First Lady: We Learned From Mistakes

Laura Bush On Hurricane Gustav, Republican National Convention And Sarah Palin

(CBS)  President George W. Bush will not address the delegates on the opening day of the Republican National Convention, as was originally planned. Instead, he will visit a hurricane emergency operations center in Austin, Texas.

First lady Laura Bush is in St. Paul and spoke with CBS Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

"[The President] is in Texas today to go to both Austin and San Antonio where shelters are, but also where supplies are prepositioned to move into the Gulf Coast after the storm hits. He'll be there today to see what that situation is," says Mrs. Bush.

"But as you know, there will not be a program tonight at all," she continued. "The Republicans will meet all day today, because they have to. They have the business that they have to take care to nominate the candidate for president. All their eyes are on the Gulf Coast. I know they are disappointed, that they will not get to have the program tonight, but I know they understand and are thinking about everybody all across the Gulf Coast."

Over the weekend, Sen. John McCain told delegates that it's time to put the nation before partisanship, with Hurricane Gustav impacting the Gulf Coast.

Rodriguez asked the first lady if she was surprised to hear the Republican nominee for president also refer on Sunday to the mistakes of Hurricane Katrina.

"There were lots of mistakes and they were on every level," says Mrs Bush. "They were local, they were statewide and there were certainly federal mistakes. But we learned from those. And I hope that we'll see -- and I think we will see, for one thing, many, many people have evacuated. Many more people have left than before in the other hurricane."

Mrs. Bush says she believes that the coordination between federal, state and local goverments will be much better.

"I think what was learned from [Katrina] is something that can serve the country well for any sort of disaster in any part of the country. It was a very important lesson," she said.

After the storm, will the people of the Gulf Coast get what they need from the government?

"Absolutely," she says. "I think a lot of things are prepositioned there.
I know once again, just like after Hurricane Katrina, many, many Americans will go down to volunteer or send supplies down or do whatever they can to help -- to see what the problems are and what the effect of this hurricane is."

At the Republican National Convention today, Mrs. Bush says she and Cindy McCain will visit the Louisiana delegation for breakfast and will attend a planned luncheon later in the day. Mrs Bush says she hopes to be able to see a lot of the delegates.

"I know the delegates are disappointed because they expected four nights of huge celebration around their candidate for president and their outstanding candidate for vice president. I'm so thrilled about Sarah Palin," she says.

Mrs. Bush says she knows the Alaska governor well.

"I've met her at the National Governor's Association meetings when she comes to Washington. George and I were just with her in Alaska when we stopped on the way to China for the Olympics. I'm very, very proud. I'm proud that I'm going to get my wish and vote for a Republican woman on this ticket."

[hypnotoad72]

Looking forward to reading others'' responses. :)

[jmurrieta1]

The Republicans must be breathing a sigh of relief, that such a convenient excuse has arisen for Bush and Cheney to not showing the faces at the convention of their own party, after an 8 year term in office.


The Bush stink still sticks to the Republican party, though. The American Sheeple can be manipulated, and Rove and Company have done so quite well, but there is a limit to credulity that the present administration has surpassed.

No doubt McClone and Palin will be all "George who?" despite the close similarity of their views and policies to Bush/Cheney''s.

And, by the way, Ron Paul is still in the race. Palin may not be quite as usful to the McClones as planned.

[abbe91]

"First Lady: We Learned From Mistakes"


You must have learned a lot.

[mcvet-1]

So is Brownie FINALLY doing a good job?? ROFLMAO In EVERY Administration BEFORE this one, the President appointed someone Competent to the positions that were important. That is why NO PRESIDENT before this pathetic piece of human trash has HAD to make a big show of how much he is concerned... we never had to ask BEFORE these Republican''s now did we?? Sieg Heil Bush

[pirmin3]

When your as stupid as that dumb krunt you should avoid the press and stay in the White House darning your granny dresses and thumping your bible.

[cyberdjs4]

Hey Laura,

There''s a big different between "mistakes made" and Sheer ******* Incompetence.

01/20/2009, baby. You and Curious George enjoy your retirement.

[cyberdjs4]

Hey Laura,

There''s a big different between "mistakes made" and Sheer ******* Incompetence.

01/20/2009, baby. You and Curious George enjoy your retirement.

[kennedy7955]

First Lady: We Learned From Mistakes. Yeah, I am sure you learned something, and maybe finally you got some things right. But look what the mistakes have cost this country and the sheer number of them. It is not as if there was a mistake or 2 over 8 years, it was that everything done was out of incompetence and stupidity.

[babooph]

How devastating for our nation 8 years of mistakes & learning-I sure hope the next to get in already knows something.How did the propaganda system get that idiot husband the presidency of the US to learn in !!!!???

