Bush and Katrina: Dinosaur media blows story again
Surprise! The recent Bush-Katrina scandal appears to be yet another cooked-up story with wrongly-reported facts perpetrated by the dinosaur media. If you will remember, the talking points for the media and Democrats is that President Bush, Michael Brown, and other FEMA officials met during Hurricane Katrina and that Bush was indiffent to the possibilities of the levees overtopping or breaching (two different things, by the way, but not germaine to this discussion). The Associated Press reports:
Bush declared four days after the storm, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees” that gushed deadly floodwaters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility — and Bush was worried too.
Polipundit, Instapundit, and Captain Ed have all noted that a video obtained by Associated Press shows that Louisiana Governor Blanco was mistakingly assuring Bush and FEMA that the levees were intact while the storm was raging.
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.
It looks like if Bush made a mistake, it was only in trusting Governor Blanco. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the media to get the story right.
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