What Bush Said in New Orleans Today, and What He Didn't Say

"Never before has our nation seen such destruction by nature."

It's almost three years after the federal levees failed and flooded 80% of New Orleans, and George W. Bush stood today in Jackson Barracks, the National Guard h.q. in the Lower Ninth Ward, and spoke those words. They were not an ad lib, they were part of his written text. His speechwriters and advisors found it advisable to ignore three independent forensic engineering studies, and the Corps of Engineers' own 6000-page report, and blame the flooding on "nature."

He also said "we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past," in regard to the Corps' work in rebuilding the levees and floodwalls. Yet there has not been a true accountability moment for the Corps, which one federal judge has said "knowingly" built a deficient system, under Congressional mandate, that failed to protect the city under conditions it was supposed to withstand. So we can ignore the reasons for the "mistakes of the past," and yet avoid repeating them?

As disturbing as the words he spoke were the words Bush never mentioned: in almost half an hour of remarks citing indications of progress in New Orleans since the disaster and citing the work that still needs to be done, the President never uttered the words "coastal restoration." When he bragged that he had, after protracted urging by the Governor and the state's Congressional delegation, allowed Louisiana to repay the federal share of levee rebuilding over thirty years instead of three, he said he didn't think the state should have to choose between better levees and "other" urgent programs. What is the urgent program the state is free to spend the money on? Coastal restoration, the rebuilding of the wetlands being lost at the rate of a football field every hour or so -- but the state's spending plans fall considerably short of what's needed to repair the buffer that protects New Orleans from more severe hurricanes, an area that also serves as the source for 40% of the nation's fresh seafood. If we can't even utter those words, can we face the task of repairing "the mistakes of the past"?

Gotta admit, the guy's got balls, to come to New Orleans and say, and not say, what he did. What's really amazing is that people gathered in Jackson Barracks, whoever they were, applauded him.

UPDATE: For those who insist on seeing all this through a purely partisan lens, a corrective note: After the Presidential debate commission rejected NO as a debate site ("not ready to host a major event"), the local org Women of the Storm partnered with Google/YouTube to sponsor an independent debate, and invited both candidates. McCain accepted, Obama declined. Just sayin'.

Comments

[CrescentCityRay]

When he says the US sent those of us in this part of the world $126Billion, (which elevates my blood pressure) does he know most of that $126Billion was in the form of 60 cents on the dollar flood insurance payouts and most of the rest of it went to huge out-of-town contractors and Corp's contractors for the extremely over billed initial cleanup?

I feel the initial insistence we pay our share for levee rebuilding in just three years was a negotiating position to distract us from the fact we had already paid our share for a '100 year' levee system that failed like cheap movie props (we already paid for something not delivered). Now, we are supposed to be all happy about paying off those billions for the next thirty years. And, we cannot even get the Corps to perform with competence - they want us to take their word as gold that they are doing an adequate job.

Ain't we lucky, in this part of the world?

[rocketman73]

Thanks again Harry.

Coastal Protection is a major issue down here in Louisiana and the rest of the country.

There is a beautiful doumentary about this couple that built a houseboat in the Atchafalaya Basin during the 1970's. PBS is going to air it on August 31st at 10:30 PM ET. Anyone who watches it will fall in love with the couple and the Basin and see the importance of this great region. To see the trailer you can go to www.lpb.org/programs/houseboat

Also healthygulf.org has a great deal of information on the subject of Coastal Protection.

[kikomnipotent]

What nobody is talking about here is harsh reality. The world is in a heat cycle. Humans are responsible for part, yes, about 2% of all carbon emmission by some estimates. The rest is all natural. As it continues to get hotter, guess what will happen to all that rebuilt coastline. About one third of this country is ancient seabed. Why is everyone trying to figure out the best possible way to waste time and money rebuilding a place that will forever be under sea level? It's a bad investment to say the least. Are they going to extend the envisioned no-more-immigrants wall straight out the eastern Texas border & wrap it to Nova Scotia? It's human nature, and a peculiar American notion that we can engineer our way out of any problem, so let's see if we can beat nature instead of just telling people to move if they want to survive. Let's just try to hold back the sea. We'll just throw as much tax money at it as possible. Ridiculous! Trying to save the entire coastline from the ocean will go down as humanity's greatest flop. People 150 years from now will call us the "Generation of Idiots", and hold it as the prime example.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

Yeah, those idiotic Dutch have been about that project for the last five hundred years now. Also, as John Barry (author of "Rising Tide") pointed out on my radio show some weeks back, rebuilt Louisiana wetlands will survive rising ocean levels better (because it's alive and can grow) than, say, the rocky island of Manhattan.

[sociocanuck]

With all due respect: maybe it would take Manhattan under water to shake the deniers out from their self-imposed reality-proof bubble.