[jerr11]

Glad they learned something.

Expensive lesson for the nation too!

$3 trillion squandered in Iraq.

Over 4000 Dead!

[barbaraf4]

In Laura Bush''s case, that includes stopping at STOP signs and not driving while intoxicated.

[barbaraf4]

The problem is that we have all paid the price for their learning curve.

[pollroller1]

I feel SO much better now that I know that our great leader, President Bush is on top of things.

[greengrasgal]

It''s disgusting that people use this forum to browbeat the president. Mr. and Mrs. Bush have always conducted themselves with dignity -- unlike their predecessors, the Clintons. As to Katrina, the people of New Orleans had several days'' warning about the approaching storm. The only people without fault were the powerless children and elderly. The chaotic aftermath only illustrated what''s wrong with using other people''s money to bail out stupid ideas.

[nextgenman]

You mean Queen Laura isn''t going to lean out the window and yell, "Let them eat cake!" this time?

[fstop100]

If we learn from our mistakes does that mean she wouldn''t marry G.W. if she had another chance?

[fstop100]

This is the result of an inexperienced president.
If we vote for barry obama it will continue.

[mrtutto]

We learn from our mistakes...... is Laura Bush delusional....Try telling that to George.

[txgrouch2006]

Just hours ago on another news item, posters were praising Nagin for learning from the past and evacuating early.

Funny how the tone of the posts change when the news item is about a Republican... LOL!

[hotpaulie]

greengrasgal - I think mr. Bush has pulled enough
c r a p to deserve all the "browbeating" he gets.

[hologram5]

Idiot, the "only" thing you learned from the fiasco we call Bushco is not to get caught.

[negrovoter]

Mr. Obama prayed with his pastor for God to d*mn America. Is this hurricane their fault?

Why did mayor nagin lock us out of the superdome?

[creeper00]

"We learned from our mistakes."

How nice for you, Laura. I''m sure that''s a huge consolation to the relatives of the two thousand people who died as the result of your husband''s bumbling response to Katrina.

[mitch5511]

Mistakes?? People died under your husband''s watch and you call it a mistake? Please, walk home and think about how really DUMB that sounds to millions of people who suffered because of your husband''s ineptitude, selfishness and cowardness.

[pastdue1]

Mrs. Bush says she knows the Alaska governor well.

"I''ve met her at the National Governor''s Association meetings when she comes to Washington. George and I were just with her in Alaska when we stopped on the way to China for the Olympics"

Let''s see, Palin has been governor 2 years, so that is probably two meetings and then, once on the way to China. I''m so glad Laura knows her so well that she can encourage the rest of us to be so proud of McCain''s choice for VP. The Bushes, obviously, did not vett her either.

[messiahx4eve]

Yeah, Laura, we learned all right, after 8 years of profiteering off of an unjust war based on lies & deception by bilking the American people, after erroding our rights via fear tactics and lies, after sacrificing thousands of youngb American soldiers'' lives for profit, after supporting the oil companies ongoing & continuing profiteering of the American people, after giving tax breaks to big corporations for moving their manufacturing facilities to other countries, after creating one economic disaster after another, after TOTALLY ALIENATING the federal government from the people it supports, after putting our country in debt for the next two or three generations to pay for, we learned. NO MORE THANK YOU, come November, we WILL show you how much we have learned from your husbands'' administration/regime. Enjoy Paraguay, I hear the weather down there is fairly decent all year around. Your husband will be right at home with the other monkeys swinging in the trees.

[messiahx4eve]

Yeah, Laura, we learned all right, after 8 years of profiteering off of an unjust war based on lies & deception by bilking the American people, after erroding our rights via fear tactics and lies, after sacrificing thousands of young American soldiers'''' lives for profit, after supporting the oil companies ongoing & continuing profiteering of the American people, after giving tax breaks to big corporations for moving their manufacturing facilities to other countries, after creating one economic disaster after another, after TOTALLY ALIENATING the federal government from the people that supports it, after putting our country in debt for the next two or three generations to pay for, we learned. NO MORE THANK YOU, come November, we WILL show you how much we have learned from your husbands'''' administration/regime. Enjoy Paraguay, I hear the weather down there is fairly decent all year around. Your husband will be right at home with the other monkeys swinging in the trees.

