CBS: President George W. Bush finds disapproval on his handling of the matter, too — and the public now shows diminished confidence in his abilities to handle a crisis or provide leadership, as well as in the government’s ability to protect the country. RATING THE RESPONSE President George W. Bush’s overall response to Katrina meets with disapproval today – a … Read More
Denial Is A Flooded River In Egypt
Oy vey: At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush’s choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials." She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown. "He said ‘Why would I do that?’" Pelosi said. "’I said because of all that went wrong, of all that … Read More
Whitewash Begins
This was predictable: Yesterday, congressional Republicans tried to get a head start, announcing the formation of an [Katrina] investigative commission that they can control. They rejected Democratic appeals to model the panel after the Sept. 11 commission, which was made up of non-lawmakers and was equally balanced between Republicans and Democrats. That commission won wide praise for assessing how the … Read More
What The Real 43rd President Did
From the Knoxville News [registration required] as reported here: Al Gore chartered a private jet and personally assisted in the evacuation of 140 New Orleans hurricane survivors, most of them in need of medical attention. Bush, on the other hand, flew into the Gulf Coast to hug some black people. You know, look all prezdential ‘n shit.
The Cult Presidency
Matt Yglesius looks at polling data regarding Katrina, and makes some astute observations: There’s some striking stuff in this CBS poll on Katrina. 58 percent disapprove of Bush’s handling of the hurricane, and just 38 percent approve. But consider this — only 20 percent say the federal government’s handling of the disaster was adequate, while 77 percent say it wasn’t. … Read More
Kaye Grogan And Katrina
We knew Kaye wouldn’t disappoint us when she got around to writing about Katrina. As the convoys of the U.S. National Guard arrived in New Orleans, their first priority was to try and restore civility, law and order, before they could begin to perform their rescue operations in a timely manner. If the convoys wanted to do anything in a … Read More
Katrina Fashion Sense
Winning the award for the most awkward and self-conscious article, I present this from the New York Sun. It seems that the spector of thousands and thousands of dead bloated bodies is going to harsh the hype of the upcoming Big Apple Fashion Week. After the chaos on the Gulf Coast, it’s time for order in the world: modesty, linear … Read More
Katrina Talking Points
Others have summarized the right wing excuses on Katrina, but so far, I like Green Knight’s the best: 1. The real victims here are the President and his Administration, because they’re being (gasp!) criticized. The people stranded in New Orleans are not victims. They have no one to blame but themselves.2. Nobody could have seen the emergency coming. Nevertheless, those … Read More
Firemen Used As Katrina Image Spinners And Props
From Josh Marshall: On the Al Franken show this afternoon I mentioned this article from today’s Salt Lake Tribune which tells the story of about a thousand firefighters from around the country who volunteered to serve in the Katrina devastation areas. But when they arrived in Atlanta to be shipped out to various disaster zones in the region, they found … Read More
Katrina Timeline
For present and future reference, Think Progress has an excellent timeline of Katrina and the, um, "response" to it. So does TPM — it’s a work-in-progress, but will no doubt be more thorough.
A Winston-Salem Physician On Katrina
Via The Left Coaster, reprinted in full: I would like to know why I and so many other physicians told to stay home when they offered to provide medical care for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Like most Americans, I watched in horror. I also felt helpless, guilty, and ashamed at what I saw. By Wednesday, I knew – didn’t the … Read More
Kristol Clear
I’ve seen a lot of Bush apologists in the past several years, but this beats all. William Kristol, the conservative publisher of The Weekly Standard, said of Mr. Bush: "I do think people think he could have showed stronger leadership." But Mr. Kristol expressed doubt that the hurricane would have much lasting effect on the president’s personal and political fortunes, … Read More
Brownie Did A Great Job
The Associated Press has a developing story… The government’s disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region _ and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents. Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval … Read More
40,000?!?
Let’s hope this is merely pessimism. From the Times-Gazette of Shelbyville, Mississippi: A co-owner of Shelbyville-based Gowen-Smith Chapel has been deployed to Gulfport, Miss., to help with recovery since Hurricane Katrina, and his business partner here has described the grim task there. "DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies," Dan Buckner said, quoting officials with the Disaster … Read More
The Problem Is The Solution
Kevin Drum is keeping a list of excuses: Here’s a sampling so far: It was the fault of state and local authorities. They never asked for help. The poor people of New Orleans were too stupid to evacuate when they should have. Nobody knew that Katrina was going to be so bad. Nobody could have guessed that New Orleans would … Read More