Chertoff: We don't get the National Guard to simply deploy...

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

in 24 hours UNLESS IT'S AN EMERGENCY. (just said in his news conference.... excuse me, I mean bullshit, blame somebody else conference.

What the fuck do you call this???

[Lindsay]

1. This is not a human being.

He's an antimatronic replica of Stalin.

[C_U_L8R]

5. Something is wrong with his wiring

He made no sense.
But he did make a lot of excuses.

[JuniperLea]

2. Depends on how you define emergency

Heartless bastards!

[niyad]

3. PLEASE, PLEASE say you are making this up!!! WHAT constitutes an

emergency to this asshole?

[rzemanfl]

8. I heard it too. "Unless it's an emergency." n/t

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

11. Nope, not making it up.

I may have taken this out of context, or so they will say. He was asked why it took so long to get the guard in there. And his response was "we don't simply call up the guard and say you are being deployed in 24 hours.... unless it is a real emergency" (yes, I am giving the gist of his statement, since I am not recording it. I'll try and update this when CNN gets some transcripts.)

[justabob]

18. Its true, I heard it too

and was screaming so loud my son had to come in and make sure I was ok. It is so un-fucking-believable.

[knowbody0]

4. i heard this

but could not believe that i heard it right. blah blah blah. does not want to look in rear view mirror. shame shame shame

[ET Awful]

6. Hey Chertoff, I was in the Naitonal Guard during the L.A. Riots it took

us 12 hours or so. The riots started when the verdicts were read mid-day, we were there from at least 3 hours away by convoy at 2:00 AM.

That was for a RIOT, I'm not sure what constitutes a fucking emergency in your book.

[OhioChick]

7. If this doesn't qualify as an EMERGENCY,

then WTF does?? The more that I hear, the more pissed I'm getting.

[jbond56]

9. he said a HUGE emergency nt

[vickitulsa]

25. I believe you are right with the qualifier "HUGE."

When I heard him say this, I immediately ran back the TIVO-in-my-brain, and I think what he said exactly was, "...unless it's a REAL, HUGE emergency."

From the first time I heard Chertoff address this disaster publicly, I recognized that what we have in this jerk is a serious fast-talker. Literally. He talks very, very fast and runs words together so badly that he has to stop himself and go back, separating his words and enunciating them properly so we can understand him.

He's a fast-talker in the other, colloquial sense as well. He tries to "baffle them with bullshit" every time he opens his mouth. He clearly considers himself a true expert on disaster situations, and he is intelligent enough to use big words and pulls in specialized terms that he feels will confuse us enough to back us off from blaming him or his boss.

What Chertoff and probably many others in this administration fail to comprehend -- yet -- is that they are NOT going to be able to explain away the disaster-after-the-disaster. The pitifully slow and inadequate response, the COWARDLY response which left suffering victims floundering without help for almost a WEEK. And I feel confident in saying that before it's all over, there will be those who will have struggled on their own and without government or relief agency help for WELL *OVER* A WEEK.

They won't be able to explain away the delays piled on delays, the breakdown in communication systems that should have been fixed after 9/11, the obvious stumbling and bumbling that is still occurring among the many bureaucratic organizations -- all of which is crystal clear to observers at home and around the world. The sheer weight of the evidence will eat their lunch in the end, and in retrospect they won't be able to fend off the questions which MUST become more and more demanding.

I have heard NO questioner ask any of these political appointees the one Big Question: WHY did not George W. Bush end his vacation at least ONE DAY earlier than he did and step up to get the relief effort into its highest possible gear?

Eventually someone WILL ask this question, and not here at DU, not on the blogs, not even in the New York Times or on CNN. Once that ice is broken and the hardest questions are directed straight to the guilty parties, we may begin to see the fascade fall away. That fascade seems to me to be built around the whole concept of "We couldn't have predicted this." Even though they must surely KNOW the entire scenario as it has played out COULD have been and WAS predicted.

