This report was on the ABC Evening New tonight and is also frontpaged on their website. I happened to watch this report tonight and it made my blood boil. How could this be reported without gagging.
They have blantantly followed Rove's talking points. Below is the same story as frontpaged on their site. This is what millions of people see every night. Not everyone is reading dkos.
Who's to Blame for Delayed Response to Katrina? ABC News Report
New Orleans' own comprehensive emergency plan raises the specter of "having large numbers of people ... stranded" and promises "the city ... will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas."
"Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves," the plan states.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, however, that plan was not followed completely.
Let's see no mention of what the National response should have been. Georgia10's diary
National Response Plan: THE BUCK STOPS HERE. clearly lays this reponsibity at FEMA's doorstep. Why wasn't FEMA there to help the state and city should have been this Reporters(Transcribers) question.
Instead of sending city buses to evacuate those who could not make it out on their own, people in New Orleans were told to go to the Superdome and the Convention Center, where no one provided sufficient sustenance or security.
'Lives Would Have Been Saved'
DKos diary:
Troll busses
Again where were the Feds/FEMA - they had already declared a national emergency. Nothing mentioned about this here. A mass evactuation and hey each city is on its own. Feel safe now!
Williams dealt with emergency response issues as a state representative in Washington when his district was forced to deal with the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
"If the plan were implemented, lives would have been saved," Williams said.
Don't know who Williams is. But was he saying that it was the Mayor's fault for not handling a national emergency without national help to perfection. No mention of FEMA and Bush being AWOL
There's no question the federal government plays a major role in disaster relief. But federal officials say in order to get involved, they must first be asked to do so by state officials.
Here they go once again. They couldn't have perhaps called the state officials if this is what was stopping them, though a real person would have rolled up their sleeves and asked how they could help but they were looking for excuses not to help.
Why didn't the Reporter call Bush on this. I can't believe that this is even an excuse not to help.
As one FEMA official told ABC News, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco failed to submit a request for help in a timely manner.
On saturday Aug 26 before the hurricane hit
GOVERNOR BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
Hey is anyone home in Washington. Last time I checked this storm was not a one state disaster, but a national disaster requiring a coordinated response between states and local government, which is FEMA's mandate.
Are emergency workers going to be required to hand out forms for people drowning to sign before they attempt to save them. This is pure B.S. and I can't even believe this is a Rove talking point.
Again no looking to see if the facts reported are credible.
Shortly before Katrina hit, she sent President Bush a request, asking for shelter and provisions, but didn't specifically ask for help with evacuations. One aide to the governor told ABC News today Blanco thought city officials were taking care of the evacuation.
Here they go again.
"If the city and the state are stumbling or in over their head, then it's FEMA's responsibility to show some leadership," said Jerry Hauer, director of public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services.
finally a weak mention of FEMA's, but fails to mention the many facts showing that this is in fact the law.
Both the president and Congress have vowed to investigate questions of blame. It may already be safe to conclude that there will be plenty of it to go around.
Yea spread it all around, help to weaken the stench of dead bodies that the President and his Administration are clearly responsible for.
The kind of stuff is passed off as journalism once again. I thought maybe that the reporters would be hit by the massive incompetance of the administration they have been so eagerly propping up. But no it is back to Corporate Business once again for ABC News.
Lastly, there are those here that are better at debunking this story and I will update with them
Since this will continue though, it would be a good idea for a website to nightly debunk the crap individual shows are spewing. I know mediamatters does this, but not nightly. Maybe there is a site that already does this, please let us know here.