meme orandum
| Fresh brewed news plus stewing views |
|
|
FEMA accused of censorship By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. officials asked the media not to take pictures of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, they were censoring a key part of the disaster story, free speech watchdogs said on Wednesday. | |
|
Josh Marshall: At first the evidence was scattered and anecdotal. Gary Farber: TREATING DECEASED WITH DIGNITY AND RESPECT. That's an important goal for FEMA, and myself, as well. Joe @AmericaBlog: More from Joe on FEMA censorship — Government censorship in America. Of course, George Bush doesn't want you to see the reality in the Gulf States. |
Edward _: What Is It Again We're Supposed to Be Fighting this War For? Andrew Sullivan: A TEST FOR THE PRESS: FEMA is trying to censor the reality in New Orleans, under the guise of "respect" for the dead. John @AmericaBlog: More on FEMA's censorship of the media — Here |
U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead Reuters — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: For example, read "U.S. Agency Blocks Photos of New Orleans Dead" from Reuters. | bar.jpg Gal Beckerman: Not so quick, Mo. According to a Reuters report this morning, FEMA is now saying that "it does not want the news media... Jeralyn Merritt: The First Amendment sank with the city." ************* Original Post: The United States of Repression acts again. |
Norbizness: And I question your commitment to our coutnry and to leaving comments with your own take on "Operation: They're Only... Steve Soto: Fourth, we find out that like the caskets returning from Iraq, FEMA wants no pictures of dead bodies shown in the media. John Cole: An Open Letter Dear Families of Loved Ones Lost In Katrina: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested... |
| Also: Attaturk, Oliver Willis, MarkInMexico, Armando @DailyKos, Gary Farber, Jim Romenesko, Stirling Newberry, Andrew Sullivan | |
FEMA packed with W's pals By / NY Daily News — Permalink WASHINGTON - The three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent experience coping with catastrophes, the Daily News has learned. | |
|
Jon Henke: He titles his post: "OK, I am becoming a Libertarian" Meanwhile, the "three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management... Susie Madrak: The Best I keep saying: If he appointed even one person I could respect… WASHINGTON - The three top jobs at... Atrios: When your disaster relief agency is stacked with people whose former experience was doing campaign and PR work for Bush,... |
Tim Dunlop: Meanwhile, back in reality, just one of the many problems that can be legitimately sheeted home to the White House:... Gary Farber: Read The Rest Scale: 0 out of 5. ADDENDUM: The Daily News has noticed. Matt Welch: Next Thing You Know They'll Send Non-Arabic Speaking Texans to Run the Embassy in Riyadh — From the New York Daily... |
| Also: John @AmericaBlog, Joe Gandelman | |
Bush Seeks $51.8B More for Katrina Effort AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Congress' top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) demanding to know whether President Bush's Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and... | |
|
Arianna Huffington: "It's The National Security, Stupid" After an interminable week of silence on the administration's shockingly inept... Brendan Nyhan: Via Andrew Sullivan, here's Nancy Pelosi claiming that President Bush is even more clueless and out-of-touch than we... Chris Andersen: "Oblivious, in denial, dangerous" — Leadership! (scroll down) [snipped quote] You know, I can believe that Bush really has no clue just how bad things were last week. |
Kevin Drum: But every time I start thinking we should ease up, the White House delivers yet another outrage: [snipped quote] Andrew... Andrew Sullivan: The president is still out of it. I must say that the Katrina response does help me better understand the situation in Iraq. |
Katrina's windbags By / LAT — Permalink SOMETIMES I HAVE a strong urge to resign in disgust from the Amalgamated Federation of Pollsters, Pundits, Politicians and Pompous Pontificators. This is one of those times. | |
|
Digby: Little Pitchers — Max Boot says: "Ordinary people are sitting at home, transfixed by the spectacle unfolding on their television screens. Gary Farber: It should be obvious that, by now, anyone decrying holding people responsible for the disasterous disaster-response,... Kevin Drum: FINGER POINTING....Max Boot, meet Arianna Huffington. I have some sympathy for Max's point of view, but I think Arianna wins this one on points. |
