Dubya took the mike and didn't say all that much

So, he kindasorta admitted being responsible

“Four years after the frightening experience of Sept. 11, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency,” the president said. He said when the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, “I as president am responsible for the problem, and for the solution.”

[snip]

“was not a normal hurricane — and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it.”

Four years after a less than normal disaster, a boatload of rhetoric, invasion of another country and the building of a whole new government department to address unthinkable disasters and the shrub's saying the the "normal" system wasn't up to the challenge? What the Hell happened to the jacked-up system that was meant to handle the response to Bush's call to "bring it on"?! Has all the tax-payer money that's gone into the Department of Homeland Security gone into the laughable color-coded and poll induced security level warning system, racial profiling efforts to uncover al qaeda operatives or investigating the personal lives of citizens without accountability?

Rebuilding sounds a little more like a threat than a promise, federal funds to rebuild infrastructure but getting a home under the Urban Homesteading Act gives the poor some free plots of land (who must get their own funding to build), while prime real estate will go to the rich (who will probably get some tax-break reward for rebuilding)

"And the federal government will undertake a close partnership with the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities so they can rebuild in a sensible, well planned way. Federal funds will cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the disaster zone, from roads and bridges to schools and water systems. Our goal is to get the work done quickly. And taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly and wisely, so we will have a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures."

[snip]

Under this approach, we will identify property in the region owned by the federal government, and provide building sites to low-income citizens free of charge, through a lottery. In return, they would pledge to build on the lot, with either a mortgage or help from a charitable organization like Habitat for Humanity. Homeownership is one of the great strengths of any community, and it must be a central part of our vision for the revival of this region. [full text]

The most interesting thing I heard all evening was Tucker Carlson admitting what we "tax & spend" liberals have been pointing out about the Bush administration all along: they blow billions like an irresponsible teen with their first credit card. What I'd like to know is, if all that cash didn't improve disaster relief or provide much needed services for citizens, what the Hell did they do with it?

Tags: Hurricane Katrina; New Orleans, Louisiana; Mississippi; Alabama; Politics; hunger; poverty; The Bushevick Revolution;King George ; rich people rule, poor people drool; racism; elitism; The Keystone Cops; yet another screwed up government organization; Count Dickula; BDrownie; the stooge that got away; The Bushevik business plan; BushCo retirement plan

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