Bush Takes Responsibility? Seriously?

Bush today:

To the extent that the Federal Government didn't fully do its job properly, I take responsibility.

Great! Finally! But what does that actually mean? "Take responsibility" sounds great (even if it is two weeks too late for all the corpses floating around the Missisippi Delta) but what is Bush going to actually do?

Four years, two wars and billions of dollars after 9/11, despite virtually demolishing US civil liberties and international law, Bush cannot even claim that the USA is now prepared for another major disaster:

Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack? That's a very important question...

Hello!?!?! Responsibility, anyone? Bush didn't even fire FEMA's Michael "heckuva job" Brown. It was left to Brown to resign himself (only to be replaced by Duct Tape Man).

The rescue and recovery operation is now - finally - well under way. So what is Bush going to do in way of "taking responsibility"? Since the hurricane hit, the White House has been saying that now is not the time for a "blame game", but Bush today seems to have realized that the time to point fingers has come:

"I'm not going to defend the process going in," Bush said. "I am going to defend the people saving lives..."

Sure, let's keep that focus on the "good news", right? Touring the destruction in her own Secret Service cocoon, Laura Bush says all that "death and destruction" on your TV screen is just Liberal Media Bias:

I've never heard a single word of complaint... We've seen terrible, terrible things, and we've seen unbelievably unselfish acts of giving as well by communities all across the United States and, of course, many more unselfish acts of giving than bad things. Maybe the media hasn't shown us that much, but we've read about it and we do know about it.

Come off it woman, we've heard that line before. Again and again and again.

Bush previously said "no one anticipated the breach of the levees". It's now well known that a whole lot of people did. When asked if his administration officials had misinformed him, Bush blamed the media for his own lack of information on this point:

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. Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of relaxation at a critical moment.

To tell you the truth, I seem to remember hearing the same thing, or reading it on Google News. But I'm not the President. So where was Bush getting his information? Faux News? One would expect that his first point of information would be people like the US Weather Bureau and FEMA, people who should be ahead of the media curve. And if they are not, who "takes responsibility" for that? How can a President blame the media for his own ignorance?

Bottom line: if George W. Bush is really taking responsibility, it's time for him to point the finger at himself and his incompetent, vacationing, uncaring administration. And that means admitting that hundreds, if not thousand of Americans died needlessly in a totally foreseen disaster, a disaster exacerbated not only by incompetent political appointees but also by a lack of resources caused by an illegal, unnecessary war of choice on the far side of the planet. And in that context, truly "taking responsibility" can mean only one thing.

Despite warnings, Bush was not ready for 9/11.

Despite warnings, Bush was not ready for Katrina.

When 9/11 hit, Bush did nothing for hours.

When Katrina hit, Bush did nothing for days.

It's time to go, George.

PS: Bush did nothing when the tsunami hit, either, remember?