|
Killa4luv
Posts: 27769
Alba Posts: 51
Joined: 6/23/2002
Member: #261
USA
|
This is downright disturbing.
http://www.guerrillanews.com/articles/1663/System_Failure
Timeline shows the depths of callousness Bush & Co. displayed after Katrina hit
For further proof of what a sorry, callous, ****ty response the Bush administration made to Hurricane Katrina, check the following timeline.
Bush & Co. were warned days in advance, and still Bush stayed on his five-week vacation and focused on ignoring the wishes of a mother of a soldier who died in Iraq to meet him.
The day after the hurricane hit, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving thousands more stranded and in danger of dying, Bush spoke about immigration with his Department of Homeland Security director and at a public forum in Arizona, did a birthday cake photo op, and attended at least one political fund-raiser on the West Coast, more than a thousand miles from the Gulf Coast. The next day, Bush tried to play guitar with a country singer as more people in New Orleans died.
Bush didn’t even call for a task force to work on the federal response to the disaster until a full two days after the hurricane hit. In his first major address on the crisis three days after Katrina hit, Bush “seemed casual to the point of carelessness” and did not seem to understand the depth of the problem, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, Bush administration officials like Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice spent the days after the hurricane hit going shopping in New York for shoes that cost several thousand dollars and seeing a Broadway show and the U.S. Open. Vice President Dick Cheney was missing in action and believed to be finalizing the purchase of a $2.9 million mansion in Maryland. And Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld took in a San Diego Padres baseball game.
Five days after the hurricane hit, when the criticism of Bush’s response to Katrina even reached the inner sanctum of the White House, Bush unleashed his campaign hatchet nazi Karl Rove to try to blame the slow response on Louisiana officials. Bush claimed no one knew the levees would break, despite reports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New Orleans for years that would occur. In 2002, Bush’s head of the Army Corps even resigned in frustration partly due to Bush’s budget cuts for flood control.
The message to this story? If you are hit by a major disaster and clinging to your life as floodwaters threaten to drown you in your home, don’t expect any help from the Bush administration. Bush & Co. are too busy going on vacation, attending sporting events, shopping for expensive shoes and homes and trying to hide from the mother of a son killed in a war they started to further their dreams of empire.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
KATRINA, A LEVEL ONE HURRICANE, HITS SOUTHERN FLORIDA, GENERATING HEAVY FLOODING AND KILLING AT LEAST SEVEN [from The Associated Press].
Friday, August 26
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA AS KATRINA PICKS UP SIGNIFICANT SPEED AS IT HEADS TOWARDS THAT STATE: [Office of the Governor].
GULF COAST STATES REQUEST TROOP ASSISTANCE FROM PENTAGON: At a Sept. 1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander of the Katrina Joint Task Force, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, Aug. 26 [DOD].
Saturday, August 27
5 a.m. — KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE: [CNN].
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments, and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster [Office of the Governor].”
FEDERAL EMERGENCY DECLARED, DHS AND FEMA GIVEN FULL AUTHORITY TO RESPOND TO KATRINA: “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency [White House].”
Sunday, August 28
2 a.m. – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE: [CNN].
7 a.m. – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE: [CNN].
LOUISIANA NEWSPAPER SIGNALS LEVEES MAY GIVE: “Forecasters feared Sunday afternoon
that storm driven waters will lap over the New Orleans levees when monster Hurricane Katrina pushes past the Crescent City tomorrow [Lafayette Daily Advertiser].”
9:30 a.m. — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES FIRST-EVER MANDATORY EVACUATION OF NEW ORLEANS, A CITY WITH ABOUT 500,000 RESIDENTS: “We’re facing the storm most of us have feared,” said Nagin. “This is going to be an unprecedented event [Times-Picayune].”
4 p.m. – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES SPECIAL HURRICANE WARNING: In the event of a category 4 or 5 hit, “most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer. … At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed. …Power outages will last for weeks. … Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards [National Weather Service].”
