2008: Candidate Obama Ripped Bush for Katrina Incompetence

RUSH: Ben Stein today has a pretty nice column in the American Spectator in which he says (summarizing): ‘Look, all this finger pointing is not accomplishing anything. The oil companies don’t wish this had happened. If they could take it back, they would do it. Transocean, the operators of the rig, they wish this hadn’t happened. Nobody wishes this had happened. You can’t blame Obama. He’s not Superman.’ All well and true, but he portrays himself as such, from the moment he started campaigning! Obama’s the guy who was going to lower the sea levels! It’s why everybody thought he reeked of competence. ‘Cause that was the image that they put forth. Let’s go to the audio sound bites, February 7th, 2008. This was the sales pitch from Obama in New Orleans at Tulane.

OBAMA: We can talk about a trust that was broken — the promise that our government will be prepared, will protect us, and will respond in a catastrophe. When President Bush came down to Jackson Square two weeks after the storm, the setting was spectacular and as promises soaring: ‘We will do what it takes,’ he said. ‘We will take as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.’ But over two years later, those words have been caught in a tangle of half measures, halfhearted leadership, and red tape.

RUSH: So there you have candidate Obama ripping George Bush on Katrina, vowing never again. ‘We can talk about a trust that was broken,’ and he goes on to mock Bush for going down there two weeks after the fact. Same speech, additional remarks…

OBAMA: It’s time for America to rebuild trust with the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. When I am president, I will start by restoring that most basic trust: That your government will do what it takes to keep you safe. The words ‘never again’ spoken sooo often in those weeks after Katrina must not fade to a whisper.

RUSH: Uh, I don’t even need to analyze this. Barack Obama in his own words, February 7th, 2008: ‘Never again. This kind of incompetence that we saw from Bush after Katrina, ain’t going to happen again. Not with me in charge. I’m the guy that can lower the sea levels! I’m going to have post-racial America, post-partisan America.’ What we have is a post-American America and a post-competence America. (interruption) Well, Jindal’s not incompetent, that’s true. (interruption) Well, Jindal has to get permission from the administration, permits, to build these berms out there that he wants to build to soak up the oil before it reaches the real shores of Louisiana.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: ‘President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.’ His own words, his own website come back to haunt The One.