We have spent over half a trillion dollars on Bush's folly in Iraq. The appropriate action right now is to set the wheels in motion to spend what is necessary to effect a recovery on the Gulf Coast, be that millions, billions, or trillions of dollars. I am very willing to pay much more in taxes to fund this. Knowing the funding will be there just might get some of America's corporations off their collective butts and into getting the needed equipment, supplies, and manpower into the area before even more hundreds or thousands die. And frankly I don't care how high gas prices go right now.

You just touched the third rail of Dubay's administration- tax cuts.  Let's face it, tax cuts for the wealthiest and most fortunate in our society are the only thing which matters to Dubya and his posse.  Hell, he's let the situation in Iraq spin out of control because they won't fund the necessary resources in Iraq.  Does anyone really think that Dubya and his posse will care at all about the minority population trapped in this nightmare?  Sure, tell me another joke.

This shmendrik has actually managed to make his old man look good. He is so not a big leaguer.

Bush always stumbles through speeches, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so obviously clueless. He was very confused and shaken.  He mispronounced several times the number of words as he usually does, mixing sentences together stopping in the middle of one to begin another, and later correcting himself and returning to the first, etc. This is now his third strike on NO speeches as well.

WTF? His technical leadership in this has been awful, one would hope he could at least give a half decent speech.

He basically issued platitudes and general deployment strategies that are several days too late by this point. As Wes Clark rightly pointed out, we had at least 36 hours notice on Katrina disaster, and several years (at least) notice that some NO disaster was coming. Why wasn’t Bush back in Washington at least 24 hours before Katrina hit, and issuing orders for pre-deployment of the national guard, police, and emergency services then?

Instead he waited until two days after the event to even return to Washington; during which time federal agencies have basically been fumbling the disaster response. This is beyond partisan politics, this is questioning basic competence of the Bush admin.

It still amazes me they cut funding to the NO levees after reading disaster predictions in 2001.

Yeah, if. Unfortunately, that's proven itself to be a mighty big if lately. A spine on the part of the Dems and the media would be a refreshing surprise. The facts alone should be damning enough for most people.

How do you think they work together? Clinton comes up with a plan and then HW explains it to W?

Is Bush Overwhelmed? Yes. Unfortunately I don't think him being overwhelmed is going to matter that much, politically speaking. Bush will be remembered by history as America's Nero, but the political consequences of the extreme screwups that have happened recently and continue to happen will unfortunately be minimal. Obviously people on the blogs are calling for Bush's head, and with good reason, but that doesn't really translate into the mainstream political arena. His fuckups over the course of his administration have been worthy of dismissal from any business/administrative post. Unfortunately, the only dismissal he's faced so far came from a guy that a lot of people in this country weren't convinced (rightly or wrongly) could do a decent job either. Impeachment is only a possibility if we take back the congress and something huge comes out of the plame investigation, both extremely unlikely possibilities. Otherwise, this asshole will be "leading" us until January 20, 2009. G-d Damn, I'm depressed.

I don't think he's even smart enough to feel overwhelmed.  He's like a prima donna teenager who is in over his head and calls Dad and The smartest guy he knows to bail him out.

This is an international humiliation on the grandest scale.

Does anyone feel safer knowing what can no longer be denied.

My question is where is the Press? 

I was looking for cioverage and there are nothing but F'n soap operas on.

Reality TV will never be more compelling.

p.s. another amazing clip just shown on MSNBC: people on the street dragging a corpse on a rope, covered with a white sheet, from the Superdome, to a makeshift morgue.

Plus, after that, a quick report of gunfire and looting last night in Gulfport, Mississippi, "where they expect the situation to get much worse."

I wouldn't be so sure of this. At the very least, he's not helping himself politically.

I'm honestly wondering - not demanding, mind you, just speculating - whether or not I should be calling for him to resign as President. His response so far has just been so inadequate, pathetic even.

This is insane.  People are dying because there's no clean water to drink, or because they're stuck in attics surrounded by floodwater.  And the military have boats, helicopters, and amphibious vehicles.  Why the heck aren't those assets being used right now to deliver water and food and evacuate the most vulnerable ? 

This is shocking and fatal ineptitude.  And now that people have seen it in their own country, perhaps they'll have a better understanding of what's happened in Iraq since W took it over.

Of course Bush should resign! The entire top tier of his administration should have resigned when we found no weapons in Iraq and it became apparent that the mission was not accomplished. Not going to happen, though. Even if Bush did resign, I can't imagine cheney would be too much better. At least he'd have gotten someone on the Hurrican recovery a bit quicker. Unfortunately, that someone would be named Halliburton.

if Bush were to sack all of the cronies, hacks, and ideologues in his administration that have run this country into the ground, and replace them with statesmen who have the confidence and admiration of a broad, bipartisan swath of Americans.

pass the word?

