Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. And yet, not...

I have friends that lost a great deal in New Orleans. They're rebuilding their lives, and sadly, waiting for FEMA checks that of course, the government has screwed up the process of distributing. People died in New Orleans. Innocent animals died, not able to comprehend what was happening to them. Babies died. The elderly died, and in a final indignity, were left to rot in wheelchairs, the only testament to them being their photos spreading like wildfire on the Internet - that alone, a silent indictment of how badly the Bush administration mis-handled this.

I got the following from MoveOn.org. I'm so disgusted I can't even editorialize.

"This evening, the Associated Press released secret transcripts and video footage showing President Bush being personally briefed the day before Hurricane Katrina hit land. The predictions he heard were shockingly precise and accurate—including the failure of the levees. He knew exactly what was coming. The article is a smoking gun on Bush's unpardonable failure to keep us> safe. In just a few hours, the White House will be filling the airwaves with spin, so it's important to reach out right now to pass on the straight story to family and friends. If each of us acts, we can directly reach millions of people before morning. The full AP article is attached below. Can you help get the word out to at least 5 friends? You can forward on this note or follow the link> below:>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1508_video>> At the August 28th briefing, the president was told exactly what to expect:

• The chief scientist of the National Hurricane Center warned that a major levee breach was "obviously a very, very grave concern." Bush lied to the entire nation about this point just 5 days later.

• Michael Brown told the president that if New Orleans flooded the Superdome emergency shelter would likely be under water and short on supplies, creating a "catastrophe within a catastrophe."

• Experts and officials implored the President to prepare for, as the AP described it, "devastation of historic proportions." President Bush didn't ask a single question during the briefing. In the next two days he campaigned, attended birthday parties and played guitar while the worst natural disaster in American history killed over 1,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

There can now be no mistake: President Bush had a chance to lead, and he failed to keep us safe. In the next few days, we'll be tracking this story carefully and> coordinating our response with partners in New Orleans and around the> nation. The survivors of Katrina deserve to know why the president left them to suffer the storm. And the people of the United States deserve> leadership we can trust to keep our families safe. We'll work hard together until we have both.

Tonight, let's start by spreading the word:>> http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1508_video>>

Thanks for all that you do,
—Ben, Nita, Tom, Jen, Adam R, Justin, Adam G, Eli and the whole MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, March 01, 2006