On CNN.com right now
Crossposted at My Left Wing
I had to do a screen capture of this headline, on CNN.com. I *almost* couldn't believe my eyes, and I thought that if I navigated away from the page without saving the headline, it would disappear and I'd be left with no evidence that I'd ever seen such a thing. It reads, BREAKING NEWS President Bush says he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. Details soon.
What we have here is strategery in action, folks.
UPDATE: Here come the weasel words... (emphasis mine)
"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Bush said he wants to know what went right and what went wrong so that he can determine whether the United States was prepared for another storm, or an attack.
"I'm not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend the people who are on the front line of saving lives," Bush said.
Earlier in the day, the White House announced the president will address the nation Thursday night about recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: On Kos, by georgia10
Bush: "I Take Responsibility" for Poor Response (links to a video about the federal response)
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Also on CNN, we have this headline:
Rice: Disaster shows 'ugly way' race, poverty collide
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the people who were stranded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are evidence that race and poverty can still come together "in a very ugly way" in parts of the "Old South."
Okay, so it's just the *Old* South that has a problem. Whew--we *don't* need to confront any painful issues about race after all, (contrary to what Howard Dean has claimed.) No, it's only those backwards folks in the "Old South" who have a problem. Well, that's a relief--that "I'm okay, it's all *your* fault!" approach always goes down a lot easier.
Will he be defending the law enforcement officials on the Pontchartrain Bridge that were willing to wield weapons and fire shots toward a crowd of survivors trying to flee the devastation of Katrina?
ReplyDeleteThe same law enforcement officials who 'blew down' the transient camp beneath the bridge where survivors had taken temporary refuge after being denied rescue?
So, how does this thing play out? What happens next, and how do we respond? If it's a trap of some sort, how do we avoid falling into it?
ReplyDeleteThis is nothing but a big head fake: Bush will sound like he's taking responsibility but he really won't be. Made ya' look.
ReplyDeleteMy head hurts, lol.
Good post, Renee. I think any "big head fake" now is way too little, too late. The so-called MSM has turned on him, and they won't be turning back. How about this one, from a columnist who has been a Bush apologist up to now.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050911/2071908.asp
[snip) Everyone seems to have failed to varying degrees, including President Bush for this simple reason: He is the commander in chief and this was a national disaster. No, he didn't cause the hurricane. Nor, by the way, did God in retribution against sin, or gays, or corruption - or whatever story the end-time gang is advancing this week.
But Bush did fail to act swiftly and unequivocally. When he did act, at least initially, it was without authority, without competence and - never more important - without apparent empathy. You do not have to let a tear drip while the cameras are rolling to convincingly communicate empathy. But you do have to choose your words carefully in order to convey emotions appropriate to the moment.
To wit: You do not talk about Trent Lott's lost house and his beloved front porch when thousands are rotting in a stinking incubator without food, water, medicine, air or bathroom facilities.
Here's what you do, and what Bush should have done. You kick a--. As commander in chief, Bush should have helicoptered into New Orleans, parked himself next to the Superdome and started ordering his generals to get the job done.
Instead, he came too late to the disaster and caused even supporters to cringe with every ill-chosen word. He lost not only the politician's fantasy photo op, but he let slip the rarest of opportunities - that of saving human life and the nation's pride. By his performance in this time of extreme stress, Bush may have revealed a truer self than we were meant to see.
I knew it--the whole thing is a head fake. Here's Josh Marshall of TalkingPointsMemo.com:
ReplyDeleteGive the president his due. His statement -- the full transcript of which we've published below -- is couched in an attempt to minimize the role of federal mismanagement in the Katrina disaster. And in the second paragraph of the response his speechwriters appear to be setting up a new line of attack -- that those who criticize the federal response are in fact criticizing the first responders on the scene. But many of us have been pointing out for more than four years President Bush's refusal to take responsibility for anything that has happened on his watch as president. So kudos for the first.
But responsibility means accountability, not just words but deeds. And that means no cover-up.
The president says he wants to know what went wrong. The public has a right to know, since their immediate safety from natural disasters and terrorist attacks is at stake. And that means an independent commission to investigate what went wrong and why.
Ethics, logic and an elementary grasp of human nature say that the person responsible for the failures can't be the person investigating them. Same goes for a commission controlled by that person's political supporters. Can anyone argue with that?
Which Democrat, building on what the president said today, will get in front of a microphone and say it? (Psst, Howard)
No cover-ups, no cronyism.
Todd Gitlin over at TPM Cafe has some good analysis of what Bush said.
ReplyDeleteResponsibility