Katrina - Media Matters Tries to Rewrite History

Media Matters takes issue with who Bush called and when prior to Katrina striking land. The heart of their complaint is that they maintain that Bush called the Governor, not the mayor, and that he called just prior to a joint news conference to announce the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. These claims they say cast "doubt over Hume and Wilson's suggestion that Bush's phone call triggered the decision to evacuate."

So? If Media Matters is correct, what does this change? Absolutely Nothing. They seem to be unaware of the old saying, when in a hole don't dig.

What's left for the left to do? Rewrite history. But, they can't rewrite the governor and the mayor's failings.

The mayor still failed to order a mandatory evacuation because he was unaware of his own authorization to do so and was afraid of being sued.

The mayor still failed to follow his own evacuation plan and left thousands of poor blacks to fend for themselves.

The mayor still failed to stock the Superdome and provide security there.

The governor still failed to deploy the national guard to ensure law and order in NO.

The governor still failed to ensure the mayor followed the evacuation plan.

The governor still stalled for 24 hours before letting the federal government assist.

And President Bush still called somebody before the announcement, even if as Media Matters claims it was "just before".

It was the mayor's responsibility to call the mandatory evacuation and it was the governor's responsibility to ensure the mayor followed the evacuation plan. As time wore on, it became clear to the President that both were failing to act and so he called - someone - and before the mandatory evacuation announcement was made. Those are the facts and Media Matters attempts at slicing and dicing, changes absolutely nothing.

The left's plans to blame Bush for all the ills of Katrina have blown up in their faces everywhere they turn.

From not enough Guardsmen due to Iraq, only a fraction of LA's Guardsmen on hand were actually needed, for failing to mandatory evacuate New Orleans earlier, the mayor didn't know his own evacuation plan granted authorization from the governor, leaving poor blacks who had no transport to fend for themselves, the mayor failed to use the city's transport and school buses to evacuate them as called for in his own evacuation plan, to playing the race card, the black mayor failed to evacuate poor blacks and Jesse Jackson's rant that blacks were not leading the rescue of poor blacks left behind by the black mayor, when in fact the leader is a 3 star general - a black general.

Repeat: When in a hole don't dig. Except if they're on the left, then give them a bigger shovel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------