Folks,

I cannot begging to describe my feelings right now. We have an MIA federal government being criminally negligent and dysfunctional. The ONLY salvation for those people in the area are for Clinton to properly organize an air evacuation of those people and give them water and food by air dropps.

As congress gets back into session, we will see how each party reacts to the emergency. I receceived an email about the RNC wanting to repeal the estate tax. AbsoFUCKINGlutely awesome. We have no money to fix the dams but you want to take it away via tax cuts, estate taxes removed, expanding the Iraq war and expanding criminal cronny big covernment capitalism.

But its immigrants, gays and black/brown people who caused your misery according to the GOP.

The only solution to this mess is going to come from Clinton literally marshalling his connections and act as a shadow Pres.

WOWOWOWOWOWWWWW.....

This reminds me of the great depression and Hoover assuring that help was on the way and that we turned a corner. Later, he eventually told the public to basically drop dead and that the "market would cure all things......."

Carlos

It is an open insult to the American people to bring in two former presidents to beg Americans to donate. Bush should have, the moment the hurricane hit, released a ton of Fed dollars before sending his daddy and Clinton begging.

He has to beg, because we are in so deep in Iraq. He will face the American people knowing all the cuts for flood relief and  FEMA happened on his watch. It is time for the Democratic House and Senate to stonewall Bush. The American people will back Bush into a corner because they are finally seeing the Emperor with no brains for what he is.  Politicizing the horrible mishandling of the disaster event is required to finally and once and for all get the Republicans out of power. Katrina is the gateway to helping all of the citizens who are suffering  and to bring our troops home to assist. Meanwhile, the death tax is the agenda item for the returning Congress. Go figure.

Cheney resigns first. Bush appoints Gore, citing him as being the "most qualified man on the planet" to be Veep. He's got 8 years experience.

Bush then resigns. Gore becomes Prez.

Gore nominates Lieberman, Kerry, Edwards, or Hillary as Veep.

The man who should have been prez is now prez.

Let's ROLL!!!!! 

I almost expected him to start rambling on about the strawberries----------

They were all disloyal. I tried to run the ship properly by the book, but they fought me at every turn. If the crew wanted to walk around with their shirttails hanging out, that's all right, let them! Take the towline - defective equipment, no more, no less. But they encouraged the crew to go around, scoffing at me and spreading wild rumors about steaming in circles and then 'Old Yellowstain.' I was to blame for Lieutenant Maryk's incompetence and poor seamanship. Lieutenant Maryk was the perfect officer, but not Captain Queeg. Ah, but the strawberries! That's, that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and with, with geometric logic, that, that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox did exist. And I would have produced that key if they hadn't pulled the Caine out of action. I, I know now they were only trying to protect some fellow officer. (He pauses - looks at all the questioning faces that stare back at him, and realizes that he has been ranting and raving.) Naturally, I can only cover these things from memory...

This question--If they can't handle this situation without looting and thousands stranded and unable to evacuate when they had days to prepare, WTF are they prepared to do in the case of the proverbial dirty bomb in downtown Chicago?

Someone raised it upthread and it's showing up all over left blogoland. It seems like a painfully obvious question to raise. Yet I listened to a pretty left-wing radio talk on the local NPR station this a.m. and it never came up, and as far as I know it hasn't turned up in the MSM yet. Has it? Has anyone encountered any hint of it out there in the media big leagues?

Come hell and high water, it's good to see Clinton.

The only way this is going to get resolved is to call the grown-ups. Clinton appointed James L. Witt, the only FEMA director who wasn't play-acting. Maybe, just maybe, Clinton is bringing Witt with him.

"The guy goes on vacation, babbles about "getting on with his life" in the face of a war that he started, then he avoids a confrontation with a soldier's mother, now he flies over New Orleans but gets nowhere near it while all of his homeland security preparations are being exposed as basically useless in the face of a major catastrophe. I'd say he's pretty freaked out."

Freaked out?

Isn't this the same George Bush we've been living with the past 4 1/2 years?

He is incompetent. Of course he's overwhelmed. And he did it to himself! I watched that press conference with his daddy and Clinton, and all I could think of was, " please God, kill this petty little tyrant  and let Clinton come back and be at that podium!". Yeah, I know technically Bill can't just take over the reins. But I can dream, can't I?

The only thing that Bush should be doing now is calling off ALL the troops overseas - every single one of them - and sending them to the gulf states for rescue and order. Not another penny should be going to Iraq. Let them have the same growing pains we did when we were forming as a nation. Right now we need our soldiers HERE!