Ed Cone: Ordinary people — Max Boot is just horrified that pundits are playing the blame game with Katrina. Jim Romenesko: LAT's Boot blasts Katrina pundits for playing blame-game — Los Angeles Times Max Boot's beef: "No sooner had Hurricane... Laura Rozen: Katrina Timeline: [snipped quote] If this is the kind of response Max Boot thinks is perfectly appropriate, unlike... |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds | |
Mayor, Governor at Odds Over Evacuation Fox News — Permalink NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (search) seemed at odds with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (search ) Wednesday, hours after the mayor ordered the mandatory evacuation of the crippled Crescent City by force if necessary. | |
|
TheAnchoress: Gov. Blanco still ditheringâ I'm sorry but this lady's indecisiveness is very alarming: As floodwaters caused... Kathryn Jean Lopez: EARTH TO BLANCO, COME IN BLANCO — Fox: "NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco seemed at odds with New Orleans... |
Gateway Pundit: And,... Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says she will not sign off on the order: "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco... |
Schwarzenegger: I'll Veto Calif. Gay Nups Bill AP — Permalink SACRAMENTO, Calif — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) announced Wednesday he will veto a bill that would have made California the first state to legalize same-sex marriage (search) through its elected lawmakers. | |
|
Captain Ed: Arnold Announces Permanent Retirement From Hollywood — The Governator will probably fulfill the prophecy of being... Last Night: Update (TL): Gov. Arnold now says he will veto the bill. |
Patterico: Arnold Will Veto Same-Sex Marriage Bill Via Xrlq (in the comments) comes word that Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto the same-sex marriage bill. |
Fonda Puts Brakes on Bus Tour By / Fox News — Permalink Jane Fonda told me yesterday she's scrapped plans for anti-war bus trip next March. As well, Fonda will be making only two appearances this month on another rally with controversial British politician George Galloway, not the eight that were widely misreported in the press yesterday. | |
|
Warren Bell: KATRINA RELIEF ENTERS SELF-PARODY PHASE — In case you didn't know the tragedy in New Orleans was huge, Michael Jackson is going to sing a weepy ballad to make you really feel it. Justin Gardner: From Fox News: "Jane Fonda told me yesterday she's scrapped plans for anti-war bus trip next March. John Cole: Gary Farber notes that millions of right-wingers have had there hopes dashed with the news that Jane Fonda is cancelling her bus tour. |
Marc @USSNeverdock: Fox News reports she is canceling her tour because she doesn't want to over shadow Cindy Sheehan's show. Cindy who? Gary Farber: MILLIONS OF RIGHT-WINGERS CRUSHED at the latest from Jane Fonda: [snipped quote] Oh, well, you can still denounce the two times she and Gorgeous George will be getting it on. Alcibiades @KesherTalk: Can I Vomit Now? [snipped quote] Well that's a relief! And phew! She's not coming to Galloway's debate with Hitchens in NYC next week. |
Gouging? No Such Thing By / TCS — Permalink For various reasons, I took a lot of trips to the local hardware store on Sunday. On my route there were two gas stations gazing at each other across the thoroughfare. On the first trip, I noticed that one was charging $3.41 a gallon for regular, while the other was charging $3.29. | |
|
Judith Weiss: The one appearing in Europe airs some biases about the workings of a market economy which did not appear in the article for domestic consumption. James Joyner: There's No Such Thing Price Gouging — So argues Iain Murray today in Tech Central Station: [snipped quote] Steve Verdon made the same argument here days ago and they're both right. Steve Bainbridge: More on price gouging — You can't get much blunter than this: "Price gouging is one of the great myths of our time. |
Justin @SouthernAppeal: More on price gouging: "This was actually an excellent case study for the basic economic lesson on supply and demand in situations of scarcity. Iain Murray: This is economic idiocy, as I argue in a piece on Tech Central Station today. |
Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded By / NYT — Permalink PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 6 - Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety. | |
