President Bush said at a press conference this afternoon that "I take responsibility" for failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and said the disaster raised broader questions about the government's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks.
"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at joint White House news conference with the president of Iraq. "To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."
If your jaw just dropped or you fell off your chair, be advised: you read correctly. If you are a conservative who has spent the last two weeks vigilantly trying to convince others that only Democrats — New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Louisiana Governor Blanco — were to blame, be advised: what Bush said today doesn't match your spin.
In all honesty, my respect level for Bush just rose a notch. The entire purpose of this blog is to react to the constant drumbeat of empty spin and propaganda from the Bush Administration and its far-flung cadre of political and pundit supporters.
Today's admission by Bush may have been scripted by Karl Rove, and it may have been made simply to stop the freefall Bush's popularity has taken since Katrina hit. But even it serves a political purpose, Bush's statement today is far better than patronizing the press and the American people, by suggesting that questioning — let alone criticizing — the administration is playing some unfair "blame game."
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The president was asked whether people should be worried about the government's ability to handle another terrorist attack given failures in responding to Katrina.
"Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That's a very important question and it's in the national interest that we find out what went on so we can better respond," Bush replied.
Article comments
1 - Georgio
Did he really take responsibility or just tried to head off the truth from coming out..was Nancy Pelosi right when she said "he does not have to look any further than the mirror"...will he take blame for the death of those that died in Hospitals and nursing homes ..I think not..
If Bill Clinton would have said I am sorry I let Monica suck my dick would the Republicans forgive him ...I think not.
2 - Bob A. Booey
This was a good move politically to blunt the outrage directed at him already by the public and thus the intensity of whatever Congressional investigations are to come.
Plus, his political capital is already very low, so he needs to salvage what he can for his Supreme Court nominees since the rest of his domestic agenda is stalled.
Bush is better in his Healer-in-Chief humbled moments in the wake of tragedy, and he made the same political mistake his father did immediately after Katrina, appearing aloof and uninterested (even holding that silly dog of his in his arms during the first press appearance following the hurricane).
But he has a smart political team around him and I think they realized, as a lame duck, President, that he has nothing to lose by apologizing and taking blame that he does deserve in order to get the nation and Congress to rally around relief efforts.
That is all.
3 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
I must confess it made me respect him a touch more. Which probably just makes me a chump: the truth is, he took a hell of a long time to take responsibility, relative to say, Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs. In fact, I suspect he simply ran out of options.
who have been denying his responsibility in the past few days are going to have a hard time figuring out what to do with this. Do they now hold him responsible? Do they admit to, well, lying on his behalf? Do they regret that he's been forced to mouth these words? (Rush does.)
And it's true that all of those spindits
4 - Bilbo
Bush knew if there was an "Investigation" his ass was done. So, keep the dogs off his ass he took the high road.