"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

The death and despair that have resulted from the failure to adequately prepare New Orleans for hurricane Katrina has compounded the damage that has resulted from George Bush’s monumental blunder in Iraq. Instead of being at home to help their communities prepare for and survive what was a major natural catastrophe, the National Guard is off like Crusaders in somebody else’s land fighting an unholy war. The high water capable vehicles and heavy equipment that are sorely needed right now are off in a desert on the other side of the world. If anybody still believes that the Bush League actually expected to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, I’ve got some beachfront property I’d like to sell them on scenic Lake Pontchartrain.
“Captain Ryan and 4,200 other members of the National Guard from Louisiana have finished their yearlong tour of duty. Their replacements, from other states, began arriving last month. But the Louisiana guardsmen are not expecting to fly home for at least another week, maybe two, and the journey itself could take 4 to 10 days.
"It's our turn to help our own, and we're not there," said Captain Ryan, 37.”
Bush defends his inaction by, in essence, saying ‘Who’d a thunk it?’ The precise words he said to Diane Sawyer were: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." I have to wonder if he really believed it when he said it. So much has been written and broadcast on TV regarding the inevitability of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans and wreaking major havoc. Detailed scenarios were drawn up and a plan was rehearsed. One would have to live with one’s head implanted firmly up one’s ass to avoid any exposure to the idea. So it’s hard to say whether he was lying or is so out of touch as to be pitied; then impeached! Those in the know knew that the levees were built to withstand a category 3 hurricane. Gee Dubya is clearly not in the know. In fact, he’s as close to a know-nothing President as we’ve ever had.
Or, is he lying again? That’s the problem that happens when people lie to you. It gets harder and harder to believe them with each new lie. In his column of 9/2/05 Paul Krugman eloquently presents some questions that the White House needs to answer.
‘Before 9/11 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing America: a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans. "The New Orleans hurricane scenario," The Houston Chronicle wrote in December 2001, "may be the deadliest of all." It described a potential catastrophe very much like the one now happening.’
In a timely article, USA Today published a report yesterday that plots the series of lies that were used to mislead us into war. If that’s not grounds for impeachment then the members of Congress who voted to impeach Bill Clinton owe the Nation and Mr. Clinton a profound apology for wasting our time with all that nonsense that distracted and handcuffed Wild Bill.
"They have weapons of mass destruction. That is what this war was about," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on April 10. But soon the Washington line shifted to claims Iraq had not weapons, but WMD "programs" — also untrue, inspectors later certified. Then the war was framed as one to democratize Iraq.
What’s truly amazing (as well as indicative of the voluntary intellectual blinders that Republicans limit themselves with) is the number of supporters that continue to regurgitate the bullshit that G.W. Bush feeds them. Granted, his number in the polls is dropping like the water level on Lake Pontchartrain after the “big one” did what almost everybody expected it to do – it caused breaches in the levees; everybody except Bush and those who are required to think like him. The “Big One” blew the Big Easy away. And it blew the Prez away because, as he said, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
From across the pond somebody addressed an issue that has been nagging at me for some time. The unscrupulous religious leaders who will attach ulterior motives to Katrina in opportunistic attempts to seduce the gullible masses who are now more susceptible than ever to being influenced by smooth talking God-mongers. Allah will, of course, be on the side of Islam. But all Christians know that God is on our side; even the ones who say that God sent Katrina to punish us for the sinfulness that went on in that modern day Gomorrah. Even though the author attacks my personal point of view, I recommend reading the piece.