Sebelius blames war, White House blames Sebelius

May 8, 2007

In the wake of the tornado disaster that razed most of Greensburg, Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) had the temerity to note that much of the state’s National Guard equipment is being used in Iraq, which in turn has hampered the recovery effort.

Today, the White House hit back. (thanks to W.B. for the tip)

The White House fought back Tuesday against criticism from Kansas’ governor that National Guard deployments to Iraq are slowing the response to last week’s devastating tornado.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the fault was Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’.

In a spat reminiscent of White House finger-pointing at Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco after the federal government’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina, Snow rapped Sebelius for not following procedure to find gaps and then asking the federal government to fill them.

“If you don’t request it, you’re not going to get it,” he said.

Snow added, “As far as we know, the only thing the governor has requested are FM radios. There have been no requests to the National Guard for heavy equipment.”

At a certain level, it seems as if the two are talking past each other a bit. Sebelius is emphasizing pre-disaster deployment, which has hampered the response, and the White House is emphasizing post-disaster aid, which Snow says hasn’t been requested.

Who’s right? By all appearances, Sebelius.

While Snow told reporters that Sebelius was yet to “request” resources, Amanda noted that Sebelius has spent the last year and a half doing just that.

* Dec. 30, 2005: Sebelius writes to Rumsfeld requesting new equipment. “The Guard was critical to responding to recent blizzards and floods in Kansas, yet its ability to respond to similar situations is being diminished by a lack of equipment,” wrote Sebelius. Included with her letter was a list of equipment Kansas had lost to the Iraq war. [Kansas City Star, 1/21/06; Topeka Capital-Journal, 6/29/06]

* Jan. 23, 2006: Sebelius personally urges Bush to increase National Guard funding. In an one-hour motorcade ride in Kansas with Bush, Sebelius expressed concern about “a reduction of National Guard troop strength in its next budget.” Bush assured her he was “dealing” with the shortages. [Topeka Capital-Journal, 1/24/06; Kansas City Star, 3/11/06]

* June 28, 2006: Sebelius sends Army Secretary list of equipment lost in war. In a meeting with Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, Sebelius told Harvey that the state had lost about $140 million in National Guard equipment to the Iraq war. Her office then sent him a list of the lost equipment. [Topeka Capital-Journal, 6/29/06]

* Sept. 5, 2006: Sebelius lobbies for replacement of National Guard equipment sent to Iraq. “Kansas’ congressional delegation, Sebelius and governors from around the country have been lobbying the Pentagon for increased funding to replace National Guard equipment that has been left in Iraq or damaged beyond repair after repeated use in war.” [AP, 9/5/06]

* Feb. 27, 2007: Sebelius pushes White House and Congress for more funding. “Now the Guard needs Washington’s help,” Sebelius said in press conference on Capitol Hill. “The President and Congress need to step up to the plate and give our Guard members the support they deserve.” [Press Release, 2/27/07]

An on-the-ball reporter noted these examples to Snow this morning, prompting the press secretary to insist Sebelius’ requests for additional resources came from “conversations,” not “formal requests.”

Another disaster, another attempt to shift blame to a Democratic governor.

It’s Sebelius‘ Guard, dammit

The Feds just borrow it from time to time, or that’s the theory.

  • Let me get this straight. Kansas sent $140 million worth of National Guard FM radios to Iraq?

    Typical WH/Republican maneuver: by the time the MSM is given copies of the “formal requests” the country will have moved on to Britney’s Vitcoria Secret Comeback Tour.

  • That’s fine, if the Rethugs want to blame the popular governor of a state that has, in recent history, been red. Apparently they figure they’ve already been a rousing success at alienating voters in blue states, its time to drive the red states away, too. Who am I to stop them?

  • This is the signal from the White House to Rush Limbaugh that it’s ok now to blame the victims of the devastation. Go get ’em Rush.

  • My mind is gravitating to the term Bastards when thinking of the lot at the WH from the top Bush man all the way to Mr. Tony Sleet. These “BASTARDS” are so wrong for our nation! -Kevo

  • I heard Gen. Tod Bunting, the Kansas National Guard AG on NBR this morning. ( http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10073323 )
    He said that while the state had the resources to respond to the tornado damage in Greensburg, it took a lot of their available resources to respond to other emergencies, including the threat of further damaging weather this week and flooding in the state.

    He also said the plan to use other states’ NG resources did not take into consideration the logistics of moving those resources to Kansas, not to mention that those states, especially other Plains states, needed the personnel and material to deal with their own natural disasters.

