Prez Takes Responsibility…Ha-ha! That's Rich!!!

Read the fine print. “To the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility,” the Number One White House weasel said. Since Katrina made landfall on August 29th near Buras, LA as a Category 4 hurricane, the White House has been assuring the world the US federal government did its job right. And not only that, the White House immediately got into defense mode and sent flacks and flunkies out to declare on every available venue on TV that it was the locals and the Gulf Coast states who had failed. Ergo, the president now is taking responsibility for the determination that there were no failures by the federal government regarding Katrina. The entire lead paragraph in NYT's “responsibility” story this morning reads: “President Bush said on Tuesday that he bore responsibility for any failures of the federal government in its response to Hurricane Katrina and suggested that he was unsure whether the country was adequately prepared for another catastrophic storm or terrorist attack.” Any failures? Let me clarify that creative example of admits-nothing rhetoric. It means the White House has heard rumors there were fed failures, but hasn't proven to itself that there actually were any fed failures. The Prez is unsure we're adequately prepared? Unsure? Let's see now. How long have the rest of us been TOTALLY SURE the US is NOT adequately prepared? I believe it goes back to the idiotic “duct tape” aviso, which was on February 10, 2003. The federal government's Fire Administrator David Paulison and Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge made an announcement that to be prepared for a terrorist attack all US citizens should have duct tape and plastic sheeting to put around doors and windows to fend off a chemical or germ attack. And many US citizens dutifully bought out all the duct tape and plastic sheeting available in all home improvement and hardware stores. Eventually, smarter heads than Paulison and Ridge informed us that the duct tape and plastic sheeting would be of no help whatsoever. That incident told the entire world that Homeland Security didn't have the remotest idea how to make the US homeland secure. At the same time, the incredibly stupid duct tape gaffe let the world know (except for the dimwitted Prez of the US and his craven cronies) that the US was a sitting duck for terrorists. But now, two-and-a-half years later, the biggest head-up-his-ass President the US has ever had (and admittedly, we've had a few) says he's “unsure” the US is prepared for another terrorist attack. But wait…there's more. President Hasn't-a-Clue-and-Loves-it-That-Way George W. Bush has named David Paulison as the new head of FEMA.