Some Lies That I Have Heard of Late

On the Response of FEMA:

"You’re doing a heck of a job." President Bush to FEMA director Michael Brown Friday, September 02, 2005

"We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. … Whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chainsawed off and we’ve got to start with some new leadership. It’s not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now." Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard On Meet The Press With Tim Russert (Hit this Hyperlink, and watch him break down and Cry.)

"Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially." New Orleans Times Picayune, September 4, 2005

On the Breaching of the Levees:

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," President Bush to Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America September 1, 2005

"Another scenario is that some part of the levee would fail," Suhayda said. "It's not something that's expected. But erosion occurs, and as levees broke, the break will get wider and wider. The water will flow through the city and stop only when it reaches the next higher thing. The most continuous barrier is the south levee, along the river. That's 25 feet high, so you'll see the water pile up on the river levee." Joseph Suhayda Louisiana State University engineer who was studying ways to limit hurricane damage in the New Orleans area. Times Picayune June 24, 2002

On The Bush Abomination's Concern of the Potential Flooding of New Orleans:

"Flood control has been a priority of this administration from day one." Scott McClellan, White House Press Briefing, September 1,2005

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget (from flood control) to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.

"One time I took two pieces of steel into Mitch Daniels' office," Parker recalled. "They were exactly the same pieces of steel, except one had been under water in a Mississippi lock for 30 years, and the other was new. The first piece was completely corroded and falling apart because of a lack of funding. I said, 'Mitch, it doesn't matter if a terrorist blows the lock up or if it falls down because it disintegrates -- either way it's the same effect, and if we let it fall down, we have only ourselves to blame.' It made no impact on him whatsoever." Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, speaking to Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, A Bush Abomination post (Parker was later fired for not supporting the cuts)

On the Death Toll and Why People Stayed Behind in New Orleans:

“Unfortunately that’s (the high death toll is) going to be attributable to a lot of people who did not heed the warnings. I don’t make judgements about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.” Michael Brown , FEMA Director on CNN September, 1 2005

"Once it’s certain a major storm is about to hit, evacuation offers the best chance for survival. But for those who wait, getting out will become nearly impossible as the few routes out of town grow hopelessly clogged. And 100,000 people without transportation will be especially threatened." Times Picayune June 24, 2002

On Why The Federal Aid Took So Long to Materialize:

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said Washington Post September 4, 2005

Correction to This Article A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26. Washinton Post September 5, 2005