  • 1) I heard a comment today that any and all equipment that is in Iraq at present has been contaminated with depleted uranuim from ammunition and could not safely be brought home and used here, period. This in no way suggests Bush is righ. In fact it goes to show that no matter what he does we have no National Guard equipment.

    2) What happens if a governor refuses to allow his/her National Guard troops to be deployed? Since we are being combative.

  • If Bush Co. thinks people are going to fall for this (especially folks in Kansas), they’re nuts. Those usually GOP-loving Kansans are big fans of their governor because she’s competent, and ignore the “D.”

    What Sebelius said isn’t earth shattering—everyone with half a brain knows Bush has relied way, way too much on the Guard and reserves for his war. It’s just another example of how the war in Iraq is making us less ready to face real threats here at home.

    What scares me is that, with monsoon season in full swing here in the midwest — this weather pattern is starting to resemble ’93, which I had no desire to re-live — it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

    (On a side note, if this is how it’s going to be for the next few months, this whole are of the country is screwed. Some of the levee work hasn’t been completed as promised 14 years ago, there are virtually no National Guard troops to help out, and with the Bush gang’s history of responding to disasters we’re all preparing to do it all on our own. And since I have a creek right behind my house that wasn’t a big fan of 5 inches of rain … on Sunday alone … this all may hit way, way too close to home. And if it does, I’ll be leading a march on Washington … )

  • I heard a comment today that any and all equipment that is in Iraq at present has been contaminated with depleted uranuim from ammunition and could not safely be brought home and used here, period. This in no way suggests Bush is righ. In fact it goes to show that no matter what he does we have no National Guard equipment.

    I’m exceedingly skeptical of that. The level of DU in the environment needed to make dump trucks toxic would be completely insane. I’d check your source.

  • I heard a comment today that any and all equipment that is in Iraq at present has been contaminated with depleted uranuim from ammunition and could not safely be brought home and used here, period.

    Complete bullshit. Liberals could do themselves and their country a big service and let go of all these loopy far left wing conspiracy theories. Everyone pretty much knows that Bush is a lying crook, there’s no need to make shit up. All the hype about DU munitions is overblown. You’d have to walk through an area that had very recently been heavily bombarded with the shit to sustain significant harm. Once a good sandstorm blows through, the material dissipates and the danger it poses is neglible.

    I spent 10 months in Iraq, and the biggest radiation threat I faced was sunburn. Wear plenty of sunblock and you’re fine. And whatever you do don’t drink the water. I sometimes think that CNN puts these far left wing types on just to discredit mainsteam critics of Bush’s insane far right wing policies.

    BTW. I am National Guard and we did leave our equipment behind in Iraq. We did so because the guys replacing us were going to need it. We just don’t have enough equipment.

  • “We just don’t have enough equipment.”

    Which is because you give your fealty to a moron who has failed at everything he’s ever attempted, who has turned everything he ever touched to shit, who is now doing so to loyal Americans like you and the country you love (as do I)

  • Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t there a time when pols and their employees knew when to shut their fucking faces? Without trying I can think of several dozen replies Snowjob could have made that while trite, would not necessarily enrage the citizens of Kansas and every other tornado belt state.

    Snowflake needs to rethink his abhorrence of parsing. Not only has this worthless creep said: “Tough shit on you that we fixed it so you can’t respond when a town is wiped off the map.” Not only has he said: “Tough shit that the reason you can’t respond is we’ve sent your sons and daughters off to catch shrapnel and bullets.” But to top it all off he has said, “Well, she didn’t say please and fill out the proper form.”

    Yeah. That will play well in the heartland.

  • The fourth item, Stp5, 2006 is the key.

    She couldn’t “formally request” before she had funds to pay for it correct?
    Doesn’t this mean, they lobbied for teh funding to replace…

    I am also interested in the answer about states refusing to deploy NG to Iraq. Isn’t the “states rights” the mainstay of republicans? Isn’t the right to make sure your state is not completely vulnerable to disasters like one of the biggest, most important rights they have? Because really…if a large portion of it is homeless, disaster areas that can’t be fixed in reasonable time, the other “states rights” seem a little meaningless.

  • i often wonder if the blame would have been doled out if these two governors were men? something tells me NO, and that makes me mad.

  • It’s happened so often, I am no longer amazed. The White House makes a harmful statement with no facts backing the statement. Then the accused releases copies of letters, faxes, video, etc. to prove the White House wrong. As Keith Obermann stated not long ago, “We keep the tapes!”
    One can deal with ignorance by providing information that leads to knowledge. But, as Ron White says, “You can’t fix stupid”.

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