Why is Dubya trying to federalize the Gulf Coast "tsunami"?

[AirAmFan]

Why does Dubya want to federalize the Gulf Coast "tsunami" recovery?



IMHO, this photo (from an official US propaganda webpage at http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2005/Sep/02-478947.html ) says it all. As Dubya's daddy once said as a more legitimate occupant of the White House, "Message: We care!"

A Time magazine story after 9/11 revealed that the prime directive for the newly-created "Homeland Security Department" was to provide Dubya with one photo-op a month, which would then be rebroadcast dozens and hundreds of times to help brainwash millions into perceiving the Dimwit-in-Chief as a "strong leader".

I suspect that, since Katrina is even more devastating than 9/11, Rove is salivating at the thought of boosting Dubya's record-low poll numbers with propaganda from Mississippi, Alabama, and, especially, the barely Democratic holdout state of Louisiana. With Democrats in Baton Rouge out of the way, years of recovery efforts could be built COMPLETELY around photo-ops for Dubya and for hopefuls like Gov Haley Barbour of Mississippi, former RNC chair. Thus this week's delay of substantial aid for the Superdome until Dubya's end-of-the week publicity tour of the area would be a harbinger of much more mischief to come. The dimwit whose incompetence cost dozens or hundreds of people thier lives would be allowed to overwhelm US politics with phoney "compassion".

For a few preliminary details of Dubya's plan to federalize the Gulf Coast disaster, see Rose Siding's thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1750979 . Luckily, Gov Blanco of Louisiana is fighting back by hiring James Lee Witt, Clinton's masterful FEMA genius, as a fuly-empowered consultant.

What do you think?

[tulsakatz]

1. now I get it!!

You know, I wondered why it took him 2 days to get down there!

He ended his vacation and went back to DC on Wednesday but he didn't actually set foot on the ground near the Gulf until Friday! Now I get it, it took them 2 days to set up the photo ops!

[TahitiNut]

3. He went back on Wednesday to make a recess appointment.

Congress delayed coming back into session earlier in order to keep the recess. The corruption of this regime knows no boundaries. None.

[AirAmFan]

12. Thanks--that one slipped by me. Why don't they just recess-appoint a USSC

Justice? Republicans have killed a long tradition of at least the appearance of bipartisanship on the most important national decisions. That will be their legacy.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. They want to say they are "Shocked! Shocked!!! Not our fault!!"

Shrub Bush wants to take over so that his spin meisters can say that the mess is not their fault. They are already trying to say that they weren't informed until late, which is a lie. They want to come in and say this was much worse than they were told and thus they aren't responsible or to blame.

It's all more "man behind the curtain" stuff.

[AirAmFan]

8. Granted, they want to try to play the Superdome fiasco like *'s AWOL:

Just as, during the 2004 campaign, they "inoculated" Dubya against bad PR over disappearing from Guard duty by Swiftboating John Kerry, Rove et al want to pre-empt any Democratic attacks on the incompetence and disdain for poor people of Dubya and his completely incompetent FEMA director, Michael Brown.

But inoculation is a short-term goal. POSITIVE propaganda from disaster or "homeland insecurity" photo-ops is much more powerful and much longer lasting. It will take many years and several national election cycles to rebuild NOLA. I can just imagine what Barbour is telling Dubya's handlers about the potential Katrina disaster aid holds for Republican propagnda over at least the next two election cycles.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Yes, Follow the money $10.5 Billion

There is still no accounting for $8 billion cash in Iraq.

Fat cats are licking their chops even now contemplating the emergency $10.5 billion.

[Sparkly]

4. They do NOT want Witt involved.

I think that's why they want to take over the whole thing at this point. Having the former head of FEMA advising the governor, over the current head of FEMA, is politically damaging. (And if General Clark goes in, since he works with Witt, they'd reeeeally hate that. They'd be totally upstaged.)

[Tanuki]

5. "Ashley" redux.

Gag. Doesn't this remind you of his much-exploited hug of Ashley Faulkner, the little girl whose mother was killed on September 11?

[AirAmFan]

11. I'd forgotten about her. A Rethug soft money group spent $14 million

to saturate the airwaves and cable with a campaign ad built around that particular photo-op, as I found by googling just now (to http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-10-18-adwatch-ashley_x.htm ).

Just as the 2004 Rethug National Convention took place in NYC, how much do you want to bet that Rove, Mehlman, and company are booking the NO Convention center RIGHT NOW for 2008?

[Jersey Devil]

6. To hide the bodies in the attics with no press around

Federalizing means martial law, kick the press out, then lie about the number of bodies in the attics that are recovered and buried in mass graves. No one could ever call them on it. All they'd have to say is that 'they must have evacuated, no one in that house.'

[thecrow]

10. Thank you...I've been saying that for two days.

[DELUSIONAL]

13. It would be damned hard to hide that many bodies

these people are part of families and they have friends.

Plus there is a huge paper trail on everyone. There are too many of us and we could start digging through the paper work -- phone books, public records.

Remember -- the whole world is watching. They already know that bushie is a liar -- so when people start asking -- "what happened to my" auntie/uncle/grandmother/father/brother/sister/mother/father etc etc.

Plus there are records of people who are trapped and trying to call out. I really doubt that people will passively allow kin and friends to be dumped forgotten in mass graves.

We are all going to have to watch the bushie crime gang and keep asking questions.

[wellstone_democrat]

7. something else just as critical

federalizing the rescue/relief/reconstruction allows the control of news--especially in the number of dead. They want us to think 10K and then claim much less and thus the anger dampens down as people think it "wasn't that bad"

the truth is that it is much worse. We cannot let them federalize, we cannot let them cover up the best estimates of the number lost. It will be the final insult to those people and their disgraceful death. We owe them and their families that much.