"We are fully prepared," Bush responded.

from the la times (but it's EVERYWHERE including our hearts and minds. yes we KNEW this all along but LOTS of you continue to support this (and i'm going to be VERY kind here) INEPT administration. excuse after excuse after excuse )



Bush Is Warned on Katrina in Video
Footage of a briefing full of dire predictions renews criticism of the government's response.
By Nicole Gaouette Times Staff Writer March 2, 2006
WASHINGTON — Newly released video footage taken just hours before Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast shows that federal officials delivered stark warnings to President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the storm could lead to massive loss of life."We are fully prepared," Bush responded.While the information in the video has been public for months, and was the subject of hearings and reports by Congress and the White House, the footage is giving new life to charges that the administration was detached and unresponsive in the face of one of the nation's worst natural disasters.The edited video, released by Associated Press, shows Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, briefing state and federal officials — including Chertoff and Michael D. Brown, then director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency — on Aug. 28. Bush was at his Texas ranch and participated by videophone. Mayfield tells the officials he wants "to make it absolutely clear to everyone that there is potential for large loss of life … in the coastal areas from the storm surge," and emphasizes that there is a "very, very grave concern" about the ability of the levees that separated Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans to stand up against the storm..........