# Bush Admin & FEMA start shifting blame to locals - Crass ass covering or justified? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065 "2005-09-04T17:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/201 "2005-09-09T05:38:48Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > [Copy of Blanco’s letter formally requesting Federal help through FEMA. (.pdf file)](http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf) > > Even Wikipedia has already spoken: > [Ray Nagin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Nagin) > [Kathleen Blanco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Blanco) > > I still stand by the notion that the Mayor and the Governor started this trainwreck, and the Feds made sure that the trainwreck was a spectacular one. Except that both pages have included misinformation (which I believe the federal government is only too happy to allow stand uncorrected), namely this paragraph: > [@](#): > > FEMA, in a press release dated August 27, stated that President Bush authorized the allocation of federal resources, “following a review of FEMA’s analysis of the state’s request for federal assistance.” [5] A White House press release of the same date also acknowledges this authorization of aid by President Bush. [6] The truth of the matter is, that declaration by Bush was in response to Hurricane Cindy from 7 weeks before and had nothing whatsoever to do with Katrina. > [@](#): > > [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9148526/site/newsweek/page/2/](http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9148526/site/newsweek/page/2/) > > Then there’s the speed of the Bush administration’s response to such disasters. Just one week ago the White House declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana, specifically most of the areas (such as Jefferson Parish) that are now under water. Was the White House psychic about the disaster ahead? Not exactly. In fact the major disaster referred to Tropical Storm Cindy, which struck the state a full seven weeks earlier. That announcement triggered federal aid for the stricken areas, where the clean-up had been on hold for almost two months while the White House chewed things over. It’d be nice if someone would edit those pages to reflect the truth. I don’t trust myself to put it in an unbiased and non-bitter manner. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/202 "2005-09-09T06:14:42Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Except that both pages have included misinformation (which I believe the federal government is only too happy to allow stand uncorrected), namely this paragraph: The truth of the matter is, that declaration by Bush was in response to Hurricane Cindy from 7 weeks before and had nothing whatsoever to do with Katrina. It’d be nice if someone would edit those pages to reflect the truth. I don’t trust myself to put it in an unbiased and non-bitter manner. Do you have any other cites besides the OP ED piece that the declaration was for Cindy? > [@](#): > > August 27, 2005 > > \*\*Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana \*\* > > The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of \*\*Hurricane Katrina \*\* beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing. > [@](#): > > August 28, 2005 > > \*\*President Discusses Hurricane Katrina, Congratulates Iraqis on Draft Constitution \*\* > > THE PRESIDENT: This morning I spoke with FEMA Undersecretary Mike Brown and emergency management teams not only at the federal level but at the state level about the – \*Hurricane Katrina. \* I’ve also spoken to Governor Blanco of Louisiana, Governor Barbour of Mississippi, Governor Bush of Florida, and Governor Riley of Alabama. I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously. I appreciate the efforts of the governors to prepare their citizenry for this upcoming storm. > Yesterday, I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana, and this morning I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Mississippi. These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials. We will do everything in our power to help the people in the communities affected by this storm. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/203 "2005-09-09T06:15:48Z")
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/) linky ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/204 "2005-09-09T17:37:51Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Except that both pages have included misinformation (which I believe the federal government is only too happy to allow stand uncorrected), namely this paragraph: > . > . > . > The truth of the matter is, that declaration by Bush was in response to Hurricane Cindy from 7 weeks before and had nothing whatsoever to do with Katrina. It’d be nice if someone would edit those pages to reflect the truth. > . > . > . > I don’t trust myself to put it in an unbiased and non-bitter manner. [Times-Picayune article dated 8/2/05 regarding fed aid for TROPICAL STORM Cindy:](http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-10/112296620244810.xml) > [@](#): > > Gov. Kathleen Blanco has requested a presidential disaster declaration to make local governments eligible for federal money to help recover the \*\*$5.4 million \*\* cost of cleaning up and rebounding from **Tropical Storm Cindy** in **Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles, Plaquemines and Lafourche parishes**. …and from **AFAIKnow** ’s link (8/26/05): > [@](#): > > The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of **Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn**. Now please, but that dog to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/205 "2005-09-11T14:40:32Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I hate to break it to the defend-Bush-at-Any-Cost-For-Any-Reason gang, but his administration is multiply implicated in this scandal, and most of us can recognize that there are implications at multiple levels of government. When Bush chooses a failed horse-show director to head up disaster relief, he’s implicated. It’s the fault of the corruption in the local, state, **and federal** governments. > > Daniel Amigo, the state of Louisiana has known for decades that this was going to happen. There have been repeated studies of the levee system and the adverse affect of what was being done to the Mississippi delta, each of them pretty much predicting exactly what did happen. They were ignored and the corrupt local government entities diverted the funds to other things, primarily their own wallets. Louisiana has always had a “our government is more corrupt than your government” sort of perverse pride. And it is that corruption that is directly to blame for what happened in New Orleans. If they had spent the money on levee maintenance and improvement around the city like they were supposed to, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. You can’t hang this one on Bush. It rest squarely on the state of Louisiana. I will grant that the FEMA situation is unacceptable and it happened on Bush’s watch, but that is a totally different can of worms. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/206 "2005-09-11T14:43:58Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > John 11:35 > > Jesus wept. Then he wiped a sleeve across his cheeks and said, “Fuck this shit. I’ve had my fill.” Then he came down and started kicking the shit out of incompetent, lying scumbag political leaders and their brain-dead partisan defenders. > > If Hentor the Barbarian wrote the Bible. John 11:35 Jesus wept. Then he wiped a sleeve across his cheeks and said, “Fuck this shit. I’ve had my fill. If ye need to bellow bullshit, keep thy head tucked firmly up thy own hindquarters, so that the echo of thy bullshit fallest on thy ears only and not on the ears of others who are sick unto death of it.” If Clothahump (or any one of thousand of others) wrote the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/207 "2005-09-11T16:41:46Z")
A couple people have mentioned tha the levees were under the control of the federal government and that repairing them at a local or state level wasn’t possible because of jurisdictions. Does anyone have a cite for this? I’ve heard both sides argue over the levees (the Right\* saying that it’s LA’s and NO’s fault for not taking care of their own house and the Left\* saying it was a Federal job with a slashed budget) but, aside from showing that there was a budget, indeed cut, for the ACoE to work on the levees, I haven’t seen anything saying that NOLA or the state couldn’t have done so on their own accord. Just curious. Right/Left used for convience. I know it’s not solely a partisan issue. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/208 "2005-09-11T18:54:38Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > A couple people have mentioned tha the levees were under the control of the federal government and that repairing them at a local or state level wasn’t possible because of jurisdictions. Does anyone have a cite for this? Short answer: any intra-coastal or inter-coastal waterway, dam or retaining buttress, within public access or governmental dominion is under the direct overview of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. See [Guidance on Levee Certification For The National Flood Insurance Program](http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/functions/cw/cecwp/General_guidance/levee.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/209 "2005-09-11T19:54:25Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Of course, we can also reserve some contempt for any U.S. citizen who is so ignorant of the laws regarding waterways that he could make this incredibly stupid comment:When someone is forbidden, by law, from touching anything that resembles a dam or levee, it is the height of crass dumbness to blame them for following the law. Er…who said this? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/210 "2005-09-11T20:55:46Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > You can’t hang this one on Bush. It rest squarely on the state of Louisiana. I will grant that the FEMA situation is unacceptable and it happened on Bush’s watch, but that is a totally different can of worms. Ah, bullshit. [Apologize this one away, sweetie:](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007097.php) > [@](#): > > PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AT THE TONE…Time magazine does a decent job of explaining what went wrong at all levels in the aftermath of Katrina, but the paragraph that really struck me was this one, which describes Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco’s attempts to get help from Washington: > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\*From Time magazine:\*\*The day the storm hit, she asked President Bush for “everything you’ve got.” But almost nothing arrived, and she couldn’t wait any longer. **So she called the White House and demanded to speak to the President. George Bush could not be located, two Louisiana officials told Time, so she asked for chief of staff Andrew Card, who was also unavailable. Finally, after being passed to another office or two, she left a message with DHS adviser Frances Frago Townsend.** She waited hours but had to make another call herself before she finally got Bush on the line. “Help is on the way,” he told her. > > She had to leave a message? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/211 "2005-09-11T21:41:07Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > John 11:35 > > Jesus wept. Then he wiped a sleeve across his cheeks and said, “Fuck this shit. I’ve had my fill. If ye need to bellow bullshit, keep thy head tucked firmly up thy own hindquarters, so that the echo of thy bullshit fallest on thy ears only and not on the ears of others who are sick unto death of it.” > > If Clothahump (or any one of thousand of others) wrote the Bible. John 11:35 Jesus belched, farted, and asked “Who? Me?” If a swine wrote the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/212 "2005-09-11T22:12:07Z")
Acts 3:35 "And verily did the Lord say, ‘He who smelled it, hath dealt it.’ ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/213 "2005-09-11T23:12:21Z")