[kikomnipotent]

Touche, I'll admit it can work. But the cost? And the consequences (again) if it ever did fail? The scale of this is mind boggling. Is somebody really thinking of levees and walls along all of the coastal areas? What I was after is how we sometimes overengineer things simply because we have the means to do so, or because we think we're smarter & tougher than old mother nature. Yes we can do it, but is it logical?

[lobear00]

Its better to rebuild a state within the "Union" than it is to rebuild a nation not part ot the United States of America. And lets" Repeat " This Nation is the "United States of America.... "Not this "BS" Homeland .

[newbridge]

Doesn't the public realize that New Orleans was one of selective response from Homeland Security. Homeland Security is nothing more than a state police operation. Even its title "Homeland" smacks of state control. The net is getting smaller and smaller. Now, we are monitored when we travel by airplane, next it will be with microchips monitoring whereever you go and security cameras monitoring your every move. We need to refuse to adhere to the patriot act and the "real I.D."

[Cardhu]

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”
- Sinclair Lewis

[bronceye]

The mistakes of the past, quite simply, was allowing too many democrats to live there. Most of them are gone now and the neocons will keep them gone by not allowing them to move back in. Louisiana is now a red state, don't you know. Most were absorbed into Texas which has a huge repube majority. It's about humanity and what Christ would have done.

[ManWithLantern]

Bush stated $160 million 'released' to victims to rebuild.
That flies in the face of numerous reports that only about a dozen people actually received ANY money.
The bush spin rolls on & on & on.
Note, he spoke and appeared only at a controlled National Guard base. If he showed his face to the residents of New Orleans they would boo & hiss him out of the city!
What a despicable clown!

[jubal8]

My brother's house still sits there partially finished due to lack of funds. But a ray of hope... they got notice that they would be receiving money from "The Road Home".

"When?" they asked.

The answer in short... "Don't call us, we'll call you."

[ed238yth]

Bush deserves a fair trial.

[Nofuzzydreams]

Bush and company is responsible for the terrible response during Katrina. However, after money and resources have been made available the work to rebuild has been progressing very slowly due to the incompetence of the Democrats running things in New Orleans. The morale is politicians in both parties are crooks by definition. So no matter what, you choose between crooks when voting. Obama is no saint either!! In November choose the lesser of two evils or choose the evil that is not just a speechmaster!

[Bienville]

Would you care to offer a citation for this?

"...the work to rebuild has been progressing very slowly due to the incompetence of the Democrats running things in New Orleans."

[larry278]

W & Pelosi don't like to eat crow in public about W's Katriana fiasco. Remember, W & Dr Rice are eating crow since they have agreed to set a time table for US forces to leave Iraq. Putin's Russia is also feeding crow to W. This hasn't been a good week for W.

[ignorantwillyharper]

But, over all Bush and Cheney have accomplished what they set out to do. Due to these two our nation will be a third world country within five years and it doesn't really matter who the next two top dogs are...this country is ruined.

[jubal8]

Don't throw out the baby with the booshwater just yet. We've surprised ourselves and others in the past with what we can accomplish, given the right leadership.

[haleywins]

Anyone interested NOVA's "Storm that drowned a city" is showing this week on PBS, check local listings. In New Orleans, Channel 12. (also available for viewing online) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/orleans/

With a few exceptions, demonstrates the engineering failures as a cause, and the role of rebuilding wetlands as part of the solution for the future. Ivor Van Heerden is prominently featured.

[j.gold]

The oil companies have raped Louisiana and destroyed our coastal protection. It is as much their fault as it is the Corp of Engineers.

Now tell me you want off shore drilling for your state! I don't want it for any state. May others never live through what I and my city have.

Lets go for clean energy, solar, wind, water turbines.

[Durango]

You know, I think you are right.

But wasn't the mining of shells to build roads also responsible for the loss of wetalnds?

[luziannagirl]

Sometimes I wonder BushCo's shockingly shoddy treatment of Louisiana during and after the hurricane wasn't only about their wrong-headed small government ideology and ignorance, incompetence, and indifference.

I wonder if it wasn't partly, if not mostly, about oil.

As in: Louisiana has it, and they want it.

Dig far enough down, seems like oil is a common denominator in quite a few of this administration's actions and policies. Listing them would exceed the maximum comment word limit of this forum.

Perhaps in steadfastly refusing to give up on the posse comitatus issue and allow our state to have been the first one federalized since the Civil War, former Governor Kathleen Blanco did us a bigger favor than we imagine.

[CSE]

Here's the Times_Picayune link:

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/bush_photo_for_collie.html

[KCFreedom]

The posts for the article in nola.com are very telling of what the locals think about Bu$h's speech

[wisdomtom]

No matter what security and police do, they won't be able to stop we the people who have got the guts to call a spade a spade, and challenge our elected officials when they continue to neglect their oaths of office. Check out Paul Thottam's reaction after listening to Nancy Pelosi for as long as he could stand it.

http://www.pubrecord.org/component/content/255.html?task=view