And the paltry 10 billion for FEMA? *snort* How about terminating all the funding going to all the other countries for this and that and putting it into the disaster recovery of our own country right now? Our people are dying of thirst, exposure, starvation, lack of medical care, and grief. Not a PENNY should be given to any other nation from American taxes!

Die, George! Go hungry and thirsty! Swim in raw sewage! Too cowardly for that? Then RESIGN!! before we throw you OUT!

ds 

Will someone ask him:

" Mr President could you show us the evacuation plan homeland security has created upon your request in case a suicide bomber crashes into one of the refineries of New Jersey?"

Overwhelmed? I think he just didn't give a damn. During and immediately after the hurricane, while New Orlean's poor were trapped inside their attics, screaming and hammering in a vain attempt to get people to rescue them, Bush was giving speeches on A)privatizing Social Security and B)Japan's help in the War on Iraq. Since then, the White House MO has been to keep the president as far away from the TV screen as possible, at least until the military arrives and a photo op can present itself.

And there was good ol' Clinton standing beside him, saying everything was being done that could, doing his shtick for a charity drive....the same Clinton that floated his own privatization trial balloon, who aligned with the Liebermans of his party to undermine the SEC and set the stage for Enron and Arthur Andersen, who sold one free trade bill after another, who supported Bush in Iraq....

Even if it hadn't been driven home previously, the events of the last few days make it clear that the problem isn't just Bush, or his party, or conservative punditocracy. The problem is the American establishment-business, media, and political (Dem & Republican) that has completely turned its back on the American people...with no incumbent sense of responsibility or obligation...

I'm honestly wondering if he should not consider resigning.

...either that or Bush will give himself a Medal of Freedom...

3.  The Prez was on vacation during the month of August when the warning signs were looming, clearing brush that didn't need to be cleared.

sort of makes you wonder what that third possibility is, doesn't it?

The third disaster they considered was a major earthquake (the "Big One") in San Francisco.

For two national elections we always struggled with evidence that Bush never really met a challenge in any meaningful way. His abilities were always in question but his campaign types obfuscacted the facts.
 
The facts are now becoming very apparent. He never really met a single obligation that was called into question.
 
He has now failed in his obligation to this country.


thepeoplechoose

The most inreresting thing about thsi is that even on the Right there are people appalled by Bush's performance in this matter. The NRO Corner panned his speech, and now on RedState there's withering criticism  from the stalwarts.

Dear Mr President,

It is with great sadness that I have witnessed your incompetent handling of the disaster in Louisiana.

I have therefore decided to revoke the Louisiana purchase. Your US$ 3 millions will be refunded to you. This money should allow you to buy plenty of bretzels. 

Yours truly.

Napoleon I

The third disaster they considered was a major earthquake (the "Big One") in San Francisco.

Oh thats just dandy Taylor; I was afraid the answer was going to be something like that. Bush is now two out of three for FEMA-predicted disasters.

So... (ahem)
Errr....anyone want to buy a nice overpriced house in the SF Bay Area? Its only a mile or so from the San Andres faultline.

Sorry; no oceans views... yet.

The contrast with his behavior in the Terri Schiavo debacle couldn't be more striking. When it didn't make one iota of difference, Bush was quite willing to fly back to Washington just to sign some stupid bill that was overturned by the Courts in a trice. But when a massive hurricane threatens hundreds of thousands of American lives and a major portion of the American Economy, for Bush its vacationing and political fundrasing as usual.

Maybe he's just feeling bad now because he realizes that fetuses and comatose patients are at risk.

But after 9/11 at least he had the decency to say *something* to the American public. It's goddamned Friday and the public still has not heard a primetime address from the President of the United States following what could very well be the single greatest natural catastrophe to imperil our shores. We needed to hear from him on Tuesday, latest.




If Bush doesn't have to resign or face impeachment over this, I don't understand what the point of American government even is. If we cannot get food and water to our brothers and sisters *on our own goddamned land* even *4 days* after a hurricane, then we might as well replace the government with the old system of feudal armies.

Don't worry; the next disaster isn't due until next year.  You see, I just did a "scientific study."  Disasters only happen around Bush's extended August vacations.  ERGO  --  His vacations CAUSE disasters.

Most of the people on this thread just have it plain wrong.  You see, most of you just don't understand what's important here.  This guy is really on his toes.  Have you noticed that Congress has openned an emergency session September 2? 
Well, Mr Bush was well aware and on top of this and was able to plan for it!  On September 1st, he used the fact that the Senate was still in recess to appoint some of the "right people" into the Justice Dept without the unnecessary delays caused by Congressional approval.
It doesn't do ya much good to be just sittin there while the things are a happenin!  Even one day can make a world of difference ya know.

dc

"Daddy draws purty pictures, Mr. Clinton!"

"Georgie, you're not listening...."