Ignoring a prior article, NYT reports Bush never tried to blame Louisiana

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200512050004

Ignoring a prior article, NY Times reported WH claim that Bush "never tried to single out Louisiana for blame"

In a December 4 article by reporter Eric Lipton, The New York Times ignored its own prior reporting by quoting, without challenge, the Bush administration's claim that President Bush "never tried to single out Louisiana for blame" in the poor government response to Hurricane Katrina. Just days after the hurricane hit, a September 5 Times article by Adam Nagourney and Anne E. Kornblut reported that the Bush administration "sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan."

Lipton's report, which assessed a series of recently released Louisiana state documents detailing Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's (D) response to the hurricane, quoted from a number of the documents in reporting that Blanco's aides were "certain the White House was trying to blame their boss" for the poor response to the hurricane. But instead of noting what the Times had previously reported -- that the Bush administration consciously undertook to reassign blame in the catastrophe -- Lipton cited a blanket denial by Dana M. Perino,a White House spokeswoman:

Dana M. Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said Mr. Bush never tried to single out Louisiana for blame. But she added that all government agencies bore some fault.

"President Bush has been very clear that all levels of government could have done a better job," Ms. Perino said, "and we are focused on completing our lessons learned and making sure we understand what went wrong and that it never happens again."

[neuvocat]

1. So he's willing to go to jail for criminal negligence then?

Sound good to me.

[MissMarple]

2. Anyone with a shred of memory will know that is quite....inaccurate.

It's like when Condoleeza Rice said in the days after 9/11, that they never anticipated an airplane being flown into a building, he is either lying or he is incompetent.

[FormerRepublican]

3. Rove spin.

Any time a negative article comes out, Rove will respond by getting someone to print an article that says the opposite.

Should be disregarded as propaganda, IMO.

[EFerrari]

4. RIP, NYT.

FYI, I just mailed the Public Editor the letter they sent me last December - claiming they would cover election fraud if there was a story there. And asked, in light of Conyers hearings, GAO report, multiple books by serious authors, do we have a story YET?

Sad, really. Thank Something for the Indy media.