Posted on 09/01/2005 9:19:42 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005 11:58 a.m. EDT Gov. Haley Barbour Urged to Blame Bush
The media continues search for ways to pin the blame for Hurricane Katrina's devastation on President Bush, with television anchors now getting into the act.
Appearing Thursday on CNN's "American Morning," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was aggressively grilled over whether the "federal government" [i.e., the Bush administration] "dropped the ball" on disaster preparation efforts.
"We knew it was a strong storm developing for several days before it ever made landfall," AM host Miles O'Brien told Barbour, before asking: "Do you have the sense that the federal government has dropped the ball here, sir?" Barbour rebuffed O'Brien's attempt to get him to play the blame game, insisting that he had his facts wrong.
"I think it's very unfair for the federal government, for you to say we knew this was a great powerful storm," he told the CNN'er. "This was a category 1 hurricane when it hit Florida. Now that's the truth."
Instead of agreeing to disagree, O'Brien insisted it was Barbour who had his facts wrong.
"Governor, it was a category 5 storm," he declared. "No, no, Governor Barbour . . . surely there was enough knowledge in advance that this was a huge killer storm a matter of days, not hours, before it ever struck landfall. And it seems to me the military" could have done more.
Still, the Mississippi Republican refused to be steamrollered, challenging the CNN host: "Now, Miles, if this is an interview or an argument, I don't care. But if you want to let me tell you what I think, I will."
With that, O'Brien relented and let Barbour have his say.
"I'm not going to agree [that the federal government dropped the ball] because I don't believe it's true," he told CNN. "The federal government came in here from the first minute -- in fact, in advance. They have been tremendously helpful."
Here's the full exchange between O'Brien and Barbour:
The governor of Mississippi is Haley Barbour. He joins us now live.
Governor Barbour, good to have you with us. Bring us up to date on the numbers. First of all, those numbers I just gave, are they accurate to the moment?
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, MISSISSIPPI: Well, they're credible, Miles. They're certainly not official, but it's because the government has a policy of not counting fatalities until they've been certified by the coroner. But those numbers are credible, and we worry that they may go up some.
M. O'BRIEN: And when you say, "They may go up some," you've obviously been down there. I've been down there. I've seen the extent of the wreckage. I get the sense that they may go up quite a bit. What are you hearing about people who have missing loved ones or friends?
BARBOUR: Well, you have been down there, and between the coast and the railroad for an area of probably about 50 miles, there's total devastation. I mean, there's virtually nothing standing. Homes that are just totally obliterated. And going through that debris, some of which is waist deep or as tall as a man, going through that takes time. We've rescued a lot of people, and we've found a lot of people. But under all of that debris, it's realistic to believe there's going to be more people.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the response and what was put into position in advance of this storm. We knew about Katrina. We knew it was a strong storm developing for several days before it ever made landfall. Do you have the sense -- because it's quite clear that state and local officials cannot handle this on their own. This is too overwhelming. Do you have the sense that the federal government has dropped the ball here, sir?
BARBOUR: I really don't. And I think it's very unfair for the federal government, for you to say we knew this was a great powerful storm. This was a category 1 hurricane when it hit Florida. Now that's the truth.
M. O'BRIEN: Governor, it was a category 5 storm.
BARBOUR: The federal government...
M. O'BRIEN: A category 5 storm when it was...
BARBOUR: No, it was a category 1 -- it was a category 1 storm when it hit Florida. It was a category 5 storm a few hours before it came ashore.
M. O'BRIEN: No, no, Governor Barbour...
BARBOUR: The federal government have been tremendous partners in this. They have helped...
M. O'BRIEN: Governor Barbour, surely there was enough knowledge in advance that this was a huge killer storm a matter of days, not hours, before it ever struck landfall. And it seems to me the military...
BARBOUR: Now, Miles, if this is an interview or an argument, I don't care. But if you want to let me tell you what I think, I will.
M. O'BRIEN: OK, go ahead. BARBOUR: And what I think is this storm strengthened in the Gulf. We begged the people to leave, and thousands of people left. Thousands of people left New Orleans. The federal government came in here from the first minute -- in fact, in advance. They have been tremendously helpful, whether it's the Coast Guard, the Corps of Engineers, FEMA.
M. O'BRIEN: But...
BARBOUR: I don't think it's at all fair...
M. O'BRIEN: But...
BARBOUR: ... and I'm not going to agree to that, because I don't believe it's true.
M. O'BRIEN: But conspicuously absent from that short list you just gave us was the military, the Pentagon. This is a type of situation that cries out for the kind of support, the kind of logistics, the kind of coordination the military is ideally suited for. Why weren't more military assets pre-positioned and ready for the possibility here?
BARBOUR: We pre-positioned more than 1,000 National Guard, 175 on the coastal counties, 1,000 more 60 miles inland, so that they wouldn't be swept away in the storm. And as soon as it became clear where the storm was going to hit, even Alabama had sent us National Guard. Pennsylvania has offered us and is sending us 2,500 National Guard.