AFTERNOON — BUSH, FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY CHERTOFF WARNED OF LEVEE FAILURE BY NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR: Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center said, “We were briefing them way before landfall. … It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped [Times-Picayune; St. Petersburg Times].”
LATE EVENING – REPORTS OF WATER TOPPLING OVER LEVEE: “Waves crashed atop the exercise path on the Lake Pontchartrain levee in Kenner early Monday as Katrina churned closer [Times-Picayune].”
APPROXIMATELY 30,000 EVACUEES GATHER AT SUPERDOME WITH ROUGHLY 36 HOURS WORTH OF FOOD: [Times-Picayune].
Monday, August 29
5 a.m. – KATRINA ROARS INTO LOUISIANA WITH WINDS UP TO 150 MPH. IT PASSES INTO MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA: [CNN].
8 a.m. – MAYOR NAGIN REPORTS THAT WATER IS FLOWING OVER LEVEE: “I’ve gotten reports this morning that there is already water coming over some of the levee systems. In the lower ninth ward, we’ve had one of our pumping stations to stop operating, so we will have significant flooding, it is just a matter of how much. [NBC’s Today Show].”
MORNING — BUSH CALLS SECRETARY CHERTOFF TO DISCUSS NOT KATRINA, BUT IMMIGRATION: “I spoke to Mike Chertoff today — he’s the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue [immigration], so we got us an airplane on — a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, ‘Are you working with the governor?’ He said, ‘You bet we are [White House].’”
MORNING – BUSH SHARES BIRTHDAY CAKE PHOTO-OP WITH SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: [White House].
11 a.m. — BUSH VISITS ARIZONA RESORT TO PROMOTE MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “This new bill I signed says, if you’re a senior and you like the way things are today, you’re in good shape, don’t change [White House].”
LATE MORNING – LEVEE BREACHED: “A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new ‘hurricane proof’ Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina’s fiercest winds were well north [Times-Picayune].”
FEMA PUTS OUT A NEWS RELEASE LISTING THE PRO-ASSASSINATION REV. PAT ROBERTSON’S OPERATION BLESSING AS ONE OF THE TOP ORGANIZATIONS TO WHICH TO GIVE CASH DONATIONS FOR KATRINA VICTIMS: “It’s important that volunteer response is coordinated by the professionals who can direct volunteers with the appropriate skills to the hardest-hit areas where they are needed most,” said Brown. …. Here is a list of phone numbers set up solely for cash donations and/or volunteers. Donate cash to: American Red Cross, America’s Second Harvest, Humane Society of the United States, Operation Blessing…[FEMA news release].”
11:30 a.m. — MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE: “Brown’s memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ‘this near catastrophic event’ but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ‘Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities [AP].’”
2 p.m. — BUSH TRAVELS TO CALIFORNIA SENIOR CENTER TO DISCUSS MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “We’ve got some folks up here who are concerned about their Social Security or Medicare [White House].”
9 p.m. — RUMSFELD ATTENDS SAN DIEGO PADRES BASEBALL GAME: Rumsfeld “joined Padres President John Moores in the owner’s box…at Petco Park [Editor & Publisher].”
BUSH ATTENDS REPUBLICAN FUND-RAISER IN SAN DIEGO: [Associated Press].
Tuesday, August 30
9 a.m. – BUSH ADMITS IRAQ INVASION RELATES TO OIL AT NAVAL BASE IN CALIFORNIA: “President Bush on Tuesday answered growing anti-war protests with a fresh reason for American troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country’s vast oil fields that he said would otherwise fall into the control of terrorist extremists [Associated Press].”
MIDDAY – CHERTOFF FINALLY BECOMES AWARE THAT LEVEE HAS FAILED: “It was on Tuesday that the levee – may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday – that the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city [Meet the Press, Sept. 4, 2005].”
PENTAGON CLAIMS THERE ARE ENOUGH NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS IN REGION: “Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs [WWL-TV].”
MASS LOOTING REPORTED, SECURITY SHORTAGE CITED: “The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked,” Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. “We’re using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people on rooftops [Associated Press].”
