In the holy shiite department

[gldstwmn]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/13/kat...act/index.html

Bush: 'I take responsibility' for U.S. failures

Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Posted: 1:02 p.m. EDT (17:02 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina

Click the link for the full article.

[strandinthewind]

Of course he has to say this and its true. But, watch Fox this evening and see them laud Pres. Bush and then slam Blanco for failing to admit her fault, which was there, though in far less severity than W's.

This will bring him back up to in the 40's.

Though I am loathe to say it - well done W.

[DrummerDeanna]

Whoa..my head is reeling...he actually ADMITTED this???

Hmm...someone better check Hell - I think it may be freezing over!

[amber]

It's a trick! Run!

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/13/kat...act/index.html

Bush: 'I take responsibility' for U.S. failures

Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Posted: 1:02 p.m. EDT (17:02 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina

Click the link for the full article.

He'll shoot up 20 points in the polls.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by dissention

He'll shoot up 20 points in the polls.

and that is exactly why he did it. Sadly, Blanco did not think of it first as she would have stolen his thunder. But, I have to give it to W, he took it on the chin here.

[amber]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

and that is exactly why he did it. Sadly, Blanco did not think of it first as she would have stolen his thunder. But, I have to give it to W, he took it on the chin here.

If I was her, i wouldn't really think it's my fault.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by amber

If I was her, i wouldn't really think it's my fault.

Well, Blanco committed several error that were avoidable. Her first error was not knowing how to mobilize the requisite number of troops under her command despite FEMA's intervention. Blanco also seemd scared to make a decision instantly, which will bite her in the end. So, she most certainly has egg on her face - even that Newsweek article acknowledges that. But the point is, if she had said, a la Bush, mistakes were made at the state level and I take responsibility for those and we are going to make sure they are never made again, then W's alleged epiphany would have had less prominence.

[strandinthewind]

Here is the article - along with other cool info.

Bush: 'I take responsibility' for U.S. failures on Katrina

Programming note: Anderson Cooper gets a progress report from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, tonight, 7 p.m. ET.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Bush said he wants to know what went right and what went wrong so that he can determine whether the United States was prepared for another storm, or an attack. (Watch the president's statement -- 1:32)

"I'm not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend the people who are on the front line of saving lives," Bush said. (Full story)

Earlier in the day, the White House announced the president will address the nation Thursday night about recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast.

New Orleans may lose 160,000 homes
Katrina and the floodwaters that swept through New Orleans may have damaged 160,000 homes beyond repair, an official with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday.

Col. Richard Wagenaar said that one of the local government's biggest challenges would be letting residents return to look at their homes.

Water flowed into the city from Lake Pontchartrain through five breaches in three levees after the storm hit August 29, leaving 80 percent of the city submerged. (Watch Wagenaar describe the levee repairs -- 3:34)

Workers should be able to pump the remaining water out of the city by the end of October, said Wagenaar, the New Orleans district commander of the Corps of Engineers.

"It's set up by neighborhoods," he said. "Some of them will be done by early October, other ones by mid-, late October -- if everything goes right, Mother Nature doesn't give us any rain and our pumps continue working."

Wagenaar said the process would speed up once water recedes around the city's main pumping station -- Pump Station No. 6 -- and its 1920s-era pumps can go back online. That's not expected for another two weeks. (Watch the efforts to pump New Orleans dry -- 2:40)

He said that workers were focusing on making "semi-permanent" repairs to the levee system that protects the low-lying city -- that could take two or three months. More permanent fixes would be made once investigators have determined why the levees failed.

The Corps of Engineers hasn't completed surveys of the levees outside the city, but Wagenaar said they appeared to be badly damaged. Some areas remain inaccessible and can only be looked at from the air.

"The levee at the Mississippi River and Gulf outlet is virtually gone," he said. In the event of another hurricane or strong tropical storm, St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, would "have zero protection on one side of their parish at this time."

Ninety percent of the 10-mile-long, 17-foot-high levee on the east flank of the river is gone, leaving only a small, 60-foot-long levee intact.

"Should another storm come in, it could do more damage than it already has," Wagenaar added.

Bodies found in hospital
Rescue workers have removed 45 bodies from a downtown New Orleans hospital that was surrounded by floodwaters from Katrina, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals said.

The bodies were recovered Sunday from Memorial Medical Center, spokeswoman Melissa Walker said.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., the company that owns the hospital, said in a statement that "a significant number had passed before the hurricane." (Watch the grim process of recovering victims -- 1:34)

Tenet spokesman Steven Campanini wrote that the hospital was told Wednesday "that we were on our own to evacuate, [and] we brought our own helicopters to take the patients out."

He said, "Every living patient was evacuated by Friday afternoon."

The statement said that once all of the patients were evacuated, officials brought in guards to secure the hospital until the coroner could remove the bodies.

Officials have confirmed 279 deaths in Louisiana in the wake of the hurricane.

Meanwhile, authorities were considering launching a criminal investigation into the failure to evacuate St. Rita's Nursing Home in St. Bernard Parish.

Thirty-four residents died when the facility was flooded.

Repeated attempts by CNN to reach the nursing home's owners for comment have been unsuccessful. Authorities said they too have been unable to find them.

Other developments

The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told reporters Tuesday that the agency would focus on getting evacuees out of shelters and into more permanent homes. David Paulison, a 30-year veteran of fire and rescue work, was appointed Monday after Michael Brown resigned. (Watch Paulison discuss FEMA's plans)

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco lashed out at FEMA on Tuesday for what she said was a "lack of urgency and lack of respect" involving the recovery of bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims. Blanco said she ordered the state to sign a contract with Kenyon International Monday, after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff failed to live up to a promise to sign a contract with the organization.

