By The Numbers

It's one thing to lie to the American people about events half a world away. It's quite another to employ the same damned lies on our own soil...

With thousands of eyewitnesses to call you on your blatant "misinterpretation of the data."

Administration's figures on response don't appear to add up

BY CAM SIMPSON
Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - In an effort to show the world that it's finally on top of the catastrophe unleashed by Hurricane Katrina more than a week ago, the Bush administration is producing a seemingly impressive battery of statistics.

Since Friday, as criticism has mounted against the administration for its perceived failure to act sooner, officials have sought to tangibly catalog crucial results, such as "lives saved," "people assisted" and "citizens evacuated."

But a closer look at the administration's claims shows some of the most important numbers seem to contradict each other, including assertions made as recently as Tuesday afternoon about the number of people rescued from life-threatening situations.

In other cases, the numbers seem, at best, to be crude estimates, though they are not presented that way when uttered or released by administration officials. LINK

When you read the Chicago Tribune's analysis of the numbers sliding trippingly off the tongues of BushCo toadies, keep this section in mind...

Knocke, the homeland security spokesman, initially said a "life saved" was defined by the agency as someone who was plucked off of a rooftop in a flood-ravaged area by a helicopter or rescued by boat.

But he also said it included any "individual who is in a situation where their life could be in jeopardy if they stay in that location. ... It includes any number of things."

For three straight days, the Homeland Security Department also gave separate tallies of the number of people evacuated from flood- and hurricane-ravaged locales.

Jeez, even the Kool-Aid drinkers no longer believe a word BushCo says about their "heroic efforts" during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The only difference between the chaos in Iraq and the chaos at home?

Governor Blanco refused to sign over her state's rights to BushCo, thereby enabling the media to roam freely and report the truth.

File this under: End BushCo's War On The Truth!