Any excuse: Perino uses the BP oil spill to whitewash Bush's Katrina record
Written by Christine Schwen
Published
Ignoring my warning about the quality of former White House press secretary Dana Perino's political commentary, tonight Sean Hannity hosted her to discuss the White House's response to the BP oil spill.
Somewhat predictably, Perino used the disaster to attempt to whitewash President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, while simultaneously managing to criticize Obama's response to the oil spill. Perino claimed that the Obama administration “is having to lie in the bed that they made,” but praised President Bush for taking responsibility for the response to Hurricane Katrina, “because we needed to get it done”:
Also somewhat predictably, Perino's commentary just doesn't measure up.
First, contrary her suggestion that the administration delayed their response to the spill, the White House immediately dispatched officials and the Coast Guard to respond on the scene -- despite being told by BP that the spill was manageable.
Furthermore, while Perino felt Bush adequetly “took responsibility,” the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' investigation disagreed, noting that Bush's DHS “failed to lead an effective federal response to Hurricane Katrina,” that disgraced former FEMA director Michael Brown “was hostile to the governmnet's agreed-upon response plan,” and that suffering “continued longer than it should have” due to “the failure of government at all levels.” The House's Select Bipartisan Committee on the Katrina response chimed in, stating that the Bush administration was “not prepared to respond” to the hurricane's effects.
It seems Perino just can't resist any chance to whitewash Bush's record, no matter how hollow her claims may be.