U.S.S. BATAAN SITS OFF SHORE, VIRTUALLY UNUSED: “The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore. The Bataan rode out the storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents. But now the Bataan’s hospital facilities, including six operating rooms and beds for 600 patients, are empty [Chicago Tribune].”
3 p.m. – BUSH TRIES TO PLAY GUITAR WITH COUNTRY SINGER MARK WILLIS: In the photo, Willis looks like he’s trying to take the guitar back before Bush hurts himself [AP].
EVENING – BUSH RETURNS TO TEXAS FOR FINAL NIGHT OF VACATION BEFORE FLYING TO HIS OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY: [AP].
Wednesday, August 31
TENS OF THOUSANDS TRAPPED IN SUPERDOME; CONDITIONS DETERIORATE: “A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. ‘We pee on the floor. We are like animals,’ said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. … By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. … At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. There is no sanitation. The stench is overwhelming [The Los Angeles Times].’”
BUSH FINALLY ORGANIZES TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE FEDERAL RESPONSE: Bush flies to Washington to “begin work…with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort [“Th New York Times_].”
JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGENCY DIRECTOR SAYS FOOD AND WATER SUPPLY GONE: “Director Walter Maestri: FEMA and national agencies not delivering the help nearly as fast as it is needed [WWL-TV].”
80,000 BELIEVED STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS: Former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy “estimated 80,000 were trapped in the flooded city and urged President Bush to send more troops [Reuters].”
3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER: “With 3,000 or more evacuees stranded at the convention center — and with no apparent contingency plan or authority to deal with them — collecting a body was no one’s priority. … Some had been at the convention center since Tuesday morning but had received no food, water or instructions [Times-Picayune].”
5 p.m. — BUSH GIVES FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS ON KATRINA: “Nothing about the president’s demeanor… — which seemed casual to the point of carelessness — suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis [The New York Times].”
8 p.m. – CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES IN A BROADWAY SHOW: “On Wednesday night, Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at Spamalot!, the Monty Python musical, at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the performance [New York Post].”
9 p.m. — FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM: “I must say, this storm is much, much bigger than anyone expected [CNN].”
CHENEY REMAINS ON VACATION IN WYOMING: The vice president has not said a word publicly about Katrina as he remained on vacation all week in Wyoming. Reports showed that Cheney was also finalizing the purchase of a $2.9 million mansion in Maryland near Rumsfeld’s mansion. The nine-acre estate includes “ornamental pools and extensive gardens,” according to news reports. Cheney was not even expected to visit the Gulf Coast until Sept. 8 [Salon].
Thursday, September 1
8AM — BUSH CLAIMS NO ONE EXPECTED LEVEES TO BREAK: “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” That was despite warnings for years from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the levees could break [Washington Post].
CONDOLEEZZA RICE VISITS U.S. OPEN: “Rice, [in New York] on three days’ vacation to shop and see the U.S. Open, hitting some balls with retired champ Monica Seles at the Indoor Tennis Club at Grand
Central [New York Post].”
STILL NO COMMAND AND CONTROL ESTABLISHED: Terry Ebbert, New Orleans Homeland Security Director: “This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans [Fox News].”
2 p.m. — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES “DESPERATE SOS” TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: “This is a desperate SOS. Right now, we are out of resources at the convention center and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently, the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we’re running out of supplies [Guardian].”
MICHAEL BROWN CLAIMS NOT TO HAVE HEARD OF REPORTS OF VIOLENCE: “I’ve had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they’re banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I’ve had no reports of that [CNN].”
NEW ORLEANS DESCENDS INTO ‘ANARCHY:’ “Storm victims were raped and beaten, fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. ‘This is a desperate SOS,’ the mayor said [AP].”
CONDOLEEZZA RICE GOES SHOE SHOPPING: “Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes [we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan]. A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the secretary of state and reportedly shouted, ‘How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!’ Rice reportedly had the woman thrown out of the store by security [Manhattan Gawker].”
MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY LEARNS OF EVACUEES IN CONVENTION CENTER: “We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need [CNN].”
U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT [R-ILL.] HINTS AT NO FEDERAL MONEY TO REBUILD NEW ORLEANS: “It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that’s seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans [The Associated Press].”
Friday, September 2
MORNING – ROVE-LED CAMPAIGN TO BLAME LOCAL OFFICIALS BEGINS: “Under the command of President Bush’s two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan…to contain the political damage from the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.” Bush’s comments from the Rose Garden Friday morning formed “the start of this campaign [New York Times].”
9:35 a.m. — BUSH PRAISES MICHAEL BROWN: “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job [White House].”
10 a.m. — BUSH STAGES PHOTO-OP ‘BRIEFING:’ Coast Guard helicopters and crew diverted to act as backdrop for Bush’s photo-op.
BUSH VISIT DELAYS FOOD AID: “Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said [Times-Picayune].”
LEVEE REPAIR WORK ORCHESTRATED FOR BUSH’S VISIT: Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said, “Touring this critical site yesterday with the president, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment [Sen. Mary Landrieu].”
BUSH USES 50 FIREFIGHTERS AS PROPS IN DISASTER AREA PHOTO-OP: A group of 1,000 firefighters convened in Atlanta to volunteer with the Katrina relief efforts. Of those, “a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew’s first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas [Salt Lake Tribune; Reuters].”
3 p.m. — BUSH ‘SATISFIED’ WITH THE RESPONSE: “I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with all the results [AP].”
Saturday, September 3
EARLY MORNING – SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LIES TO WASHINGTON POST, CLAIMS GOV. BLANCO NEVER DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY: The Post reported in its Sunday edition, ‘As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.’ The White House was forced to issue a correction hours later [Washington Post].”
9 a.m. — BUSH SAYS HE DOESN’T WANT TO PLAY ‘BLAME GAME,’ THEN BLAMES STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS: ”[T]he magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need [White House].”
Sunday, September 4
10 a.m. – LOUISIANA OFFICIAL TELLS NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCE ABOUT STATE BEING ABANDONED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ELDERLY WOMAN WHO DROWNED WAITING FOR HELP FOR FIVE DAYS: “Jefferson Parish, La., President Aaron Broussard told a heartbreaking story Sunday of a woman who pleaded for help, but drowned before it came…..On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday morning, Broussard complained bitterly about the slow federal response to the New Orleans flood, demanding investigations and resignations. ‘We have been abandoned by our own country,’ Broussard said. ‘Whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off, and we’ve got to start with some new leadership.’…Then the parish president put the tragedy on a personal level. He said the man who runs the building where he is based spoke every day last week to his mother, who was trapped in a nursing home in St. Bernard, near the city. ‘Every day she called him and said, `Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?’ And he said, `Yeah, Mama, somebody’s coming to get you. Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday.’ Breaking into sobs, Broussard said, ‘And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night [The Dallas Morning News].’”
Monday, September 5
MIDDAY – BUSH PAL TEXAS GOVERNOR CLOSES BORDER TO LOUISIANA VICTIMS: Texas Gov. Rick “Goodhair” Perry, the Republican lieutenant governor under Bush, “declared that his state was full and could take no more….Perry said that some evacuees will be moved to other facilities in Texas, while others will be flown out of state from Houston and Dallas. It was unclear how officials would decide which evacuees would be sent elsewhere, or how much choice they would have in where they might be going [Washington Post].”
GNN contributor Jackson Thoreau is a Washington, D.C.-area journalist/writer. The latest book to which he contributed, Big Bush Lies, was published by RiverWood Books of Ashland, Ore. He is working on another book called Thou Shalt Not Cheat: How Bush and Rove Broke the Rules, From the Sandlot to the White House. He can be contacted at jacksonthor@gmail.com. This article timeline originally appeared on Opednews.com.
[Edited by - Killa4luv on 09-11-2005 11:36 PM]
|
9/12/2005 8:25 PM