(Hat Tip: Reader Jordan)

Black leaders are suing to delay the mayoral race in News Orleans, claiming that there aren’t enough black people and therefore the vote wouldn’t be fair:

NEW ORLEANS — With less than a month before New Orleans’ first elections since Hurricane Katrina, the voting plan and even the date are still in dispute.

Still, a federal judge Monday refused to delay New Orleans’ April 22 mayoral election. He told lawyers on both sides of the case to identify any problems that might hinder displaced residents’ ability to vote and then solve them.

“I recognize that there is still room for improvement in that electoral process,” U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle said.

###

But civil rights groups say the plan does not do enough to reach out to displaced black voters.

Could you imagine the outrage from black leaders if people tried to stop the mayoral race in Boston because there were not enough white voters? Ughh.

On what basis does Sharpton make a comment like this?

“We are seeing people from Iraq being treated better than people from New Orleans,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

Isn’t the “Rev” supposed to be interested in the well being of others and not himself? But I suppose that having the fear of dying is much better than getting government handouts that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight.

Expose the Left linked with Racism At It’s Finest: Liberal Blogger Paints Lieberman Black
Right Mind : “Rev” Sharpton Claims Not Enough “Black Voters” In NO Mayoral Race, Calls For Delay linked with Right Mind : “Rev” Sharpton Claims Not Enough “Black Voters” In NO Mayoral Race, Calls For Delay
PA Pundits linked with Sharpton Claims N.O. Not Black Enough For Vote

WASHINGTON Mar 2, 2006 (AP)— In the hectic, confused hours after Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, Louisiana’s governor hesitantly but mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans’ protective levees were intact, according to a new video obtained by The Associated Press showing briefings that day with federal officials.

“We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29, according to the video that was obtained Thursday night. “We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not breached the levee at this time.”

I wonder if the liberal blogs that jumped on the Bush tapes will jump on this. Odds are slim to none, and slim just left town.

Oliver Willis gave President Bush, what he thought was, a spanking. I wonder if he will give Kathleen Blanco one too? Doubt it.

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USA Close Away linked with Daily Review
Shadowscope linked with Who really gives a fuck anyway....
Amy Proctor linked with Let's Get Real About Katrina...
gbush.com linked with Other Blog “Takes” On The Blanco Video
Donkey Stomp linked with Blanco Assures Bush Administration Levees Are Safe...
reverse_vampyr linked with Blanco's still wrong...
Independent Conservative linked with Katrina Tapes Show Brown and Bush Were on the Job. Shows Blanco Gave White House Bad Information....
Independent Christian Voice linked with Smoke and mirrors blame game...
PA Pundits linked with A Blanco Buffet
Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator linked with New Video Shows Blanco Saying Levees Safe ...

I doubt the media will give as much attention to the Blanco video as much as they will to the Bush ones. However, the media really should have given attention to this video:

(Originally posted 9/12/2005)

There is a shot where Blanco is being set up several days ago for a TV interview, and her press secretary is helping her adjust her mic. They’re having a personal conversation, but the cameraman catches it!! In it, she kinda jokes to her press secretary something like “yeah, well I guess I really need to ask for troops,? and a couple more things she says. A bit later in hte segment she gets into a semi-argument with Miles O’Brien, and he’s pointedly asking her exactly WHEN she asked the President for troops.She gets frustrated and says she didn’t even know what day it was the, she was confused, but Miles presses her.

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PunditGuy linked with Blanco's Video Problem...

Dingy Harry talking about the “new” videotapes of administration officials talking about Katrina response:

It is certain that from all the records that we have, that they have systemically misled the American people, to hide the basic incompetence of the recovery and the response.

Well actually these tapes have been around for over 6 months and the media has been sitting on them. Meaning, the administration GAVE THEM OUT and the all knowing MSM ignored them:

Department briefings are routinely recorded, said Knocke, adding that Homeland Security does not know how Associated Press got the footage of the Aug. 28 briefing. It was also obtained that day or the day after by a network and a cable affiliate, but neither aired it, he said.

