I'm impressed that the President made this statement... _________________ "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." _______ Bush: 'I take responsibility' WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush took responsibility on Tuesday for any failures in the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina that struck two weeks ago and acknowledged the storm exposed deficiencies at all levels of government four years after the September 11 attacks. Asked if Americans should be concerned their government remains unprepared to respond to another major disaster or a terrorist attack, Bush said: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." Speaking at a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Bush said, "I want to know what went right and what went wrong. I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government to be able to answer that very question that you asked. "Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm? And that's a very important question and it's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on so we can better respond," Bush said. The president plunged in the polls after fierce criticism for the government's slow response to the hurricane that ravaged the U.S. Gulf cost when it struck on August 29, killing hundreds and displacing 1 million people in one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. link
Too little, and way too late. But at least the words came out of his mouth. He needs to say the same thing about the war in Iraq. Now THAT would be front page news.
i think it is good that he said this, although i don't think he needed to because he shouldnt be taking on all the blame himself (yes, he had his shortcomings) but federal response was quicker in this storm then it was in Hugo and Andrew...
Bush: "I take responsibility" I'm a Bush supporter, always have been - I think everyone from the top to the bottom screwed up on Katrina and I am glad to see Bush accept the blame. The FEMA boso has been replaced and I hope this is just the beginning of the changes that need to occur. I wish everyone would just accept the fact that everyone regardless of race or political affiliation screwed up and move forward with recovering from this disaster. link
GWB taking (personal) responsibility, hmmm, is it the first ever for him? Hopefully it's not just hollow words. For now, I am prepared to give Dubya the "benefits of the doubt". Will refrain myself from posting any Bush-bashing stuff for, uh.., the next three months.
Well it's good to hear. I think he should take responsibility. Lord knows I have to take responsibility at my job.
He really does, him taking the blame for this one is absoulutely brilliant political strategy. And then to say it on National TV. He may be the worse President ever, but someone put the best Political PR crew together for him ever assembled.
wait, wait, wait. there was no one better than Clinton at that sort of thing. no one. Mr. Teflon. i'm not knocking Clinton at all...but in this media age, in order to survive politically, you must have a kick-ass PR crew.
The "worse" president ever? Have you actually studied every presidency since Washington and thereby justify such a statement?
Hey my abstinence is only limited to Bush-bashing. I am at liberty of blasting any other right-wing freaks as much as I want to. But seriously, I am trying to be non-partisan for a while to see if I can understand the other side a little better. Believe it or not, I used to be a 'softcore' Rush dittohead.
it's obviously his opinion. Questioning someone's opinion seems pretty weak esp. since there are many facts backing up his opinion. A better route would be to ask him how he arrived at his opinion. But then this thread will wind up into another Bush/Iraq thread and we don't want that to happen, or do we?
I've taken many classes on American Presidents and can say with some certainty that if you ask any expert on the issue, GWB will end up on the bottom of the list MAYBE 1 out of 500 times.
There are no facts you could use to justify him as the worst president ever. You could justify him as a bad president if you subscribe to certain ideologies, don't get me wrong. But anyone claiming Bush as the worst president ever has no sense of history with regards to the presidency and those that have held the office.
