No one knew the levees would break.

Hobbes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm

Saw this last night and its going pretty big in the US afaik. Just as well he took a holiday when he did. TBH I can't see anything happening to him over it. Impeachment seems to be something that doesn't happen to Republicans.

Just wondering though does this vindicate Brownie?

[edit] The footage is here.
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/03/george_bush_wor.html

RuggieBear

sure you can't be impeached for lying....erm, actually....

lostexpectation

brown has been twisting the knife a bit now he's fired he was still failed royally

im surprised bush doesn't seem even a little less on guard in this video he knows he is being filmed but he still seems in platitude mode... no concern on his voice, still its all great you doing a heck of job.


i have to reppeat the biggest criminal of all was the police captain who blocked the road out of town

bonkey

I haven't watchwed the footage yet (firewall in work), but one commentary I saw on it made one comment which I found interesting.

They claimed that the warning in teh video was that the levees could be topped - that flood-water could reach over them, resulting in flooding. What they (allegedly) did not say was that the levees could be breached.

Like I said...I haven't seen the vid yet, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm wondering if the charges about Dubya having lied aren't a bit of an exaggeration. Sure, he dropped the ball and from all accounts the video shows him in the same sort of mindset I'm in the day before I go on holidays (not properly involved), but I can already see this turning into yet another situation where valid criticism will get lumped with exaggerated claims - always a recipe to ensure that the criticism gets ignored.

Still...with approval ratings already in the low 30s and probably due to drop more...its not looking good no matter which way. How soon before even his most ardent supporters start looking for The Point. You know the one. The Point where Bush lost his way and went from saviour of the universe to whatever it is thats sufficient reason to no longer support him.

Anyway. Pubtime.

jc

Gurgle

bonkey wrote:

How soon before even his most ardent supporters start looking for The Point. You know the one. The Point where Bush lost his way and went from saviour of the universe to whatever it is thats sufficient reason to no longer support him.

Maybe around the time when his second and last term was declared and it didn't matter a sh`it anymore what anyone thought of him?

Manic Moran

bonkey wrote:

I haven't watchwed the footage yet (firewall in work), but one commentary I saw on it made one comment which I found interesting.

They claimed that the warning in teh video was that the levees could be topped - that flood-water could reach over them, resulting in flooding. What they (allegedly) did not say was that the levees could be breached.
jc

That is a very good catch, and I can say that you are correct now that I've watched the video. The scale of disaster would be far less if the levees were merely topped and not completely failed. You are correct that nobody said anything about breaching, and the claim by Bush that 'Nobody anticipated a breach' is apparently still true to the best of our knowledge.

It won't make a damned bit of difference though. This country is so polarised that those who hate Bush aren't going to worry about any niggling little details like that, they will merely interpret it to reinforce their own beliefs.

I still believe the majority of the blame lies on the State and City administrations.

NTM

Hobbes

Manic Moran wrote:

This country is so polarised that those who hate Bush aren't going to worry about any niggling little details like that, they will merely interpret it to reinforce their own beliefs.

Yea why claim he lied there when there is so much more to choose from.

I still believe the majority of the blame lies on the State and City administrations.

I say the blame goes all the way.

Manic Moran

You can only be blamed for that which you are responsible for. The federal response is Bush's buck. (And the Feds had previously warned that it could take up to three days for federal aid to get to you) The state/city responses (or worse, preparations) are not issues that you can lay at the Federal feet.

NTM

Hobbes

True. But if you compare his actions to Clintons when a similar issue occured. Clinton ensured that the evactuation rules were followed out by the State. He also ensured that federal support was in position before the hurricane struck.

Of course Republicans slated him for causing traffic snarl ups.

Compare that to Bush who claimed in the Video that everything was ready to roll but didn't actually do anything until 3-4 days after the hurricane struck.

Akrasia

not to mention the fact that the Levee system was in desperate need of upgrade and repair, that the money had been allocated by Clinton before he left office and that committment was subsequently overturned by the Bush Administration.

the_syco

Manic Moran wrote:

I still believe the majority of the blame lies on the State and City administrations.

NTM

Eh, I thought Bush took away funding from the levee's repair and maintance a while back. Surely that would have been a major factor?

sovtek

Manic Moran wrote:

You are correct that nobody said anything about breaching, and the claim by Bush that 'Nobody anticipated a breach' is apparently still true to the best of our knowledge.


NTM

Actually there was a report in advance of the hurricane that predicted just such a happening. Will have to go looking for the link.

Manic Moran

the_syco wrote:

Eh, I thought Bush took away funding from the levee's repair and maintance a while back. Surely that would have been a major factor?

Nope. Completely irrelevant in this case.

According to Army sources (Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for that sort of thing), the levees that broke were considered at the time to have been better than most, the ones awaiting repair/upgrading were not the ones that broke. So even if the Corps of Engineers budget was not reduced (CoE budget is separate from Army budget, so there could have been no re-juggling of moneys allocated), the end result would have been the same.

See http://www.usace.army.mil/PA-09-01.pdf

The two levees "were complete and no modifications or improvements to these sections were pending, proposed or remain unfunded"

The release is, unusually for the government, but not so much for the Army, particularly unequivocal. Now, if an unfunded part of the levee system broke, maybe then we'd have something to talk about.

NTM

A Dub in Glasgo

No one knew the levees would break

Yeah right