Who’s in the shit? We all are. The levees could have been built larger and stronger, but who wanted to spend the necessary $? After every disastrous fire, people gnash their teeth and say that such-and-such an ordinance should have been passed regarding sprinklers, smoke detectors, a fireman in a fucking closet, etc. but when folks have to _pay_ for this shit, people’s wallets slam shut like a turtle’s asshole. Have we known that NO would be fucked twelve ways for Tuesday if a major hurricane hit? You bet. Did the locals and the state and the feds want to spend money for preventive action on a statistically unlikely occurrence? No. Collectively, we played a losing hand and Mother Nature has now taken the hand, the pot, the table, and pissed in our drinks. The aftermath is ugly, and we’ll all pay for short sight. Kindly stop looking for convenient scapegoats. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/214 "2005-09-12T01:53:23Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Who’s in the shit? We all are. > The aftermath is ugly, and we’ll all pay for short sight. Kindly stop looking for convenient scapegoats. Oh, puh-leeze. I don’t remember being personally asked to support funding the levees around New Orleans. We have to be rational about this. The voters of New Orleans will have their chance to judge the Mayor’s response, and the citizens of Louisiana will have their chance to judge the Governor’s response. The rest of us get to judge the Federal Response, from absentee Bush to unqualified Chertoff to even less qualified Brown right down the ladder. On the evidence, the Bush Administration’s performance here sucked hugely, so hugely many people are wondering what the HELL they’ve been doing to make America safer over the last four years. Less than nothing to judge by their performance wrt Katrina. Let’s keep our eye on the ball, people. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/215 "2005-09-12T02:51:15Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Oh, puh-leeze. I don’t remember being personally asked to support funding the levees around New Orleans. We have to be rational about this. The voters of New Orleans will have their chance to judge the Mayor’s response, and the citizens of Louisiana will have their chance to judge the Governor’s response. The rest of us get to judge the Federal Response, from absentee Bush to unqualified Chertoff to even less qualified Brown right down the ladder. > > On the evidence, the Bush Administration’s performance here sucked hugely, so hugely many people are wondering what the HELL they’ve been doing to make America safer over the last four years. Less than nothing to judge by their performance wrt Katrina. > > Let’s keep our eye on the ball, people. The levees are maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, and improvements thereto aren’t the purview of a local official who can award a contract to Fred & Ed’s Levee Improvement & Storm Doors, LLC. We, meaning you and me and everyone who pays federal taxes in the US of A have funded the ACoE, and our elected officials decided how to spend the money. Hindsight being 20/20, we should have made those levees nukeproof, but would the electorate have nodded yes to make that investment? Not on a prayer-other projects took precedence. Despite the fuckups of this administration, your charge is one that won’t stick. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/216 "2005-09-12T03:07:33Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Despite the fuckups of this administration, your charge is one that won’t stick. Ah, more bullshit. “The electorate wouldn’t support it?” The money went to tax cuts (which the electorate would have supported) and to pay for the war in Iraq, which the electorate wouldn’t have supported (until the Bush administration lied about the dangers present in Iraq). If the Bush administration had told the American people that one of the three greatest dangers was the levees breaking or being overtopped, they would have supported _continuing to fund_ the levee projects at the same rate, not bringing them to a halt for the first time in 37 years. The Bush administration made choices. They have to be accountable for those choices. Do you disagree with the idea that people should be held to account for the outcomes of the decisions that they make? ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/217 "2005-09-12T04:45:45Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > The voters of New Orleans will have their chance to judge the Mayor’s response, and the citizens of Louisiana will have their chance to judge the Governor’s response. The rest of us get to judge the Federal Response, from absentee Bush to unqualified Chertoff to even less qualified Brown right down the ladder. So you aint gonna vote for Bush in '08 either? Well that makes it purdy near unanimous. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/218 "2005-09-12T06:50:58Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > You can’t hang this one on Bush. It rest squarely on the state of Louisiana. I will grant that the FEMA situation is unacceptable and it happened on Bush’s watch, but that is a totally different can of worms. While your head is up there, you might want to check to see if you have any polyps on your colon. If this had happened in the Hampton’s, everybody would have been rescued in time to get dinner at the Four Seasons and figure out which summer home to flee to during reconstruction. Bush sat on his ass, and like all of his other cronies who were on vacation, and didn’t do a damn thing until it was far too little, and far too late. Even Republicans in Washington are grumbling about Bush’s ineptitude. But not you…oh no, Bush was a fuckin’ beacon of light and visionary hero. And granting the FEMA situation is unacceptable is rich…who was the dickhead who put his woefully inexperienced buddy as the head of the organization? And wasn’t this the same idiot who decided FEMA should be a part of Homeland Security? I am sure we all feel a hell of a lot safer knowing that. All the denial in the world isn’t going to change the fact that this was indeed Bush’s biggest fuckup to date…and considering he has quite a litany of fuck ups, that is saying a lot… ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/219 "2005-09-12T07:06:13Z")
I think _Newsweek_ says it all right [here](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/site/newsweek/). > [@](#): > > …The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One. > > How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less “situational awareness,” as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace. That’s right, according to Newsweek, Bush knew less about what was going on in N.O. than those of us on the SDMB. That’s our President, folks. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-admin-fema-start-shifting-blame-to-locals-crass-ass-covering-or-justified/320065/220 "2005-09-12T07:22:49Z")
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