Bush: "I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff."

[Dinner]

Taking a new look at e-mails from the White House and FEMA the day of Katrina proves that not only did the administration know Katrina was far worse then they'd previously admited and that they knew about far sooner then they'd previously admited but now we find out that the very day of Katrina before the main stream media was even showing pictures of bodies floating in New Orleans the President was personally ordering Brown to e made a scape goat. I never expected Bush to show any personal integrity but this is just so blatant I wonder how anyone can continue to support him. What a fraud.

Katrina: The 'Scapegoat'
Newsweek

March 27, 2006 issue - The Bush administration maintains top officials were unaware until the next day, but e-mails show that by the late evening of Aug. 29, some policymakers were told the damage to New Orleans might be worse than depicted on TV.In an e-mail to Homeland Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson at 11:05 p.m., Patrick Rhode, a top aide to FEMA chief Michael Brown, reported that a FEMA official in New Orleans had described a 200-yard levee breach near Lake Pontchartrain, that people were being rescued from housetops, that there were "unconfirmed random body sightings" and that 60 percent of the city seemed flooded. Earlier, in an e-mail to Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff's chief and deputy chief of staff, Brian Besanceney, Chertoff's top media adviser, warned that "unconfirmed" reports from New Orleans "are far more serious than media reports are currently reflecting." Still, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke insisted to NEWSWEEK his department was receiving "conflicting information." And in the continuing feud between administration supporters and the former FEMA chief, Brown's lawyer accused House GOPers and the White House of making Brown the "designated scapegoat." Brown's lawyer claimed Brown was told that at a Sept. 6 cabinet meeting, President Bush, after being informed the press was attacking Brown, said: "I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff." The White House had no comment.

Story by Newsweek. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11902206/site/newsweek

[Guynemer]

Why do you hate America, Oerdin?

[Pekka]

This is interesting stuff, this is the real political power. I don't mean Dubya and the mistakes, I mean that earlier suggestion or accusation of a person failing, if done strongly, or suggested strongly, carries to the very end, even when their names are cleared.

If you would ask from everyone in say.. 10 years, and this was all forgotten now, who would they think was the faulty one.. they'd remember the first 'facts', not the corrected ones.

[JohnT]

then they'd previously admited but now we find out that the very day of Katrina before the main stream media was even showing pictures of bodies floating in New Orleans the President was personally ordering Brown to e made a scape goat.

Again, your Bush bashing knows no bounds. Did you not even read the article you quoted?

but e-mails show that by the late evening of Aug. 29, some policymakers were told the damage to New Orleans might be worse than depicted on TV

Katrina happened on the 29th-30th of August.

Brown's lawyer claimed Brown was told that at a Sept. 6 cabinet meeting, President Bush, after being informed the press was attacking Brown, said: "I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff."

September 6th is a week after August 30th.

Yeah, that was "At the same time". And that SURE sounded like an direct order! Given to the media itself, it seems!



However, let's not forget: Being human, all of us, we all understand the relief when somebody else gets yelled at.

[SlowwHand]

It doesn't matter to some. They have built up toe jam, and it's Bush's fault.

[Mercator]

Homeland Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson

[Berzerker]

the very day of Katrina before the main stream media was even showing pictures of bodies floating in New Orleans the President was personally ordering Brown to e made a scape goat.

but e-mails show that by the late evening of Aug. 29, some policymakers were told the damage to New Orleans might be worse than depicted on TV

John, whats the problem? The media wasnt showing the real damage/dead bodies until sunlight the next day. Why is it illogical for Bush to decide on a scapegoat before the images hit the nation? Hell, he probably had a scapegoat in mind before the cane hit just in case he needed one. When has Bush ever taken responsibility for anything bad?

Given that, Bush is only responsible for the federal "reaction", the blame for the flooding and death toll lies squarely at the feet of the Governor and Mayor and their parasitic minions who've diverted funds away from flood protection for years and were apparently awol evacuating people.

[Dauphin]

The politics is simple, blame everyone and the result is no-one takes the blame.

[JohnT]

Where are Oerdin's interpretations supported by the article he cited, an article so revealing that he felt it had to be taken special note of?

"Probably" just doesn't cut it. He claims that Bush ordered Brown a scapegoat prior to the media coverage (and subsequent condemnation), and then supports that claim by offering a Bush quote dated a week after Katrina, one that was not an "order" and was, in fact, nothing more than an admission of "better him than me".

Callous? Yes, probably.
An "order"? No.
"Prior to Katrina"? No.

Dauphin has it right - it's just a blame game so that nobody really gets blamed.

[Wernazuma III]

Originally posted by Pekka
If you would ask from everyone in say.. 10 years, and this was all forgotten now, who would they think was the faulty one.. they'd remember the first 'facts', not the corrected ones.

Presidential elections 2000?

[Berzerker]

Where are Oerdin's interpretations supported by the article he cited, an article so revealing that he felt it had to be taken special note of?

"Better him than me" suggests a motive (and the mentality) to scapegoat, but I'd agree it isn't proof. Would a pattern of scapegoating help? Sure, people are people and passing the buck is as old as the Garden of Eden, but Bush is supposed to be a Christian, not a slimy politician

[JohnT]

A search for a pattern of scapegoating, honestly applied, would reveal that tendency in almost all of us. I'm asking about the order from Bush.

[Dinner]

Bah, if you don't see it then it's because you don't want to. It's there clear as day; Bush wanted a scape goat.

[Berzerker]

A search for a pattern of scapegoating, honestly applied, would reveal that tendency in almost all of us. I'm asking about the order from Bush.

There is the widespread practice of passing the buck, but scapegoating is more than that and not as common. The intel community was scapegoated when in reality the Bushies were cherrypicking intel or just making stuff up. It seems quite clear who Bush was blaming, Cheney went down to NO and Brownie left FEMA. Maybe he deserved it, but from what I've heard, FEMA has been going downhill with mass retirements and low morale because of policy changes under Bush.

[-Jrabbit]

Meanwhile, another hurricane season approaches and New Orleans is still without significant improvements to its levee system...