|
Jason Van Steenwyk: Naval Aviators Reprimanded for Rescues — Heh. Sounds like the Navy. Captain Ed: If so, one does not know the military, as the New York Times proves this morning. Joe @AmericaBlog: Navy Pilots rebuked for saving lives — Who runs this government? [snipped quote] Hey, they only saved 100 lives. |
Jo Fish: So when a couple of my brethern at NAS Pensacola went off and did a little people-savin' on their own, after a logistics... Matt Welch: And The New York Times has a report about other reasons for helicopter-reticence in those first days. Gary Farber: RESCUE ME, even if you have to break orders; that's what I'd be grateful for. [snipped quote] Read The Rest Scale: 0 out of 5. |
| Also: Andrew Sullivan | |
Katrina Victims to Get $2K Debit Cards By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — The federal government plans to begin doling out debit cards worth $2,000 each to adult victims of Hurricane Katrina, The Associated Press has learned. Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff descibed the plan in a conference call with state officials Wednesday morning. | |
|
Xan @Corrente: Business Week is reporting the following: [snipped quote] It's an AP piece, sourced to "a state official who was on the... Ezra Klein: Let's hope this is a sign of more creative, effective relief initiatives to come: [snipped quote] Those at the Astrodome will get them first. |
Gary Farber: IT'S A START. Their plan: [snipped quote] It's a good idea. Jeralyn Merritt: Gov't. To Give Katrina Victims $2k Debit Cards Finally, a good idea from the government. |
Fox's Hume, Wilson take cue from conservative blogs, repeat unfounded claim that Bush "pleaded" with New Orleans mayor to evacuate city Media Matters for America — Permalink On the September 5 edition of Fox News' Special Report, host Brit Hume claimed that New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin had ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city on August 28 after President Bush "pleaded" with him. | |
|
Hunter @DailyKos: Where Turd Blossom Goes, A Talking Point Blooms — There's one particular conservative talking point that made the... Josh Marshall: Another Bush-defending talking point (Bush pleading with Nagin to begin the evacuation) bites the dust ... Brit Hume did his best; but it didn't work out. |
Armando @DailyKos: Freeper Myth Exposed: Nagin Never Spoke to Bush Before Ordering Evacuation — Media Matters: "Fox News ... report[ed]... |
New Bankruptcy Law Could Exact a Toll on Storm Victims By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — After virtually every major hurricane of the last 25 years, bankruptcy filings have grown significantly faster than usual as victims sought to shake off old debts in order to rebuild their economically ruined lives. | |
|
Christy @ThinkProgress: The LA Times reports that, thanks to the new law, recovery will be even tougher for Hurricane Katrina survivors. David Sirota: Proof That Those Who Voted for the Bankruptcy Bill Are Heartless — This LA Times piece is a good example of why the... Elizabeth Warren: Peter Gosselin at the L.A. Times gives the first report of a data analysis put together by Professor Robert Lawless at University of Nevada Las Vegas. |
Kevin Drum: BANKRUPTCIES AND KATRINA...Bankruptcy filings have been rising steadily in the United States for the past two decades,... Gary Farber: Because helping the credit industry seize assets from bankrupt people is what modern-day Republicanism and good government are all about, as we've discussed before. |
FEMA FOOL SAT ON HIS HANDS New York Post — Permalink The head of FEMA waited a mind-boggling five hours after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf before even contacting his boss about sending personnel to the area — then suggested workers be allowed two days to get to the ravaged region, shocking internal documents reveal. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: The New York Post and the Associated Press both say that FEMA chief Michael Brown sat on his hands while Katrina raged. Joe Gandelman: Headline in the New York Post on Brown's delay (a Murdoch paper): FEMA FOOL SAT ON HIS HANDS Related Posts (on one... Taegan Goddard: Documents Prove Brown Delayed Relief Effort — FEMA director Mike Brown [snipped quote] the New York Post reports. |
Steve M.: I guess Brownie's lost Rupert Murdoch... Chances are you've seen the AP version of this story, but you might be... Michael @AmericaBlog: The front page story? "Dead Wait," with the inside article headlined "FEMA Fool Sat On His Hands." |
