Bush’s view of Katrina response

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Just before he hands off the presidency to Barack Obama, President Bush is being criticized for comments he made today about the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

According to a story by The Associated Press, Bush admitted that some things could have been done differently. But he also said, “Don’t tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed.”

Not surprisingly, the Internet has been flooded with reaction to Bush’s remarks.

“The federal response to Katrina was nothing short of a disaster,” according to a posting on www.alternet.org, which also features YouTube video of Bush’s remarks.

Here’s more from that posting:

There is no question that the federal response was slow — deadly slow. Katrina made landfall on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005, and the New Orleans levees were breached that morning. Despite the numerous warnings he had received about the storm’s severity, Bush spent that Monday traveling to Arizona and California to promote his Medicare drug bill.

The swift reaction to Bush’s analysis is not limited to the Internet. Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who was in office when Katrina hit, had this to say, according to an AP story:

“President Bush is totally wrong about the federal response,” said Blanco, who did not seek re-election after her image was battered following the state’s response to both hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “I think eventually we were able to get resources, and I’d have to say it was an excruciating effort on my part,” Blanco said. “We had to jump through hoops to get that kind of support from the administration. In the end, we finally did.”

Bush said he has “thought long and hard about Katrina: Could I have done something differently, like Land Air Force One either in New Orleans or Baton Rouge?”

The problem with that, he said, is “law enforcement would have been pulled away from the mission.”

“Has the reconstruction been perfect? No,” Bush said. “Have things happened fairly quickly? Absolutely.”

But more work needs to be done, he said.•

Visit to N.O. could be Bush’s last

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

President Bush visits New Orleans today, nine days before the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, whose devastation can still be seen across the New Orleans area.

It is likely to be Bush’s last visit to New Orleans, with the end of his final term in office around the corner; a new president moves into the White House in January.

Bush was scheduled to speak at Jackson Barracks at 2:20 p.m. He then heads to Gulfport, Miss., for dinner, and then it’s off to his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

Perhaps Bush’s most famous post-Katrina visit was when he gave his famous “what it takes” speech in Jackson Square on Sept. 15, 2005, just a handful of weeks after Katrina smashed into the Gulf Coast.

“To every person who has served and sacrificed in this emergency, I offer the gratitude of our country,” Bush said during that nighttime speech. “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.”

As Bush’s final term winds down, did he leave up to his Jackson Square pledge? Did he visit New Orleans enough? Did he do “what it takes”?•

Bush gets his groove on in N.O.

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

While in New Orleans this week for a summit, President Bush was captured dancing in the Crescent City.

Check it out by clicking here.

Can Nagin prevent a ‘great displacement’?

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

 

Mayor C. Ray Nagin is worried that FEMA’s plans to move people from formaldehyde-filled trailers to apartments and hotels will result in a “second great displacement.”

 

Nagin, in a letter sent Friday to President Bush, said there is not enough housing in New Orleans for those who will move out of trailers, and, therefore, “current trailer residents will be moved from New Orleans to apartment and hotels elsewhere in the Gulf Coast region.”

 

While the mayor is concerned about another displacement,” he points out that he is also concerned about the health risks associated with living in the toxic trailers.

 

So, to prevent the relocation of trailer occupants to other cities, Nagin made suggestions to President Bush. One Nagin suggestion is that FEMA “must facilitate expedited Road Home check processing.” Nagin also suggests using already approved federal Disaster Relief Funds to rehabilitate storm-damaged homes and construct units on lots acquired by the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to provide transitional housing to former renters.

 

The question now is whether Nagin’s letter will have impact. What is the relationship like between Bush, a Republican, and Nagin, a Democrat?

 

Secondly, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the state already oversee The Road Home’s contractor, ICF International. FEMA does not have the best track record in this whole hurricane recovery thing. So, would it be a good thing to have FEMA step in to speed The Road Home along? Perhaps the opposite would happen –  The Road Home would be slowed down – if FEMA got involved.

 

What do you think?  

Bush didn’t leave out Gulf Coast this time

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

 

Last January, when President Bush gave his State of the Union address, he did not mention New Orleans or even the Gulf Coast, which had been hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita just less than two years before.

 

Bush’s failure to mention the plight of the Gulf Coast in that 2007 speech was met with criticism.

 

But when he gave his final State of the Union address last night, the president did not leave out the hurricane-ravaged region. Bush dedicated a paragraph of his address to the area.

 

“America honors the strength and resilience of the people of this region,” Bush said. “We reaffirm our pledge to help them build stronger and better than before. And tonight I’m pleased to announce that in April we will host this year’s North American Summit of Canada, Mexico and the United States in the great city of New Orleans.”

 

Were you happy with Bush’s comments about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast last night? Do you think he said enough, or were you wanting to hear more?