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So there is some hype over the newly released video that showed Bush and Chertoff were warned of the wrath Katrina would release in the Gulf. The MSM is now painting this as proof that the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina, was Bush’s fault:

WASHINGTON (AP)—In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans’ Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn’t ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: “We are fully prepared.”

I wish the media would give as much attention to this video of Blanco making a campaign promise—which she obviously lied about—what she would do if a Category 5 Hurricane hit Louisiana:

MODERATOR: Let’s assume for the moment that one of you is the next Governor of Louisiana. Lets also assume that there is a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico predicted to strike Louisiana within 36 hours. Other than praying, name five things you would immediately do as Governor, Ms. Blanco we start with you.

BLANCO: Well first we would organize the office of emergency preparedness, a very terrifically professional operation; we would then encourage everyone—wherever we can determine where this hurricane will be landing—to begin evacuation processes immediately. We must protect the safety of our citizens. Then I think the next thing we need to do, is make sure all of our citizens—will be working with the media of course—are prepared for the areas that wont have such a direct impact but they are positioned correctly. And I will be on the media working with you and telling our people how to prepare for this hurricane attack. We pretty well have noted that, that Louisiana have weathered these storms on many, many occasions.

DOWNLOAD and view video here.

RightWinged.com linked with Hey "Bush Knew The Levees Would Break" Libs, What Say You About This......
All Things Beautiful linked with Governor 'Firing Blancos'...
RightWinged.com linked with BREAKING: AP Issues Friday Night "Clarification" On Bush/Katrina/Levee Breach Video...
RightWinged.com linked with SMASHED: AP's New "Bush Lied About Levee Breach Worries" Campaign Destroyed By Bloggers...
Generation Why? linked with Hurricampaign Katrina...
A Blog For All linked with About The Katrina Teleconferencing Videos...
The WB42 5:30 Report With Doug Krile linked with Piling On. Part Two...
MacStansbury.org linked with Topped = Breached
Iowa Voice linked with The "Bush Knew" Conspiracy And Other Thoughts...
Flopping Aces linked with Blog Archive »
Macmind - Conservative Commentary and Common Sense linked with Katrina, A Defining Hypocrisy - II...
RightWinged.com linked with Media Goes Nuts With New "Bush Knew About Katrina/Levees" Video... Distorting All The Way...
The Moderate Voice linked with New Video Undermines Bush Assertions About Pre-Katrina (UPDATED)...
Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator linked with Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina ...

(via Michelle Malkin)

They’ll have to drink a lot:

Gall & Wormwood linked with Do they make that much whiskey?...
RightWinged.com linked with "Dark as Chocolate" Brown Snow In Colorado? Mayor Ray Nagin Has Yet To Issue A Statement....

Democratic strategist Bob Beckel and former counsel to the White House, Ron Christie appeared on Hannity & Colmes last night to respond to post Katrina reaction and the Senate hearings that occurred yesterday. Co-host Sean Hannity begin the discussion when he questioned Beckel on the buses that could have been used to escort residents out of the town, since according to Beckel, we knew that this disaster was foreseeable. Beckel says that New Orleans needed permission from the federal government, a la, President Bush. Hannity creams Beckel on how wrong he was because they were local buses. Sean Hannity said that if he was mayor, he would bus people out as fast as he could, showing true leadership. Later in the interview, Beckel brings up David Duke, a former klansman who was once a Republican before he was thrown out of the party, as if this had something to do with the conversation. At the end of the interview, Sean ‘got back’ at Beckel by bringing up Senator Robert KKK Byrd, a former klansman, who was and still is welcomed with open arms in the Democratic party.

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Rep. Barney Frank (D – MA) appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews this afternoon to discuss his remark that the Bush administration committed “ethnic cleansing by inaction” to Hurricane Katrina. Frank stands by the remark he made on Wednesday at a Katrina hearing in Congress without any word from the main stream media. Could you imagine the reaction if this was the Clinton administration and a Republican said something as racist as he did? Just imagine.

