I’ve seen a lot of Bush apologists in the past several years, but this beats all. William Kristol, the conservative publisher of The Weekly Standard, said of Mr. Bush: "I do think people think he could have showed stronger leadership." But Mr. Kristol expressed doubt that the hurricane would have much lasting effect on the president’s personal and political fortunes, … Read More
Brownie Did A Great Job
The Associated Press has a developing story… The government’s disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region _ and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents. Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval … Read More
40,000?!?
Let’s hope this is merely pessimism. From the Times-Gazette of Shelbyville, Mississippi: A co-owner of Shelbyville-based Gowen-Smith Chapel has been deployed to Gulfport, Miss., to help with recovery since Hurricane Katrina, and his business partner here has described the grim task there. "DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies," Dan Buckner said, quoting officials with the Disaster … Read More
The Problem Is The Solution
Kevin Drum is keeping a list of excuses: Here’s a sampling so far: It was the fault of state and local authorities. They never asked for help. The poor people of New Orleans were too stupid to evacuate when they should have. Nobody knew that Katrina was going to be so bad. Nobody could have guessed that New Orleans would … Read More
View From Abroad
I was always amused by Clinton haters who decried his sexual misconduct by saying that it made America an embrassment to the world . . . as if Europeans have the same amount of prudishness as socially conservative Americans. They don’t. But this article in The American Prospect indicates that we should be embarrassed by recent events. An excerpt: Europeans … Read More
Bush And Scotty Get The Reaming They So Richly Deserve
From the Associated Press: The Bush White House is known for its ability to remain in control of its message and image, sliding out of crises with barely a scratch. Not this time. Despite day after day of appearances by President Bush aimed at undoing the political damage from a poor response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House has not … Read More
Why The Pentagon Should Read My Blog
Via Think Progress, we learn that Joint Chiefs Chairman Richard Myers, in a live press conference moments ago, repeated Michael Chertoff’s debunked claim that newpapers on Tuesday had said, “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet.” But then he went a step further — Myers actually claimed that “most of the papers” had that headline on Tuesday, and that the Defense Department’s … Read More
Fox. Henhouse.
Bush to lead probe over Bush’s failure re: Katrina: Buffeted by criticism over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said Tuesday he will oversee an investigation into what went wrong and why — in part to be sure the country could withstand more storms or attack. Great.
Three Duke Students
They did what our federal government couldn’t — get into New Orleans and evacuate people: DURHAM — A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren’t receiving help from authorities. The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny … Read More
Federal Blockades
Charlie at the Big Brass Blog has a list of situations where FEMA and other federal authorities actually thwarted efforts to assists in the Katrina crisis. Visit his list for the latest: A tax-funded, state-of-the-art medical team The USS Bataan Wal-mart trucks full of ice and water The water tankers from the US Forest Service A specially trained and self-sufficient … Read More
Dolls, Not Rap
Rebecca Hagelin at Townhall.com sees the Katrina disaster as an indictment of the gangsta culture. Let’s have fun with her: Throwing out the thugsRebecca Hagelin This famous, selfless cry for the safety of others is best associated with the tragedy of the Titanic, when thousands lost their lives in the frozen waters of the sea so many years ago. Yes. … Read More
FEMA For Kidz
Hear the rap song (RealAudio format) from the "FEMA for Kids" webpage: Disaster . . . it can happen anywhere,But we’ve got a few tips, so you can be preparedFor floods, tornadoes, or even a ‘quake,You’ve got to be ready – so your heart don’t break. Disaster prep is your responsibilityAnd mitigation is important to our agency. People helping people … Read More
Keith Olbermann On Katrina
I’ll put the transcript below the fold, but you really should see the video.
Financial Times: “America Counts The Cost Of Curbing Government”
The Financial Times gets the big picture. Katrina is more than just a one-time outrage and a slow-to-move government. It exemplifies what happens when small government policies are put into place: ….For the past quarter century in Washington, since the Republican Ronald Reagan rode a conservative backlash all the way to the presidency, US politics has been dominated by the … Read More
They’re Better Off
Proving that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, here’s what former First Lady Barbara Bush said after visiting Katrina evacuees in Houston: What I’m hearing is . . . they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arenas here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, … Read More