[messiahx4eve]

Yeah, the GOP is still celebrating 8 years of profiteering off of an unjust war based on lies & deception by stealing from the American people, after erroding our rights via fear tactics and lies, after sacrificing thousands of young American soldiers'' lives for profit, after supporting the oil companies ongoing & continuing profiteering of the American people, after giving tax breaks to big corporations for moving their manufacturing facilities to other countries, after creating one economic disaster after another, after TOTALLY ALIENATING the federal government from the people that supported it and used their political clout to bring the United States to edge of total economic catastrophe, after putting our country in debt for the next two or three generations to pay for, we learned. NO MORE THANK YOU, come November, we WILL show you how much we want to back the bush/mccain administration/regime. Enjoy Paraguay with the head monkey punk and his regime of failures, I hear the weather down there is fairly decent all year around. Your husband will be right at home with the other monkeys swinging in the trees. History WILL remember you sir, along with your cohorts, including the Viet Nam war, and the Iraq war as failures along with you as the largest presidential failure in the history of the United States and the world.

[joe_transit]

Bush avoided the convention to help the storm victims? How exactly did he do that, with photo opp''s? By reading notes someone else prepared for him? The only help he was was for McCain, to avoid being seen or linked together.
It''s time we employ better educated people in office, not just the oil rich or those who barely made the grade, but well rounded educated people, none of which seem to be members of the GOP.
The VP is a mess, with her own family out of order how does she expect to make ours better.
McCain is an elderly man on the verge of extinction. These Republicans had eight years to get it together and failed, now suddenly they claim to have the answers and will make things better. When does a problem become the solution? I am sorry but I will lean towards a plan for hope and change before I will continue with failed and bad actions of the GOP. I''m not looking at color or gender, I''m not listening to personal political attacks or finger pointing, I''m looking at education qualities and a plan for improvement. I believe that this time around the Dem''s have what we need.

[misha128-2009]

"We learned from our mistakes."

How nice for you, Laura. I''''m sure that''''s a huge consolation to the relatives of the two thousand people who died as the result of your husband''''s bumbling response to Katrina.

Posted by creeper00 at 11:58

And we were all relieved the storm was not stronger!

[boatdocster]

"use this forum to browbeat the president. Mr. and Mrs. Bush have always conducted themselves with dignity"

Posted by greengrasgal at 10:45 AM : Sep 01, 2008

What planet are you from? Bush has doubled our Federal Debt, started an illegal and unnecessary war with Iraq that killed over 4000 US military personnel, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, put billions of tax dollars in his buddies pockets, was asleep at the wheel during Katrina, started illegal spying, illegal wiretaps, illegal rendition, and illegal torture, etc, etc, etc...

Dignity you say!!

The only "Dignity" this country will experience under the George W. Bush presidency will occur next January 20th, 2009 when this sorry excuse for a man is shown the door.

An appropriate level of post presidential dignity for GWB would be trial, conviction, loss of presidential pension and 30 years in Gitmo with his buddy Richard Cheney.

[danielle_mom]

Not one person is being critical of either of the palin''s ladies for choosing life over abortion. If both of these ladies were liberals this would be a non-story because there would be two abortions.

[toldyouso12]

Not one person is being critical of either of the palin''''s ladies for choosing life over abortion. If both of these ladies were liberals this would be a non-story because there would be two abortions.

Posted by danielle_mom at 09:03 PM : Sep 01, 2008


And just like the Pregnancy of both Palins'' it would be none of YOUR fvcking business. You don''t feed them or house them, you don''t raise them or care for them and you sure as hell don''t carry or fvck to get them--then stay out from between other women''s legs and the results they incur therein.

[mainedoggie]

==========
"[The President] is in Texas today to go to both Austin and San Antonio where shelters are, but also where supplies are prepositioned to move into the Gulf Coast after the storm hits. He''ll be there today to see what that situation is," says Mrs. Bush.
===============

I smell photo-op. You didn''t care the first time, and you only care now because your troubled party''s convention is in half-swing.

Too bad things weren''t "pre-positioned" for Katrina you thugs.

I hate you all, especially you Karl Rove, you pig.

[ubrew12]

"First Lady: We Learned From Mistakes"
The Feds have known how to deal with Hurricanes for 30 years or more. They literally have billions of dollars of equipment and capability at their command. You just don''t expect people in charge of the U.S. government to have to ''learn'' from those kind of mistakes.

The neocon philosophy is ''big government doesn''t work''. It''s no surprise, if thats the way they feel about their job, that they would get what they expect. The real question is: if thats the way they feel, what are they doing there? How many of us would seek to do a job we didn''t think could or should be done well?

[wineberry]

What planet are you from? Bush has doubled our Federal Debt, started an illegal and unnecessary war with Iraq that killed over 4000 US military personnel, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, put billions of tax dollars in his buddies pockets, was asleep at the wheel during Katrina, started illegal spying, illegal wiretaps, illegal rendition, and illegal torture, etc, etc, etc...

Dignity you say!!

The only "Dignity" this country will experience under the George W. Bush presidency will occur next January 20th, 2009 when this sorry excuse for a man is shown the door.