Bush has been criticized for his leadership in the federal response to the disaster. According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Monday, a majority of those interviewed -- 54 percent -- said they disapproved of the president's handling of the crisis. (Full story)

White and black Americans view the federal response in starkly different ways, with more blacks viewing race as a factor, according to another CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey released Monday. (Full story)

The Department of Homeland security reportedly plans to send a team of about 30 investigators and auditors to the Gulf Coast to make sure that relief aid is spent properly, according to The Associated Press.

A limited number of cargo and commercial flights are scheduled to start flying into Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on Tuesday, the director of the agency that runs the airport said.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/13/kat...act/index.html

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Whoa..my head is reeling...he actually ADMITTED this???

Hmm...someone better check Hell - I think it may be freezing over!

He's desperate. Makes me wonder is Fitzgerald has a few surprises coming before his term expires.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Of course he has to say this and its true. But, watch Fox this evening and see them laud Pres. Bush and then slam Blanco for failing to admit her fault, which was there, though in far less severity than W's.

This will bring him back up to in the 40's.

Though I am loathe to say it - well done W.

Apparently Rove's recovered from his bout with kidney stones.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, Blanco committed several error that were avoidable. Her first error was not knowing how to mobilize the requisite number of troops under her command despite FEMA's intervention. Blanco also seemd scared to make a decision instantly, which will bite her in the end. So, she most certainly has egg on her face - even that Newsweek article acknowledges that. But the point is, if she had said, a la Bush, mistakes were made at the state level and I take responsibility for those and we are going to make sure they are never made again, then W's alleged epiphany would have had less prominence.

Give her time. She probably will. I mean, the woman is reeling from this.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Give her time. She probably will. I mean, the woman is reeling from this.

Oh I think she will, but W sort of sucker punched her. He was all about "now is not the time to place blame," etc. and then he takes some blame. But, look at how he words it very carefully "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility" (emphasis supplied)

While there were errors at the state and local levels, none of them really were as significant as FEMA turning away help after the storm past and then taking five days to get their own help to NOLA. I think this fact sadly will get lost in the media frenzy surrounding this new statement. I hope, however, that I am wrong and no one should take this as me thinking W/Rove is anything more than a calculating politician I despise.

[strandinthewind]

As if on cue:

Legislature to meet

Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE -- The state Legislature will meet Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a special meeting to get an update on the status of the state in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco will address a joint meeting of the House and Senate at 6:30 p.m.

A spokeswoman for the House of Representatives said the meeting will not be a lawmaking session and the Legislature cannot pass resolutions or take any legislative action. The meeting will not continue beyond Wednesday evening.

House and Senate leaders said they called the meeting under a provision of the state Constitution stating that the Legislature is a "continuous body" that can meet even when not in a lawmaking session. A press aide in the governor’s office said Blanco called the meeting.

The governor has the constitutional authority to convene an "emergency session" of the Legislature in the event of a public catastrophe, but Blanco has not declared such a session. Lawmakers and state officials are anticipating that the governor will call a special or emergency lawmaking session to deal with the storm’s impact on the state and its budget priorities.

Other Legislative and state financial meetings related to Hurricane Katrina are scheduled at the state Capitol. The Senate Local and Municipal Affairs Committee meets Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m., the Joint Insurance Committee and the State Bond Commission will meet separately Thursday at 10 a.m. The Louisiana Transportation Authority meets 2 p.m. Sept. 21 and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget meets 9:30 a.m. Sept. 23.

www.nola.com

[strandinthewind]

and another jab to the ribs by Blanco I guess Halliburton does not collect bodies

State hires company to recover bodies

By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE – An angry Gov. Kathleen Blanco Tuesday said the state has retained the services of the Kenyon Co. to help collect the dead victims from Hurricane Katrina because the federal emergency agency was not moving quickly enough to hire the firm.

“In death, as in life, our people deserve more respect and dignity,’’ [ and there it is folks - the jab to the ribs ] Blanco said at a meeting of statewide officials which was opened briefly to reporters.

Aides to Blanco did not say how long the company will be retained by the state or how much it will be paid.

The company and the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to come to terms on a contract to help collect and process the dead, so the state decided to hire the company, said Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher. The company is one of a handful with expertise in body-retrieval and processing and worked the World Trade Center disaster in New York City in the aftemath of terrorist attacks four years ago, and also helped collect and process bodies in the Asian sunami last year.

Blanco said she spoke to officials at FEMA and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about the lack of progress in signing a contract and recovering bodies.

“I expressed my frustration regarding the lack of urgency and lack of respect involing recovery of our people who . . .were lost’’ in Hurricane Katrina, she said. “No one seems to be able to break through the bureauracy to get this done . . . I am angry and outraged . . . We have pleaded for contract resolution.
“More than a week ago, Secretary Chertoff told me plans would be put in place for a system of ‘recovery with respect. . . .’

“The failure to execute a contract for the recovery of our citizens has hurt the speed of recovery efforts.’’

Blanco said while body-recovery is a FEMA responsibility, “I cannot stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately.’’ [ a jab and a right hook]

Blanco said she spoke to Kenyon officials and they told her Monday they were on the verge of leaving as soon as they could “professionally pull out’’ because FEMA and the company could not agree on a contract.

Bottcher said the state started negotiating a contract with Kenyon Monday and it was expected to be signed Tuesday.

Bottcher said that any contract that the state signs will probably have to be approved by FEMA and the federal agency will reimburse the state its contract expenses.

www.nola.com