2006 State of the Union Address

He was on vacation in Crawford, TX on August 28, 2005 (hounded by Cindy Sheehan and her bunch). Later we saw that he was fully briefed about the potential of Katrina when DHS video conference tapes were released. We also saw him misinformed by Governor Blanco on the state of the levees as the storm was passing.

On the 29th, with the disaster in progress he went to a California senior's center to discuss Medicare and stopped off in Phoenix to celebrate John McCain's birthday. On his way back to D.C. he flew over New Orleans in Air Force 1. But Nagin said that wasn't enough. Even Johnson had visited in person the day after Betsy and he had lost Louisiana to Goldwater. Bush had won Louisiana by 19% in 2004.

On September 1st he told Good Morning America "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."  Chertoff agreed. Video tapes later showed he had been briefed on August 28th that the levees were likely to be topped and the city flooded. Why he made this comment is curious and an answer may explain why help was delayed and confused. He seems to focus on the word "breach" vs "topped," I think the operative word is "flooded." Something odd was going on with the information flow and we may never know exactly what happened, although now that Andy Card is no longer Chief of Staff, he may be inclined to let us know (nah).

He visited Mobile on 9/2 and said "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." Apparently he was wrong because Brown was out of a job within a week and has become the butt of many a disparaging remark. Brown's attempts to fight back in 2006 Congressional testimony and press interviews exposed a dysfunctional relationship between FEMA and DHS. Secy. Chertoff has done little to dispel that notion.

On 9/13 he said "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."  He commissioned Elizabeth Townsend to develop a Lessons Learned report. It was published in February 2006 and includes 115 specific recommendations.

And now another branch of the federal government has acknowledged more errors. Lt. Gen. Strock (three stars) of the US Army Corps of Engineers says they made a mistake. They built the levees wrong, they knew they were wrong, they did it anyway, and the levees broke.

President Bush gave a speech from Jackson Square on 9/15 saying "And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know: There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again. "  (stirring stuff eh? for the full text click below).

He appointed a Czar. (I thought we didn't really like the Russians, yet. Or was that the French that we didn't like, or the Iranians, or some of the Koreans. No, it's the Mexicans when they cross the border. Or maybe Charles and Camilla. Bill Gates?  It is confusing sometimes.) At first it was to be Karl Rove, but five weeks later he named Donald Powell. He made numerous trips to the area but has stayed pretty much out of sight since appointing Donald Powell.

He resurfaced in January 2006 and nixed the Baker Plan (HR-4100) suggesting that the CDBG grants should be used instead and that $85 billion was a lot of money for "that part of the world." People really jumped on this choice of words, but he has used it frequently in the past with generally favorable intent. (See his Jan 12 comments in Mississippi)

[I picked this image of the president from his 2006 State of the Union Address. Note Cheney and Dennis Hastert (then Speaker of the House) and recall that Hastert suggested "It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," on 9/1/5. He was probably right (from what he saw on TV) but reason prevailed and his staffers tried to re spin the remark later. There is little doubt in my mind that eventually we will bulldoze everything he saw and more!]

When people take responsibility for doing something wrong there are usually consequences. Can President Bush take responsibility without consequences, except those borne by the people of New Orleans. Very much to his credit he has stuck with the city. He has continued to be publicly supportive in the face of some very intense and personal criticism. But his support is not bearing results. Congressional and bureaucratic processes under Republican leadership have created barriers to recovery. Lots of money has been allocated (and publicized) little has been spent and that which has been spent has been largely wasted by federal authorities.

If President Bush takes responsibility for that act of the federal government then he might just consider that it is also his responsibility to fix what he broke. But technically the errors of the Corps are not part of the "response capability" they were part of the "preparation" and they are exempt from prosecution so they may not qualify as being President Bush's responsibility.