Katrina Coverage

From this March 3 CNN transcript come these claims from former FEMA head Michael Brown:
- FEMA had been marginalized.
- He thinks Michael Chertoff should quit or be fired.
- He thinks Chertoff was misleading the American public about Brown appearing on TV and characterizing it as show-boating.
And, this:
MESERVE: In the transcripts of the 29th briefing, you […]

The Associated Press has issued the following voluntary confession:
WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among […]

Around noon on the day when Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco told the Bush administration that the levees were safe:
"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees… We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not […]

Four days after Katrina, George W Bush said:
"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
However, videos obtained by the AP shows internal Bush administration briefings, including one in which Bush and DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff were told that the levees might breach:
In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush […]

I find this more than a bit unbelievable. However, it is not a SNL skit nor is it the Onion. It's from an actual ABC News interview with Our Leader:
[ELIZABETH VARGAS]: When you look back on those days immediately following when Katrina struck, what moment do you think was the moment that you realized that […]

According to a new poll, only 5% are pleased with the way the rebuilding is going. 26% are "satisfied, but not pleased". 43% are "dissatisfied, but not angry".
And, in the smartie category, 16% are angry.
Their opinion of Bush's handling of the crisis has fallen from 44% in September to just 32%.
Only 15% think Bush has […]

From this:
Flawed government planning for major disasters led to rampant confusion during the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House concluded Thursday in a report focusing more on fixing shortfalls before the next storm season than on assigning blame.
The review described poor communications systems, delays in delivering supplies and overall tumult within the […]

From this:
Michael D. Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, testified today that he let senior White House staffers know as soon as he had heard that flooding had begun in New Orleans on the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
Mr. Brown also called claims by top officials at the Department of Homeland Security […]

According to emails and other documents recently released, no less than twenty-eight government agencies - ranging from the local level all the way up to the White House - knew that the levees had broken on August 29, the day the storm landed.
In fact, "the Bush administration" knew about the failures at 7:30 am NO […]

It appears the White House has cut him loose and have given the word that they won't defend him. And, he's asking whether he can now tell all that he knows:
Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless […]