are paid 'to function within the guidelines and rules of the agency' They are not paid to think independently and respond to circumstantial events.

Am I even the least bit surprised at the failure of local, state and federal bureaucratic agencies?

But you Liberal collectivists who want greater and greater government presence in your daily affairs, just don't get it do you?

I think I have said that before.

If you start understanding me and even agreeing, take two amicus and call me in the morning, it will pass.

amicus....