National Guard Equipment, Part 2: For Conservatives, Telling the Truth Is "Playing Politics":
Here's Tod Bunting, the Adjutant General of Kansas, meaning he's the state's top military officer, on CNN's sadly Soledad-less American Morning today, asked to comment on Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius's statement that the Iraq war had taken resources out of Kansas, hampering the National Guard's response to the tornado that turned Greensburg into kitty litter: "It did hamper us somewhat at the start because half of our Humvees are gone and we're way below half of the trucks and trailers that we need to haul our engineering equipment to the scene. We adapted and got there, but there was some delay in getting there. We're confident it didn't result in any loss of life or further damage, but we could have been there a lot quicker and on the scene quicker if we would have had some of that equipment back at home."

As for the whole issue of Sebelius asking for help, Bunting said that the Governor understands the deal: "She sent a lot of resources through that same ask process to Louisiana and Mississippi, but that's still a matter of delay. That's several hours that -- or perhaps even a day before the critical equipment could get here...the best way to be safe and prepared is to have the equipment close at hand."

Asked if he had what he needed now, Bunting replied, "We've been on standby with what remaining equipment we have on the footing here in northeast Kansas, which fortunately we had a clear day yesterday and it looks favorable today. But we're just starting to tell people that we have enough for one event, but if we had the amount of equipment we used to have or should have, we would be able to do quite a bit more on our own, or be available to help someone else."

And, finally, as Tornado Alley continues to be tornado-riffic, Bunting said of the state of preparation for another disaster, "We will have to ask for help. The problem is, unless it was prepositioned here now, it would still be a little late to need, perhaps. It would depend on just how catastrophic that event was. So, again, the point we're making is we need it for training, we need the equipment for training day in and day out."

Goddamn, the savage right wing of this country desperately wants to make this whole issue into dirty-Democrats-hate-America. After all, Sebelius is a Democrat. Michelle Malkin and other useless tools are trying to get the White House's back on the whole thing, especially after Tony Snow, proving that surviving cancer doesn't make anyone any less of a dick, told the press, "[I]f you take a look at the way the National Guard units are dispersed, you still have considerable strength in each state, and also you still have the ability of governors to seek assistance from neighboring states." This was after he listed all the trucks available and troops there, all of which sound impressive, but still doesn't answer what Bunting said today. Or the fact that it took nearly two days to get large scale operations going in Greensburg.

By the way, who is this bag of douche, Major General Bunting, who dares to continue to say that the resources weren't available? He's a guy who has spent his entire career in the Air Force or the Air National Guard (so he and the President will have a lot to talk about when they meet today...or maybe not so much). He even had a job at the Air National Guard in Arlington, working, in essence, for the Bush administration.

The right loves to spout again and again, like a pissing toddler boy running around the backyard, that we need to listen to the "commanders on the ground" in Iraq. But when it comes to things like, you know, the people on the ground in Kansas? They're just lying partisans who don't realize how good they have it.

As Bunting said this morning, "[T]he best way to be prepared, you know, you want a fire station close by, you don't want a fire station two cities away."