Gary Secondino's Weblog

Jonh Robb adds his thoughts about the lying liars in the Bush administration.

Incompetence is bad enough, but to compound it with a lie is criminal. We need to face the fact that we spent four years and nearly $10 billion on Homeland security improvements that will not mitigate the impact of any future attack. The money has been squandered and critical time has been lost.

Our government has become not only an embarrassment but a liability in any future crisis.

via NOLA

On Saturday Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans.

Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storms potential deadly effects.

Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.

We were briefing them way before landfall, Mayfield said. Its not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.

iSay - My GOD! What has happened in this country to being a stand-up-guy who speaks the truth. This is the opposite of leadership and good government and I'm sad to say it starts at the top. It's not just a different point of view. These cover up lies will do more damage to the Republicans seeking election than can ever be imagined. The Democrats will have plenty of ammunition for the next election, and I hope they use it.