The president finally visited New Orleans today — with its population evacuated, presumably there was less of a chance Bush might see someone with whom he disagreed — and was asked if he had been “misinformed” when he said that no one anticipated the breach of the city’s levees.
He explained that he wasn’t misinformed, but rather, was relieved by reports that probably didn’t exist.
“What I was referring to is this: When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, ‘Whew.’ There was a sense of relaxation. And that’s what I was referring to.
“And I myself thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people probably over the airwaves say, ‘The bullet has been dodged.’ And that was what I was referring to.”
On any number of levels, this doesn’t make any sense. In context, the “I don’t think anyone anticipated” line didn’t sound like a response to ongoing media reports; it sounded like historical reflection. Strike one.
Moreover, Bush claims to have been listening to people “over the airwaves,” who mysteriously lapsed into passive voice when telling him “The bullet has been dodged.” This, too, seems to contradict White House staff reports that Bush wasn’t paying attention to the news early that week, not to mention the fact that no one can find any evidence of media reports saying anything like this by the time Bush made the remark. Strike two.
And, finally, Bush’s latest explanation isn’t consistent with events as they unfolded in Louisiana.
As our timeline shows, Bush learned of the serious potential that the levees could be topped as early as Sunday, well before the storm hit, during a briefing with the National Hurricane Center director. More importantly, water was flowing over the levees before Katrina hit land at 6:30 a.m. (By late Sunday night, waves were crashing over the levee walkway. By 3 a.m. on Monday, they had failed.)
So Bush’s “sense of relaxation” came long after the levees had been breached.
Strike three.