Not to be too much of a nag... this comment isn't intended as a defense of Bush's statements about not being warned... But, having watched this, the video does not show the prez being warned about a levee breach. He is specifically being told about the levees being topped by the storn surge... meaning, I gather, the levees aren't tall enough. The isn't a nitpicky semantic discrepancy, it would seem to me that topping/overflowing a dam or levee is quite a different thing that breaking/breaching through the structure. Just a thought.

Gomez 02 Mar 2006

Read the article again, Gomez.

Brown and others warned that the storm could breach levees, endanger lives in the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelm rescuers.

The video from iFilm is an edited version of the tape. It is clear from the AP story that any and all of these scenarios were in fact a part of many briefings.

For him to make a statement like "I don't think anyone anticipated the levees breaking..." I mean, c'mon. It is just so completely asinine.

My favorite bit: "I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said Wednesday, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."

Hah! So he had more than one briefing on just how serious the situation could get, and it still didn't sink in? Nice one Trent.

andrew 03 Mar 2006

This is the worst president corporations ever purchased. Where's that receipt?

jpeg 04 Mar 2006