haven't read through all the other "liar" threads, but i wonder if Batman will pay as much attention to this story. http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2006/03/02/ap2567320.html -- Update 22: In New Video, Blanco Says Levees Are Safe BY LARA JAKES JORDAN and MARGARET EBRAHIM , 03.02.2006, 09:00 PM In the hectic, confused hours after Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, Louisiana's governor hesitantly but mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans' protective levees were intact, according to new video obtained by The Associated Press showing briefings that day with federal officials. "We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29, according to the video. "We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not breached the levee at this time." In fact, the National Weather Service received a report of a levee breach and issued a flash-flood warning as early as 9:12 a.m. that day, according to the White House's formal recounting of events the day Katrina struck. Critics have maintained the Homeland Security Department responded too slowly to the breaches, delaying repair efforts and allowing flooding to worsen. Formal reports of New Orleans' levee breaches reached the White House by 6 p.m., and the administration confirmed the damage by the next morning, according to the White House's recount. In the video of the conference call, Blanco appears uncertain about the reliability of her information and cautioned that the situation "could change." Blanco said floodwaters were rising in parts of the city "where we have waters that are 8 to 10 feet deep, and we have people swimming in there." "That's got a considerable amount of water itself," the governor said. "That's about all I know right now on the specifics that you haven't heard." The AP separately obtained video earlier from other briefings before the hurricane made landfall. That video showed U.S. officials warning that Katrina might breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers. Before the release of the latest video, lawmakers from both parties said the pre-Katrina briefing for President Bush and top administration officials raised new questions about government response to the storm that flooded New Orleans and killed more than 1,300 people. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said the earlier video "makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable. It was not only predictable, it was actually predicted. That's what made the failures in response - at the local, state and federal level - all the more outrageous." The earlier video "confirms what we have suspected all along," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, charging that Bush administration officials have "systematically misled the American people." Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California renewed their calls for an independent commission to investigate the federal response to the hurricane. The House and Senate have conducted separate investigations of the federal response, and the White House did its own investigation. House Democrats for the most part refused to participate in the House probe, insisting since last fall that an independent commission should be created to handle the probe. "I try not to get angry, but I am plenty frustrated that we're not getting answers" from the administration, said Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., one of the few Democrats who participated in the House investigation. "If nobody was hiding anything, why did the committee not get the documents it requested? We need to use subpoenas if necessary to get those documents." A spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who headed the House investigation, said there was nothing new in the videotapes and accompanying transcripts made public Wednesday. "Top federal, state and local officials failed to process and act on information at their disposal," said David Marin, the spokesman. "We already knew that." But Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, disagreed. "If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million," he said. "Six months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes and livelihoods of millions along the Gulf Coast, the truth about what the president knew and when he knew it has come to light." The earlier videotape captured a briefing, one day before Katrina stuck on Aug. 29, involving then-Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown, Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other officials. Five days after the briefing, with most of New Orleans underwater, Bush said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said Wednesday that Bush "received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was "completely engaged at all times." The White House did not immediately respond Thursday to the renewed Democratic calls for an independent investigation.
Probably not a lie, since she was uncertain about her information at the time, but it is possible. Blanco certainly dropped the ball, and should have had correct information and known what to say when talking to the Feds. She failed in her duty. It may or may not have been a lie. It isn't known that she stared at a report which said the levees were breeched, and then made the claim that they weren't. We do know that people redicted to Bush that the levees might break, and that the superdome was in trouble, and almost everything else that happened, and he claimed that nobody predicted that.
No defending Blanco. It's not like Democrats are always right. Bush, Blanco and Nagins are the three stooges of the Katrina disaster.
Nice really an intelligent try, Basso. As you admit you have not read the other threads. I guess you did not read the article you posted either. It has Blanco saying: "We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29, according to the video. "We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not breached the levee at this time." In the video of the conference call, Blanco appears uncertain about the reliability of her information and cautioned that the situation "could change." Blanco said floodwaters were rising in parts of the city "where we have waters that are 8 to 10 feet deep, and we have people swimming in there." "That's got a considerable amount of water itself," the governor said. "That's about all I know right now on the specifics that you haven't heard." Bush's only defense to lying on the claim that nobody predicted levee failure, is as usual the moron/ ADD/ or defective memory that cannot remember for four days the meeting which the tape clearly shows Bush being in a small meeting in which he is personally told predictions that the levees could fail.
Again, and I'll type real slow-like... the National Weather Service is part of the Department of Commerce which is in the Executive Branch of our Federal Government. Commerce sits on several of the committees established by the National Response Plan. The Executive Branch is run by the President, who in this case happens to be George W. Bush. If the President is depending on info from a Governor in Baton Rouge to act on things in NOLA, that clarifies his incompetence.
you guys are amazing. She didn't lie because she received "bad reports", but bush lied because he's all knowing? Get your heads out of the sand! You b**** because you want less big brother, but when there is a SNAFU, you blame big brother because he didn't prevent it or fix it instantly.
It almost sounds like she's afraid to say the levees are busted or close to failing. What a clueless idiot.
interesting you say that. i agree...and was thinking the same thing. and it makes sense, frankly. this was a doomsday scenario that city lived in fear of for decades. i imagine it would have been hard to come to grips with it.
To prove that Blanco lied, one would need to show that we was told that the levee failed and then told the President et. al. that the levees were OK. Compare and contrast with We never had any intell that said terrorists would fly planes into buildings. Tax cuts will pay for themselves. Saddam will have the bomb by Christmas. Saddam and OBL are actively conspiring against the uS. I will fire anyone who leaked classified information. etc.
Blanco is not without fault. She should have known that the levee failed within 30 minutes of failing and and should launch her action plan in that case. Since she did neither, we can assume that she by extension of her admin is incompetent.
Wait a minute. Bush supporters are the ones that set the parameters that bad reports, or reports not received excuses someone for saying something wrong, and therefore it isn't a lie. Bush is also the one that wanted FEMA to be under homeland security. Whether we like big brother having that much power isn't the issue. The issue is that they now have that power and their job description is to deal with these kinds of disasters. Did they adequately do their job? No. Bush had accurate predictions made, and then claimed nobody predicted the things that were predicted. That is a lie. Placing blame for the Katrina fiasco is a seperate issue than whether or not Bush lied. Certainly blame needs to go to Blanco, Nagin, Chertoff, and Bush. Not one of those folks should get away from blame over how Katrina was handeled. The blame should be spread around, but that has nothing to do with whether or not Bush lied. He did.
Blanco didn't lie. She's clearly incompetant but she admitted she didn't have all the info. Moving on.
Interesting how it's corresponding with the administration's meltdown. What with all the bad news recently, I guess that's what happens when people become desperate and start lashing out.