"...unless it's a REAL, HUGE emergency," indeed! Statements like this will I hope come back to haunt those who utter them in these days. During the congressional and other investigations that will assuredly take place -- and very soon, we will have a chance to hear those same speakers try to explain why they said to us what they did in these days.

They can explain ... but they will never be able to "explain away" their incompetence and lack of foresight, and their inability to shift their attitude early enough in this catastrophe to "hurry up" the process of rescue and relief. Wonder what sort of SALARY Chertoff draws down? Surely you would think it's enough to EXPECT him to have some accurate foresight regarding emergencies?

Oh, but we don't expect him to kick THAT talent into gear within 24 hours "... unless it's a REAL, HUGE emergency"!

~VV

__________________________________________

[jbond56]

26. yep

I sent the video to crooks and liars.

[htuttle]

10. Well, they ended up in Iraq quickly enough

How'd they manage to do that?

[justabob]

12. Treason nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Translation= poor black people stranded in places they were

sent does NOT constitute an EMERGENCY! :grr:

[bpilgrim]

14. the NO Authorities Declared it an Emergency last Sunday

more...
http://news.globalfreepress.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=103

but i'm sure they will be able to make it all debatable

peace

[Corgigal]

15. They knew it was an emergency

48 hours before the storm hit. Good luck with that lying logic Chertoff.

[Frederik]

16. Emergencies

only involve rich white people.

[Garbo 2004]

17. Bush declared state of emergency on Saturday 27th before the storm hit.

This in anticipation that one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the US would cause catastrophic damage in several states. Such emergency declarations in advance are done to expedite the preparation and deployment of emergency resources, like FEMA and the guard. You know, so relief efforts can "hit the ground running" immediately after the storm has passed through. Not four or five days later while people struggle for survival and die.

Next excuse, Chertoff?

[texpatriot2004]

19. Chertoff is lying. Chertoff is wrong. The people know what really

happened here. The media knows what happened here. Chertoff is wrong! The response was NOT ADEQUATE! The public should not accept their bullshit answers from the land of bubble that they call reality. It was a pathetic response. We are NOT "SECURE" we are not prepared for disasters, natural or otherwise. Bush is negligent, he is incompetent, he is NOT a leader! This crap that they are trying to sell on CNN should not be bought by anyone. Heads should roll! These people who have failed us in such a colossal way MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE NOW!

[ellie]

20. If he doesn't consider this

an emergency then god help us all what he does consider an emergency.

[Zenlitened]

21. But there's an important admission in that statement.

Relief CAN be mobilized in 24 hours.

Believe it or not, there are Bush apologists out there claiming it takes three days to get rescue and relief moving.

A nonsensical point. And it gets even worse when you ask 'em the obvious follow-up question: "Really? Then why did it take FOUR days to get help in to New Orleans?"

:crazy:

[lebkuchen]

22. Europe no longer sees the US in any type of leadership role

I sense that the continent is ready to step up and fill the vaccuum in a cooperative fashion with the rest of the world. Bush, and the US, has lost all credibility.

[Zenlitened]

24. Remember when America was a superpower?

Bush and his cabal have put an end to that, haven't they?

[Don Claybrook]

23. Negligent Homicide, Immediate Termination and Indictments

Negligent Homicide. I refuse to even mention Chertoff or Brown's names anymore without making sure to mention that they're both guilty of TENS OF THOUSANDS OF COUNTS OF NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE and that they both need to be IMMEDIATELY FIRED AND INDICTED.

[Berry Cool]

27. I dare to ask a small question.

What if it HAD hit Florida as originally predicted?

Jeb's state?

A state, largely, of the wealthy and retired...rather than a state occupied largely by the working poor?

Oh, given how things were last year, maybe I don't even have to answer that question. But still, I'll bring it up anyway.

[jbond56]

28. video

http://jbond56.sitesled.com/chertoff.wmv

[jbond56]

29. also on crooks and liars

http://www.crooksandliars.com

[markus]

30. A million refugees and all their friends and family know you're lying

They are desperate, for fear the people will rise up against them when the depth and horror of their monumental incompetence and indifference is exposed.

Let the games begin.