So you've heard how Team BushCo faked the repair of the 17th Street levee for the benefit of his photo-op tour through the devestated region. Here's another reason why that was an especially evil thing to do - this is from his speech at the NOLA airport - watch him interrupt himself to wedge in the lie about the levee:
The caravans -- the bus caravans are continuing on, as is the airlift. The people of this part of the world have got to understand -- and by the way, we just came from the 17th Street levee. A lot of folks are working hard to repair that levee. They've been working around the clock, 24 hours a day. People from the federal government and the state government and the local government are working to breach that -- to fill that breach. The Mayor has been telling me, not only by telephone, but here in person, how important it is that we get that breach filled and get that pump station up and running. And we went there to inspect the progress being done, and the people of New Orleans have got to understand there's a lot of people working hard, and they're making good progress.
Getting that levee fixed is one of the linchpins of NOLA's recovery. The status of the repair work actually means something to the people he was speaking to. I'd write more but you know, he has no shame. On the bright side, now we know exactly what that lying sack of shit means when he says "good progress."
UPDATE: Laura Rozen heard about more unconscionable photo-op aid from a Dutch reader:
There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports of the same event by German TV.
ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.
The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said ZDF.
It really is just a matter of time before I start making public statements that attract the attention of the Secret Service. I mean, I know me.
Posted by: Chris Clarke | September 04, 2005 at 02:26 AM
Chris, they'll be too busy flying over here and demanding the British govt release me into their custody.
Meanwhile, I've remembered something about the deputy director of FEMA.
He used to be in charge of photo ops for the campaign. He was director of advance operations.
I worked with the advance people for the Dean campaign. That's what we did, basically. Arrange everything to be the perfect photo op.
Sounds like he's doing exactly what he was hired to do.
Posted by: KathyF | September 04, 2005 at 05:15 AM
Well as Ari Fleisher so famously advised us, "people have to watch what they say and watch what they do." I never thought he was kidding.
Kathy - I didn't know that about the horse lawyer. Stuff is making more sense now.
Posted by: eRobin | September 04, 2005 at 11:02 AM
I wish somebody had filled up his mother's breach with concrete.
Posted by: Neil Shakespeare | September 04, 2005 at 07:36 PM
You're blaming his mother?!
How is it that whenever a man acts like an idiot, we always somehow get around to blaming a woman for it?
Nasty, Neil. Knock it off.
Posted by: Mick | September 04, 2005 at 09:09 PM
I think he was just wishing BushCo had never been born and picked a particularly uncomfortable way to say it.
Posted by: eRobin | September 04, 2005 at 09:21 PM
Especially considering the fact that vasectomizing GHWB would have been funnier and apropos.
Posted by: Chris Clarke | September 04, 2005 at 09:57 PM