Give NBC's David Gregory credit. He tried. He put up a fight. He showed cahones. He did his job. And after an exhaustive back-and-forth, he actually got an answer from White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan today.
Gregory simply wanted to know if President Bush still has confidence in much-criticized FEMA Director Mike Brown, or "Brownie," as the president called him the other day when, in the midst of a federal response to Hurricane Katrina that even the president found lacking, Bush turned to Brown and said, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
McClellan tried several times to deflect Gregory, using the new Bush spin that anyone who questions the federal response to Katrina is playing the "blame game" and that now is not the time to "finger point." After all, President Bush plans to investigate himself!
But Gregory stood up for himself, insisted that McClellan not "dodge" the question, and ultimately — huzzah — got an answer.
From today's White House press briefing:
Q Scott, does the President retain confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security?
MR. McCLELLAN: And again, David, see, this is where some people want to look at the blame game issue, and finger-point. We're focused on solving problems, and we're doing everything we can --
Q What about the question?
MR. McCLELLAN: We're doing everything we can in support --
Q We know all that.
MR. McCLELLAN: — of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
Q Does he retain complete confidence --
MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to continue. We appreciate the great effort that all of those at FEMA, including the head of FEMA, are doing to help the people in the region. And I'm just not going to engage in the blame game or finger-pointing that you're trying to get me to engage.
Q Okay, but that's not at all what I was asking.
MR. McCLELLAN: Sure it is. It's exactly what you're trying to play.
Q You have your same point you want to make about the blame game, which you've said enough now. I'm asking you a direct question, which you're dodging.
MR. McCLELLAN: No --
Article comments
1 - John A. Conley
David, good post. What do you expect from a pig but a grunt? (Talking about McClellan, in case there was any confusion.)
2 - Bob A. Booey
Go David Gregory.
That is all.
3 - Dave Nalle
This exchange between McClellan and Gregory is laughable. McClellan needs to grow some balls, stop trying to cover for Governor Blanco and just say what everyone is starting to realize - that the state and local government fucked up so badly that they hindered the federal relief effort drastically, and that feds main mistake was not declaring martial law immediately and removing the state authorities from the picture completely once their incompetence was obvious on about the 30th.
Dave
4 - John A. Conley
Wow, Dave you really came out swinging on this one. For an accurate timeline on how this failure occured I suggest you check out this link.
5 - Doug Smith
You just keep drinking that conservative Kool-Aid, Mr. Nalle. Hold that party line and maybe reality will twist itself around it.
Actually, I doubt it. I think this one is finally gonna stick to GW and the boys.
6 - Dave Nalle
Nice timeline, Conley. It just seems to be selective about what facts it includes. For example it omits the part where Nagin after issuing the evacuation order, turns a blind eye while most of his police force goes awol and then leaves the city himself without actually trying to evacuate anyone. It also has the now debunked lie about the Bataan not providing any services, while the truth is that the Bataan started removing the sick and injured by chopper immediately and helped thousands of people with no one at the time being aware of it in the media or emergency management. It also glosses over the fact that Governor Blanco ordered the Red Cross to stay out of the city and maintained that order throughout the crisis.
It's not much use to put things in a timeline if it's only the things which serve your political agenda.
Dave
7 - David R. Mark
Isn't it possible, Dave, that local, state and federal officials screwed up?
And c'mon, Mike Brown is possibly the single worst high-placed federal official since James Watt. He's been caught in more than one outright lie by the Times-Picayune in the past week, and like Chertoff, apparently didn't bother to read a newspaper or watch television news before sitting down for interviews.
It's ridiculous that he and Chertoff both claimed not to realize that people were at the convention center, 36 hours after television coverage of that existence had begun.
8 - Silas Kain
The press is starting to get it some 3 years, 11 months and 20 days late. How long will it be before the American people get it?
9 - Lumpy
Governor Blanco declared a state of emergency and asked for FEMA to provide federal assistance, even before the storm hit. The letter to FEMA is on the state of Louisiana's website.
The storm hit Monday at 7 am.
George Bush stayed on vacation until Wednesday. Dick Cheney stayed on vacation until Thursday.
(Condi and Rummy also stayed on vacation.)
Nice leadership by Shrub and Smirk. Really inconvenient timing of that hurricane, eh. On a positive note, no Arabian horses are known to have perished in the week following the hurricane.
However, how many hundreds (or thousands) of people will have died from drowning in their own homes, because of the slow response from FEMA?
10 - Shark
I'm hoping this is the first sign that the Somnambulent Eunuch known as 'the American Press' will finally wake up and grow some testicles.
One glimmer of light in the Dark Night of the Bush Years?
We'll see.
====
PS: Dave, after the Iraq disaster and now this Katrina disaster -- you've lost any shred of integrity and credibility as a "libertarian", as "politically independent", and as a 'true liberal moderate' on "no one's side."
You come across as Bush's Apologist to the point of absurdity.
In recent BC polls:
80% said that you had become a caricature worthy only of mockery and derision.
73% said that if Bush were caught fucking a dog, you would most likely insist the President was doing a colon inspection for the American Humane Society.
11 - Eric Olsen
for all that tenacity, he still didn't get Scotty to say much
12 - Shark
Scotty's public oratory skills make Ari Fleischer sound like Shakespeare...
...Or maybe *Hitler?
* calm down, assholes, he was known as an excellent orator...
PS: I'm sure David Gregory was thinking, "jeez, this is the kinda guy I used to beat the shit out of on the playground..."
13 - Silas Kain
I always wondered how Ari Fleischer's oratory skills were. Think Jeff Gannon would ever reveal what he knows? Oops! Did I say that?
14 - David R. Mark
PS: I'm sure David Gregory was thinking, "jeez, this is the kinda guy I used to beat the shit out of on the playground..."
LOL, Shark
15 - Silas Kain
I'm very proud of David Gregory. He's not towing the corporate line and has no problem challenging the Administration. It's obvious that Scott McClellan is getting nervous. He's coming into a den of wolves daily. That can't be comfortable. If it keeps up I predict McClellan will be gone before Election Day, 2006.