Tornado Strikes — Blame the Governor! (Bill Press)

@ 11:55 am

The White House bullies are at it again.

A tornado levels the town of Greensburg, Kan. The city’s police and fire departments are wiped out. State and local officials struggle to deal with the emergency. And what’s the Bush White House do? Attack the governor of Kansas and accuse her of not acting fast enough.

Shades of Hurricane Katrina! That’s just what they did with the governor of Louisiana — another woman, and another Democrat. And all Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius did was tell the truth!

As the governor pointed out, the state of Kansas has been handicapped in responding to its tornado damage because half of its first responders, the Kansas National Guard, are halfway around the world, in Iraq.

Not only are active-duty Guard troops in Iraq, some of them for their second or third tour of duty — so is half their equipment. Which means the bulldozers, front-end loaders, trucks and other heavy machinery needed in Greensburg just aren’t available. And, of course, that’s going to slow any recovery effort.

No matter how hard the White House tries to deny it, that’s the truth. And not just for Kansas. For every state in the union.

It’s one more cost of this senseless war in Iraq. One more cost the Bush White House will never admit.