Go Timmy!

Wow, Tim Russert screaming at Michael Chertoff (spelling?), screaming at him asking him how he and the president can say that they were caught off guard with the levee breaking. This guy keeps passing the buck, first saying that's not what he said, then saying that hell, the city's shaped like a damn bowl and anyone who left is just fine. It's those people who were stupid enough to stay behind that are all dead.

For once in his life, Russert not only calls him on the fact that those people left behind are all there because they were too poor to leave. Then he pulls out a print out of the Homeland Security web page that says they were responsible for natural disasters, so why the fuck didn't they have every boat, plane, bus, rickshaw, what have you down there getting these people the hell out of the city?

And of course, that's the city and the state's responsibility. Not his.

BTW, in case anyone has forgotten :

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

Hat tip to Atrios