quote:

---

Saturday, Aug 27 - T-2 days:

President bush (Loser #3) makes the official written declaration of a state of emergency, and authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and 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."

This declaration is limited to a specific list of parishes. The list does NOT include Orleans, St. Bernard, or any other parishes in South Louisiana, which is the most vulnerable (and the most Democratic) region. There is NO federal state of emergency in the southern parishes.

What the f*$k happened to the Gulf Coast?

(Full text is at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html)

---

quote:

---

Saturday, Aug 27 -T-2 days:

Date of press release: "Governor Blanco asks President to Declare an Emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina." In this request, Blanco specifically asks the President to include the southern parishes in his emergency declaration:

This time, the southern parishes are specified:

"The affected areas are all the southeastern parishes including the New Orleans Metropolitan area and the mid state Interstate I-49 corridor and northern parishes along the I-20 corridor that are accepting the thousands of citizens evacuating from the areas expecting to be flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina."

The following communication is sent to the White House via FEMA:

"Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal."

Which follows is a period of miscommunication which creates the oft-referenced, and now infamous, "24-hour delay," in which the president and the governor both seem to be waiting for the other one to give in. This apparent pissing contest will figure highly in the subsequent "Blame Game," as so termed by the bush administration and picked up by the right wing echo chamber as an attempt to dismiss all the outcry as partisan politics as usual. As this "game" progresses, the governor will accuse the president of attempting to take away state sovereignty by granting Federal troops and agents unprecedented powers approaching martial law. The president will say that the governor did not understand the situation.

---

quote:

---

Wednesday, August 31 - T+2 Days:

Sightings of Condoleezza Rice abound, all over the tonier parts of Manhattan. In the morning, the US Secretary of State, former National Security Officer, and bigtime bush confidante, is spotted playing tennis with Monica Seles.

Later that day, security guards swarm 5th avenue, where a number of witnesses corroborate the description of an incident at a posh Ferragamo store, where Rice buys several thousand dollars worth of shoes. Another customer is seen approaching Rice and shouting, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" Rice orders security to remove the person from the building.

Similar scenes on 7th Avenue later in the day.

That night, Rice is spotted at a performance of "Spamalot," one of the tougher tickets in NYC. After the lights come up at the end of the show, someone points her out. Several Schubert Theater patrons boo. The event is reported in NYC papers.

---