An appropriate level of post presidential dignity for GWB would be trial, conviction, loss of presidential pension and 30 years in Gitmo with his buddy Richard Cheney.

Posted by boatdocster
+
I don''t think I could have said it better myself. Bush has to go down in history as at least one of the worst presidents the US has ever seen. He and Cheney should have been impeached long ago.

[Rhoda Meier]

Mistakes! How do these people sleep at night knowing their "mistakes" are directly responsible for 1600 deaths in NOLA and 4000 servicement in Iraq? Are we little people really that insignificant in their minds?

No matter who is President on Jan. 20 it will be a welcome change, though I have to think a Magna *** Laude from Harvard might be a more significant change than the guy who graduated bottom of his class at the Naval Academy.

[rudy654-2009]

Not one person is being critical of either of the palin''''s ladies for choosing life over abortion. If both of these ladies were liberals this would be a non-story because there would be two abortions.
Posted by danielle_mom at 09:03 PM

How interesting that you are so narrow minded as to believe that if they were liberals, they automatically just would have had an abortion. You are a disgusting human being.

[smurfcrusher]

"There were lots of mistakes and they were on every level," says Mrs Bush. "They were local, they were statewide and there were certainly federal mistakes."

Really! What mistakes are those?

It''s easy to be apologetic without apologizing for any specifics... and since when did Laura Bush lead the country?

Her idiot husband should answer to the failings of his party and policy - not some virtual tea-chat with his wife.

[smurfcrusher]

"Not one person is being critical of either of the palin''''''''s ladies for choosing life over abortion. If both of these ladies were liberals this would be a non-story because there would be two abortions.
Posted by danielle_mom at 09:03 PM

How interesting that you are so narrow minded as to believe that if they were liberals, they automatically just would have had an abortion. You are a disgusting human being."

Posted by rudy654

Rudy654 - don''t take morons so seriously. By danielle_mom''s reasoning, there''s no such thing as a liberal parent. ''nough said.

[nirak2-2009]

Right Laura, you learned from mistakes and having an election doesn''t hurt either.
Once the election is over people will be forgotten just like the Katrina victims

[nirak2-2009]

Wineberry They both should be tarred and feathered and marched to the HAGUE

[hermitdave]

WELL GOSH Pickles you didn''t say anything about how much better those poor blacks are living in a stadium. According to your rich mother in law they are much better off. So when is George going to start his Iran crusade?

[deacon20081]

Laura and George....Two Pea Brains in a Pod.

[toldyouso12]

Maybe the Bush admin DID learn from their mistakes--but he problem is that admin never PAID for those mistakes--the people of New Orleans and elsewhere did and are still paying. They are paying with their lives and health and that of their relatives. In the meantime, Bush bussed in illegal workers instead of hiring the locals, and much is still not rebuilt and perhaps never wil be...people are still living in the carcinogenic trailers and the Insurance companies still got away with not paying out claims....So who cares what the Republicans have learned? First clean up the Katrina mess, then apply what you learn from that clean up, to the next disaster--otherwise--it is just empty words.

[toldyouso12]

Shelters in Austin and San Antonio, please, the only sheltering he is doing is his lack of leadership and his own cowardly and ignorant attitude about what real Americans are facing once again. Please God, hurry Jan 20 2009

Posted by arlvabear at 08:50 AM : Sep 01, 2008


Austin and San Antonio are waaaaay inland so there should not be much need or hurrican threat--why not take his fake azz to Houston and Galveston? Afraid of actually going where the Hurricans routinely hit? LMAO What a joke.

[neoconrcrazy]

too bad so many had to died, while bushit "learns"...

worst ever -

[ahrats]

I guess the Repulicans think the hurrican will hit Minnisota? Think they trying to show they actuall care what happens to less forturnet people then themselves, Ha Ha. Political move because they screwed up the first time and still have not finished the job, just like the wars they got us into. New Orleans got luckey Guvstof missed them but still they are still struggling from Katrina, Republicans can not finish the job so the Democrats will have to do it for them.

[user168-2009]

Those with better brain and vision make less mistakes. For example, better brain and vision would not start a dumb war by invading another country in the 21st century. If someone came 894 in his class of 899, I''d question his brain. If someone voted for an unnecessary war, I''d question his vision. Without the right brain and vision, you get McBush "mistakes".

[carlylaine]

You are all such ugly individuals that when you are en masse....you''re really scary. Shut the pie hole on Mrs Bush...she''s not running for anything...she''s not political and you attack her.

YET when truth came out about Hillary it was.. SHE''s a woman you can''t talk to her like that. Brother are you all crazy wimps or what?

Liberals how unreasonable and odd thinking you are.