Doing whatever it takes … or not

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor 

President Bush sure has angered politicians on both sides of the aisle with his veto of water legislation that would fund projects across America and improve hurricane protection in the New Orleans area. 

What do you think of Bush’s veto? Did he not say in Jackson Square that he would do whatever it takes to rebuild New Orleans? 

According to The Associated Press, Bush objected to the $9 billion in projects added during negotiations on the measure between the House and Senate. Some members of Congress say they plan to seek an override. 

Was his veto justified?

‘Corrupt’ label doesn’t apply just to Louisiana

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Louisiana has tried to shed its corrupt image, especially since Hurricane Katrina.

Following Katrina, citizens led a movement to get rid of the archaic seven-assessor system in New Orleans.

Since Katrina, the Recovery School District has opened more than two dozen public schools in Orleans Parish. (RSD, operated by the Louisiana Department of Education, was created in 2005 to take over 102 failing public schools from the much-maligned Orleans Parish School Board.)

Also since the storm, New Orleans hired an inspector general to root out government corruption and waste.

True, we have a long way to go.

But it’s time for the rest of the nation to stop pretending Louisiana has cornered the market on corruption.

Today, for example, I came across a story by The Christian Science Monitor on how private dollars are leading the post-Katrina recovery in New Orleans.

The story refers to “famously corrupt southern Louisiana.”

This story ran on the same day that the Bush administration said it is not ruling out a pardon of former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted of a felony following the 2003 leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

I’m not saying that Bush is corrupt by reportedly considering a pardon. Rather, I bring up the Libby case to point out that stories of corruption investigations don’t flow exclusively from Louisiana.

In fact, Washington, D.C., has had its fair share of scandals in recent years. What about the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who was accused of illegal campaign funding activities? Then there’s former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who last year pleaded guilty to kickback and fraud charges.

What about former President Bill Clinton and his sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky?

Yes, Louisiana does claim former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who is serving time for racketeering charges.

But there have probably been more reports of corruption coming from Washington in recent years than from Louisiana. We’re not the only state with less-than-honorable politicians. Connecticut, Mississippi and New Jersey are also referred to as corrupt states. For that matter, show me a state that has never had a case of political corruption.

If Louisiana doesn’t watch out, its “famously corrupt” label” – to use The Christian Science Monitor’s description – might soon get stolen away by another state.

Transcripts don’t tell the whole story

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

I stand corrected.

Without seeing the video, reading the transcript from a Tuesday White House picnic made it seem that President Bush told New Orleans musician Kermit Ruffins to pick up the trash after the event.

But I’ve since seen the video, and my previous blog entry was misinformed.

Now that I’ve seen the video, it’s obvious the president was talking to the crowd.

I want to thank the person who sent me the video, which, by the way, was on the White House’s Web site. How did I not see it? I’ll admit my embarrassment.

But this experience presents a good lesson: Transcripts don’t tell the whole story. They can be ambiguous and open to interpretation – the wrong interpretation.

And yet transcripts are used a lot. Journalists use them, as do historians, to write articles and books about dialogue that they did not hear in person.

I’m not the only one who misinterpreted the transcript. The same conclusion was drawn by wonkette.com

Perhaps transcripts should indicate to whom people are speaking.

For example, if the Bush-Ruffins transcript had been written this way, I would not have misinterpreted it:

Bush (speaking to crowd): Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over.

I’ve already received lots of angry responses, and I’m sure more are on the way, perhaps as I’m typing this. I’ll get the typical “liberal media” remarks.

And, no, I will not print a retraction. This is a blog. It’s a place where opinions are posted. Retractions are for news stories.

But I will promise to not trust transcripts.

Pick up White House trash, Bush tells N.O. musician

(Editor’s note: Readers of this blog entry should also read a follow-up posting. Click here.)

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Imagine being a New Orleans musician invited to play at a White House picnic and being told by the president to pick up the trash.

Too crazy to be true, right?

Guess again.

Just ask New Orleans musician Kermit Ruffins, because that’s what happened to him.

Ruffins and his band, the Barbecue Swingers, performed at Tuesday at a congressional picnic. New Orleans’ chef Paul Prudhomme was there, too.

During the event, President Bush thanked Ruffins in front of everyone.

The following is from the official White House transcript:

Bush: Kermit, come up here. Kermit, we’re proud to have you. Ruffins: Well, thanks for having us.

Bush: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ruffins: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

Bush: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over. God bless you, and may God bless America. Thanks for coming.

I wasn’t at the event, and I haven’t heard audio or seen video from it. So, I don’t know what the president’s tone was, whether it clearly was a joke or not.

Still, even as a joke, it doesn’t seem to be an appropriate thing to say to New Orleans residents, who are already picking up a lot of trash created by the failure of federally built levees.