McCain And Katrina Ravaged New Orleans: Facts vs Spin

Lucky for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, The Associated Press has a report on his New Orleans visit that omits what he and his supporters have said about the city. McCain is in New Orleans on what he calls his forgotten areas tour.

John McCain toured still hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base...

...McCain was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration. He said Congress must share some of the blame, too.

Drawing a sharp contrast to President Bush, McCain said he would have landed his plane "at the nearest Air Force Base and come over personally."

But on the day Hurricane Katrina actually ravaged New Orleans, Senator McCain wasn't far off from President Bush. In fact, the two were standing right next to each other. Check out the slideshow of the two celebrating McCain's birthday on the tarmac.

• • President Bush holds up a birthday cake for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., upon his arrival at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Az., Monday, Aug. 29, 2005. McCain turned 69 Monday. Bush is traveling and will attend "conversations" with experts and the elderly

While traveling in New Orleans today, McCain told voters that such a disaster of government response "will never happen again in this country." And yet, the Democratic National Committee points out that McCain voted against relief measures for Katrina victims multiple times, as well as voting against an investigation into the failures of the government response. McCain also voted against providing additional funding for first responders' communication systems, despite claiming today:

We know that we had a situation where first responders were unable to communicate with each other. Where government agencies were getting information by watching cable television, rather than having a flow of information themselves.

As for solutions, John McCain told reporters he didn't know if he'd rebuild the lower 9th ward as president. "That is why we need to go back is to have a conversation about what to do -rebuild it, tear it down, you know, whatever it is," he said.

While he was in Lousiana
Think Progress reports:

Pastor John Hagee -- whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was "glad to have" -- told NPR's Terry Gross that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans." "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God," Hagee said, because "there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came."

McCain first dodged the issue of Hagee when he brought up by a New Orleans voter during a town hall. Watch here.

McCain later told reporters the comments were "nonsense" no less than eight times, despite saying this weekend that he still is glad to have Hagee's endorsement.

It's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense. I dont have anything additional to say. It's nonsense, it's nonsense, it's nonsense, I don't have anything more to say...it's nonsense. I reject it categorically.

McCain has still not rejected John Hagee's endorsement.

Comments

[booker52]

10:21 AM on 04/25/2008

It's called monday morning quarter backing. He is such a liar, but it looks good while he is walking around and yacking with the poor folks whose homes are still a mess and say he would of been right. Yeah that's easy to say years later. But this is the same guy who has voted against helping these people time again. So I say McCain is a liar.

[sugarmoes]

09:40 AM on 04/25/2008

awwww shucks... mccain's a good guy... duhbyuh just worked his voodoo on him for a while there... but he's right as rain now... heh heh....

[MyThought]

08:29 AM on 04/25/2008

Too little too late McCain - where were you when the catastrophe hit? Why did you vot no to monies, etc.?

You could have pushed, being the so-called maverick you try to make people believe you are - easy to say after the fact isn't it?

Not impressed with silly tough talk when it's too late.

[toby25]

08:20 AM on 04/25/2008

I see so many "reaches" to slam McCain. He ate cake for his birthday with Bush for a photo op?? So what?? By the way he doesn't at all belong to Rev Hagee's church and didn't donate over $20,000 last year to it ..like somebody else did to another well known hateful, anti American church. You know the "wonder" candidate..the Messiah of America politics.

[MizFlagPin]

07:21 AM on 04/25/2008

Woulda, coulda, shoulda . . . sorry Sen. McCain I don't believe you.

At least Barbara Bush would have let the evacuees eat cake. You didn't even share yours. And unfortunately, President Bush looks a lot better than you in his stunning brown suit (finally, I've found something nice to say about our President).

[mamacat]

02:59 AM on 04/25/2008

I actually think that McCain would have done a much better job of handling the catastrophe than Bush did. It doesn't mean I'd vote for him.

[filo]

08:03 AM on 04/25/2008

A monkey would have done a better job with Katrina than Dubaya!

[XYZ]

01:13 AM on 04/25/2008

This is gold and should be saved, I hope the MSM ignores it... Make a damn fine ad, while Bush and McCain ate cake Katrina ravages Louisiana, and Mississippi.. Nice sweet 527.

[MadJeffersonian]

01:11 AM on 04/25/2008

SIGH.....