M. O'BRIEN: But...
BARBOUR: Would I have liked to have had 5,000 National Guard on the ground on Tuesday morning? Yes, that's not -- other states are not going to give up their National Guard until they see what's happening to them. I don't blame them.
M. O'BRIEN: But I'm talking about assets, like, you know, amphibious vehicles that the Navy has. It has helicopter support, hospital support, the ability to generate power, that sort of thing. We haven't seen that kind of thing, the kind of thing we saw, incidentally, in the wake of the tsunami.
BARBOUR: Well, I'm not going to be critical of what the federal government has done. We're very grateful for it. You know, it's easy to go back and pick the bones, but we feel like they have tried very hard.
This is the worst natural disaster that's ever struck the United States. Everybody down here is trying hard. Everybody is tired and fractious. So, I don't want to argue with you about it. But a lot of people from all over the country are helping us, and we really appreciate them, because we're making progress. And we're going to recover from what has been a grievous blow to our state, not just the coast. And we're going to rebuild, and it's going to be bigger and better than ever. But we're not going to do it by nitpicking.
M. O'BRIEN: Governor Haley Barbour, Mississippi. Thank you for your time, sir.
BARBOUR: Thank you, Miles.
We have a natural disaster, a major US city devastated, hundreds dead, etc... and this mouthpiece of DNC simply wants to leverage it for their advantage.
The political equivalent of looting. When the chips are down, you really get to see who is made of what. All I see is real Americans wading into the septic, stinking mess and braving gunfire to try save lives, and the left-wing political organs working overtime to make hay out of this.
Makes me sick and angry.
Agreed.
We all know that Bush is to blame for everything ... my goodness, he could have stopped the storm had he really wanted to!
Miles O'Brien should get the karmic justice that he truly deserves.. what a p*ssy boy. No character-having weenie. I hate the Left.
Bill Plante's (CBS) first question to Scott McLellan at WH news briefing: "where's the cavalry?"
Nothing and what have the rats done to help us modernize our energy infrastructure. Answer, nothing but block the road.
"Absolutely, Miles. As the storm approached I urged the President to use his Secret Squadron Radio to contact Starfleet so that the population could be beamed aboard orbiting starships and await the storm's passage. However, Bush refused, telling me that the ships were already full of Halliburton employees and friends in the oil industry..."
Barbour was perceived by the 'Rats as the Karl Rove of his day, when he ran the RNC; he flummoxed 'em....I'd like to see him back at the federal level.
President Barbour??
That's what I'm thinking.
Well if he handles this aftermath correctly...he could very well raise his profile enough to be a shoo-in.
Perhpas Bush waited too long to respond.
But the real problem lay on the state level. New Orleans should have been totally evacuated uner martial law by the National Guard and at the governor's oders BEFORE the storm hit.
And when you buiild a city below sea level on the Gulf of Mexico, what do you inevitably expect???
That was as stupid as exoanding Los Angeles on a major geologic fault.
Can Mississippi annex Louisiana?
They're all gonna sue the fed govt ....end up millionaires...get their homes build bigger and better back in the pit of New Orleans.....with a cat 10 levee......
so we might as well accept it.
I think he'd make a great senator...he knows the ins and outs and how the game is played, unlike a certain well-coiffed current MS senator.
Everyone knew the US is going through a natural cycle of increased hurricane activity. We all know that city building codes often require fire escapes so residents can escape danger.
Why didn't New Orleans city codes require lifeboats so residents could escape danger?
Why weren't the environmentalists screaming about new Orleans's precarious position?
Why wasn't Dan Rather investigating the dangerous situation in New Orleans, rather than investigating Bush's National Guard service?
Most of the floods of the 20th century have been due to sustained periods of heavy rainfall and hurricanes. Yet, as beneficial as this system is to the city, inevitably it will spell New Orleans' doom.The levee system that has been built along the river, coupled with the canal system to keep the interior of the city dry, prevent the land from being replenished by the annual spring floods. As a result, the land will continue to sink until eventually there will be nothing to stop the waters of the Gulf to rush back upon the fragile land.
[snip] In order to save itself from the waters surrounding it, the city of New Orleans is slowly destroying its own environment.
The final death knoll of the city may very well come from the river itself. Scientists and environmentalists know that the Mississippi is trying to change its course that will bypass the city in favor of the shorter route to the Gulf through the Atchafalaya basin. So far, the Corps of Engineers has prevented the river from doing this. But, one day, it will happen, perhaps following a direct hit from a hurricane. As late summer and early fall approach every year (hurricane season), New Orleans stands with the threat that it will lose its own lifeline. No canal system and no levee system will prevent the disaster that will follow.
Dare I say this??:.....while the liberals are pointing fingers and attacking President Bush and his administration....it's the conservatives, politicians and citizens, who are actually doing something about this tragic situation.
It's Bush's Fault. We all know it. Why don't we admit it?
The National Weather Service warned Sunday morning that there would be hell on earth, basicly, in that area. The press release sounds like a movie plot. I don't know the time line for Katrina. When did it hit NO and that part of MS?
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