The AP Lies: "Topped" isn't "Breached"

There are times when the bias of some news media organizations is clear. This is one of those times.

The AP obtained videotapes of the August 28 and 29, 2005, videoconferences regarding hurricane Katrina, then put together a hit piece.

Here, you will find that hit piece. Click the link, "Bush gets storm warning."

On that tape, you will hear the weather expert (Max Mayfield) state on August 28:

"I don't think anyone can tell you with any confidence whether the levees will be topped or not, but that is obviously a very grave concern."

AP claimed that President Bush's statement four days later contradicted the warning given by Mayfield.

Bush's statement, as shown on AP's tape, was:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Notice what AP would rather you not notice: "topped" is not the same as "breached."

When a storm surge causes water to "top" a levee, some flooding will occur. But, since the water only overflows the levee for a short time as the storm surge passes by, the flooding wouldn't be expected to be severe -- and the flood waters wouldn't be expected to continue to rise after the storm surge passes.

When a levee is breached (or, as in the case of Katrina's effect on New Orleans, canal floodwalls give way unexpectedly because of inadequate design and construction), the flooding is far more severe for the simple reason that water will continue to come in through the gaps until the water in the flooded areas reaches the level of the sea or lake from which the flood waters come.

It's a big difference.

The tape of the August 29 conference, which occurred at midday before the high storm winds had cleared the area sufficiently for rescue operations to begin, Louisiana Governor Blanco is heard telling everyone that there were reports of water "coming over the levees." She then stated that to her knowledge "we have not breached the levees."

Not until late that night was the failure of the canal floodwalls reported as a fact.

People participating in the videoconference on the day the storm hit would have understood that the storm surge had caused water to "top" the levees, so limited flooding would affect people in the area and response efforts. They would not have expected the flooding to get worse, since no one had reported to them the fact that the canal floodwalls had failed in several places.

Why won't the news media report the news accurately? Are they really that stupid? "Journalists" may be the least educated and least intelligent of all "professions," but don't they speak English?

The answer is obvious: The AP is not a news service -- it's a propaganda organ of the left side of the political spectrum.

Update March 4: According to Power Line, the AP released a "correction" last night, acknowledging that their story had erroneously treated the words "breach" and "topped" as meaning the same thing. Their calumny did the damage to Bush that they wanted, and now they can claim to have corrected the record.

Meanwhile, truth is once again still getting dressed while the lie runs halfway around the world. The Democrats have, naturally, posted the lie told by their propaganda organ on their own web site:

AP: Bush Knew About Levee Dangers
The Associated Press has obtained video footage from a briefing attended by Michael Brown, President Bush, hurricane experts, and a host of others in which Bush is clearly warned of the dangerous levee situation in New Orleans, despite saying: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Would anyone wager that they will correct the record? There have been comments posted which tell them it's a lie, so they've been handed the truth on a silver platter.