The world is watching and listening to us, and laughing out loud. And our political leaders have the audacity to dictate what other world leaders should do.

Regardless of what the historical record may show, McCain will say and do anything to get elected.

[singular1]

12:43 AM on 04/25/2008

Er........should an ARIZONA Senator (or even Pres. Bush) have flown an airplane THROUGH Hurricane Katrina in order to get to New Orleans?

Who knows what McCain would have done AFTER the hurricane was over IF it had indeed been on his watch....New Orleans flooded after the hurricane was over, as the former mayor of New Orleans and the former governor of Louisiana will confirm.

You guys can do better than this.

[mamacat]

02:57 AM on 04/25/2008

An investigation by NPR reported that by 9AM, August 29, 2005, over 2/3rds of the city of New Orleans was flooded. After that, it just got worse. By 10 PM that night, 100% of the pumps were out of operation, and the levees were breached in so many places that an accureate count is problematic.

Flying an airplane through a hurricane is not the issue, and never was. Giving a damn about the residents of New Orleans and other areas hit by the hurricane is. A president is not expected to fly through a hurricane and start rescueing drowning people personally. He is expected to make sure that rescue efforts take place. Eating cake is not required.

On August 30th, long after the flooding of New Orleans was catastrophic, Bush was still on vacation, and even had ANOTHER photo-op with reporters, this time playing his guitar with country western singers. Reminds me of Emperor Nero, playing his fiddle while Rome burned. It takes an amazing level of incompetence and disregard for one's fellow humans to do what Bush did.

[CarlyCorday]

11:53 AM on 04/25/2008

I don't see where this article suggests McCain should have flown through the hurricane, or that hurricane winds destroyed New Orleans. WE know the flood happened after reports were already in that the hurricane was over and New Orleans had "dodged the bullet." I know TOO well, being from that area, my daughter and her family living just the other side of the Pontchartrain Causeway, her husband an engineer who works in New Orleans every day. I watched the whole thing like a hawk for days on end. I wached as refugees poured into Houston, 25 miles from where I sat in front of my TV, shaking my head. Yeah...we can do better than this, but this is good, REAL good, an ad ready to air, and yooooo know it, bubba. We WILL do "better" than this. McCain is rich, fertile, loamy ground for Democratic slam-it-out-of-the-ballpark campaign ads.

Er...your little scold falls flat without...er...facts and stuff, singular. You're an armchair American like most in your party, which used to be MY party too, I'm ashamed to say.

(But you're probably posting from the Red Zone in Iraq, ducking mortar fire, sleeping 2-3 hours a night with your rifle, waking in a cold sweat from your recurring IED dream, aren't you, you courageous soul, you. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Right.)

Bitterly Yours,
Charlotte

[TXfemmom]

12:11 AM on 04/25/2008

McCain would have immediately made Rice stop purchasing those high-heeled black boots in NY and have sent her to New Orleans to buy them there and jump start the economy.

[Rog49Thomas]

11:47 PM on 04/24/2008

Let me guess.

Does it have something to do with dropping a bomb?
Or maybe handing our umbrellas?

McCrazy is well known for his solicitude for people of color. (And it seems women.)

[Birdman]

11:45 PM on 04/24/2008

Hey where is McCain flag pin?

[Rog49Thomas]

12:00 AM on 04/25/2008

Good catch.

This just proves what I've said all along - the guy's real loyalties are to Panama.

He's probably also a secret adherent of Santeria.

[filo]

08:05 AM on 04/25/2008

Don't forget Manchurian candidate !

[Birdman]

11:44 PM on 04/24/2008

Yes John keep living in that fantasy world we all know that the Republicans real motto is 'screw the poor' afterall how can the rich keep thier money, they have to screw the poor, course the rich will buy a politicain or 5 to help keep even more of their money while laughing at the poor. No john you would have done the same exact thing as Bush it is part of your political party to do just what GW did. To do anything other then what Bush did would have gotten you kicked out of the republican country club, and you know it.

[g33134]

11:21 PM on 04/24/2008

the hypocracy is staggering.....the media should call him out!

[LittleSanityLeft]

10:24 AM on 04/25/2008

McCain's base calling him out? Keep dreaming.

[mcalien]

11:17 PM on 04/24/2008

Wait a sec. Isn't that the same blue-check shirt he wore (twice) into the battlezones of Iraq? Guess McCain brought out the political armor for New Orleans.