thanks to
capitolbuzz we don't have to hear him mispronounce half of it. a lot of hot air and spin. i was half holding out for a resignation announcement.
fold . . . now.
Speech Excerpts from President Bush's Address to the Nation as Prepared for Delivery
"Tonight so many victims of the hurricane and the flood are far from home and friends and familiar things. You need to know that our whole Nation cares about you - and in the journey ahead you are not alone."
yup. tell that to the people who are still stranded in their attics.
"To all who carry a burden of loss, I extend the deepest sympathy of our country. To every person who has served and sacrificed in this emergency, I offer the gratitude of our country. And tonight I also offer this pledge of the American people:"
you don't speak for me, chimp. i expressed my sympathy through action. you let a man drown, you don't belong at his funeral, and you surely don't have a right to give his eulogy in my name.
"Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes ... we will stay as long as it takes ... to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives. And all who question the future of the Crescent City need to know: There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again."
stay the course, right? same crap he told the iraqis and just as sincere. you're doin' a heck of a job all around, baby.
"And the Federal government will undertake a close partnership with the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans, and other Gulf Coast cities, so they can rebuild in a sensible, well planned way."
casino city, baby. they've been thinking long and hard.
"Federal funds will cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the disaster zone, from roads and bridges to schools and water systems. Our goal is to get the work done quickly."
"And taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly and wisely - so we will have a team of inspector generals reviewing all expenditures."
inspector generals = rove and dickie? he couldn't even be trusted to demand congress launch an independent investigation of the post-flood federal disaster. i really hope that this doesn't satiate the electorate. this regime is transparent as a brick wall and just as thick.
"The work that has begun in the Gulf Coast region will be one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen. When that job is done, all Americans will have something to be very proud of - and all Americans are needed in this common effort."
if it's done after 2008, i couldn't agree with him more: we'll have something to be very proud of by then: a dem in the oval office!
"The government of this nation will do its part as well. Our cities must have clear and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or terrorist attack ... for evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency ... and for providing the food, water, and security they would need."
he did so well following the 9-11 commission, i'm sure if we just trusted him here, everything's gonna be alright . . . i can't believe he has the gall to say this.
"In a time of terror threats and weapons of mass destruction, the danger to our citizens reaches much wider than a fault line or a flood plain. I consider detailed emergency planning to be a national security priority."
oh really. changed your mind, did ya?
"I also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane Katrina. The storm involved a massive flood, a major supply and security operation, and an evacuation order affecting more than a million people. It was not a normal hurricane - and the normal disaster relief system was not equal to it."
that last part is the most rovian part of the speech. if he gets off on this by saying that this was of unforeseeable magnitude and couldn't have been planned for, i'm not going to be happy.