Wednesday, 07 September 2005


Look, it's really very simple. On Saturday, August 27, 2005 -- two days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall -- President George W. Bush assumed responsibility for the coordination of "all disaster relief efforts" in the State of Louisiana. This is the specific, undisputed language of Bush's declaration of a State of Emergency, issued that day by the White House, and still available for viewing on the White House website. The responsibility for coordinating all disaster relief efforts in New Orleans clearly rested with the White House. Despite all the post-disaster spin by the Bush Faction and its sycophants, despite all the earnest media analyses, the lines of authority are clear and indisputable. Here is the voice of George W. Bush himself, in the proclamation issued in his name, over his signature on Saturday, August 27, 2005:

"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"

Bush goes on to say: "Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

There is really nothing more to be said about "lines of authority" and "who was responsible" for managing the relief effort. Two days before the hurricane struck Louisiana, the President of the United States assumed the responsibility for coordinating ALL disaster relief efforts. He then specifically designated FEMA as the lead agency in charge of this effort, giving it presidential authorization to mobilize any and all resources necessary to "alleviate the impacts of the emergency." What's more, FEMA was given specific, direct, presidential authority to act at its discretion -- it did not have to wait for approval from elsewhere in the federal government or from state or local authorities.

All of this is as plain as day; it's set down in black and white, in a direct, unambiguous document signed by President George W. Bush and available 24 hours a day on the official White House website. If any Beltway pundit or high media mandarin wishes to know who was responsible for the direction of "ALL disaster relief efforts" in the Gulf Coast during and after the storm, they need only consult the White House website.

Can we end this ludicrous "debate" about blame now?
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