reality-based educator

Holy shit, this is big:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage -- along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press -- show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Linked by secure video, Bush's confidence on Aug. 28 starkly contrasts with the dire warnings his disaster chief and a cacophony of federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

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Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response:

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Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility -- and Bush was worried too.

How can anybody, even the 34% who still support George W. Bush in the latest CBS News poll, actually trust this fucker to keep the nation safe in a time of disaster?

Hasn't there been enough evidence, from the mismanagement of the Iraq war to the mismanagement of the Katrina disaster to the mismanagement of port, nuclear power plant and infrastructure security (Bushie lets the various industries create their own security standard rather than dictating a security standard to the industries), to make it abundantly completely clear that Bushie is in way over his head?

How can anybody, even the wingnuttiest of the wingnuts, still support this fucker?

Is it just because he loves the Baby Jesus?

Is that it?

Cuz' Jimmy Carter loved the Baby Jesus too, but the wingnuts didn't like him at all.

So it must be something else.

Is it the John Wayne swagger?

Is it the combination of loving the Baby Jesus along with the John Wayne swagger?

Cuz' I have to tell you, I just don't understand the appeal of this man. I don't get the whole "Cult of Bush."

I know Karl Rove has worked overtime with the p.r. machine to create the Bush mythos (especially right after 9/11 when Rove had to erase the images of Bush flying away from the fight while first responders in both NYC and Washington flew to the fight.)

But hasn't there been enough evidence in the last four years to expose the Bush mythos as nothing but bullshit?

Hasn't it occured to all of the Regular Joe Six Packs and Evengelicals that this preznit is nothing but a public relations creation who has done more to harm the health and welfare of this nation in the last five years than Warren Harding, LBJ, and Richard Nixon put together?