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Conservative Outpost linked with Barney Frank: Idiot Savant of the Week...
Say Anything linked with Barney Frank Accuses President Of Racial Cleansing...

(Hat Tip: Michael Becker):

First Clip:

MR. McCLELLAN: After Martha. Martha has got the floor, and then I’ll go to Ivan so he can get to the Pentagon. I’ve got to go to the National Security Agency, so I’m trying to go through this.

Q Back to the NSA. The White House last night put out paper backing up its claims that this was a terrorist surveillance program, saying the charges of domestic spying—you defined what “domestic” meant. Isn’t one end of that phone call on domestic soil? Why is the charge of it being domestic spying so far off?

MR. McCLELLAN: For the same reasons that a phone call from someone inside the United States to someone outside the United States is not a domestic call. If you look at how that is billed on your phone records, it’s billed as an international call, it is charged the international rate. And so that’s the best way to sum that up. Because one communication within this surveillance has to be outside of the United States. That means it’s an international communication, for the very reason I just said.

Q Right. But one of the people being eavesdropped on is on domestic soil.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it leaves an inaccurate impression with the American people to say that this is domestic spying.

Q Why is that inaccurate?

MR. McCLELLAN: For the reasons that General Hayden has said, for the reasons that others have said within the administration, and for the example I just provided to you. You don’t call a flight from New York to somewhere in Afghanistan, a domestic flight. It’s called an international flight.

Q Right, but—
MR. McCLELLAN: This is international communications that are being monitored—
Q But whatever—it’s David’s point, too—I mean, whatever you call it in your trying to call it—someone domestically—
MR. McCLELLAN: It’s what it is.

Q—is being spied on. Someone’s communications—
MR. McCLELLAN: It is what it is.

Q—on domestic soil are being tracked.

MR. McCLELLAN: If there is an al Qaeda person operating inside the United States and talking to someone outside the United States, you bet we want to know what they’re saying.

Second Clip:

Q Scott, after Mike Brown was forced to resign from FEMA, he worked as a paid consultant for two months. And FEMA said his job was to pull all the documentation together to aid the investigation. Senator Joe Lieberman says that Mike Brown has refused to answer even the simplest questions. Could you tell us why Mike Brown is now not cooperating with the investigation?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don’t know whether that’s the case or not. I think you’d have to direct that to either him, or to the Department of Homeland Security, in terms of what has previously been provided.

Q Could you perhaps find out whether Mike Brown is cooperating?

MR. McCLELLAN: He’s a private citizen. I think you need—

Q Formerly of the executive branch.

MR. McCLELLAN:—to ask him those questions. He’s a private citizen.

Q Is he speaking to anybody or is he not talking now?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don’t know of anyone who has had contact with him, from here, in terms of recently. Maybe they have; I don’t know.

Third Clip: (Helen Thomas)

Q You often talk about bringing people to justice here. Does the President think that—
MR. McCLELLAN: Not here.

Q Pardon me?

MR. McCLELLAN: Not here. (Laughter.)

Q Bring people to justice. What does the President think of the slap on the wrist for an Army officer who brutally murdered an Iraqi general during interrogation?

MR. McCLELLAN: This question came up yesterday, and there’s a legal process in place. There are chain-of-command issues involved here. As you know, the President is Commander-in-Chief, and I can’t get into discussing any specific—
Q I’m asking you for his opinion.

MR. McCLELLAN: I can’t get into specific matters. Well, I answered it yesterday. The question—I think Victoria brought it up yesterday. And—
Q You didn’t answer that—
MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I did. I told you I can’t get into discussing specific cases. But I did point out that when people break the law, they are held to account. When they violate the policies, they are held to account. And that’s what we will continue to do.

Q A slap on the wrist, a reprimand?

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, there are chain-of-command issues here. I just can’t get into talking about specific cases.

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(via Right Winged)

It looks as if Ray Nagin was right ..

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