Democrats Assail White House on Katrina Effort AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid demanding to know whether President Bush's Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi assailing the chief executive as ''oblivious, in denial.'' | |
|
Avedon Carol: "It can't happen here" — Via Atrios, Nancy Pelosi: [snipped quote] Or maybe nothing went wrong. Maybe this was the way they planned it all along. Atrios: "Oblivious, In Denial, Dangerous" — Indeed: At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the... |
Susie Madrak: Dangerously Stupid Why oh why can't we have a competent president? |
Public Skeptical New Orleans Will Recover By / Gallup — Permalink PRINCETON, NJ — A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey finds the public skeptical that New Orleans will ever completely recover from Hurricane Katrina, but also supportive of making the effort to rebuild the city. Even those who predict full recovery expect the process to take many years. | |
|
William Voegeli: A Gallup poll taken September 5th and 6th found, "When asked to identify who was most responsible for the problems in... Echidne: A Gallup On Public Opinions About The Unrescue Operation — It tells us that 42% of the respondents think Bush has done... |
Mark Blumenthal: Katrina Polling: Gallup Weighs In — The Gallup Organization today released results from a new poll on the response to Hurricane Katrina, sponsored by CNN and USAToday. Billmon: Although whether they're realistic enough remains to be seen. bush-dumb.jpg Update 12:20 PM ET: It looks like Mr. Broussard may need to ratchet down his expectations some more. |
Mother's remark puts silver foot in Bush's mouth By / Chicago Tribune — Permalink I was all set to defend President Bush as a guy who really doesn't want poor black people in Louisiana and Mississippi to die of starvation and disease, no matter what the Democrats say. But then Barbara Bush, the president's mom, went and dusted off the Bush family silver foot Monday. | |
|
Randy Paul: Quiet Time — Mrcia just got back from five weeks in Brazil with some family matters, so I won't be posting anything... Last Night: Marie Antoinette Bush — The Chicago Tribune today has a classic editorial by John Kass: "Mother's remark puts silver foot in Bush's mouth." |
Gary Farber: Also: making fun of Barbara Bush's silver foot, by John Kass, who is rather conservative, last I looked (if I'm not confused, which is always possible). |
Blame Amid the Tragedy By / Opinion Journal — Permalink As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response? | |
|
TheAnchoress: The WSJ has a piece by Bob Williams which some will ignore simply because it is in the WSJ, but he is - for all he is... MJA @SouthernAppeal: The Failure of Local and State Officials re: Katrina — WSJ's Opinion Journal has a great article about what everyone... Mitch Berg: Indictment — Bob Williams on the local and state screwups leading to the disaster: [snipped quote] And Ray Nagin - the... |
Marc @USSNeverdock: And yet they try and blame the President. Finally, main stream media are starting to put the blame where it belongs. Cori Dauber: Harsh Words — OpinionJournal publishes an oped with some harsh words for the local and state governments responsible for the people of New Orleans. Forkum: CORRECTED: The interviewer was reporter Soledad O'Brien not anchor Miles O'Brien. [hat tip Richard Wohlman] UPDATE —... |
We Failed You? Try Again. NRO — Permalink Anne Rice blames America, not local officials. "To my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. | |
|
Steve M.: Jim Geraghty at National Review Online: Look, Rudy Giuliani might have run around with Judith Nathan before his divorce,... Ace: Anyway: Geraghty: "I would also note that this is one hell of a police force your local officials hired and that you... Damian Penny: You're welcome — Anne Rice in the New York Times, quoted by Jim Geraghty in NRO: [snipped quote] Amount of money raised... |
PGL: Blame local authorities, blame liberals but don't blame a GOP Administration. But leave it to sunny Lawrence Kudlow to find a supply-side message in this tragedy. Vanderleun: ==== UPDATE: Jim Geraghty @ National Review drives the stake home: "I've heard a great deal of complaint in recent days... |
For Bush, a Deepening Divide By / WaPo — Permalink When terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans came together in grief and resolve, rallying behind President Bush in an extraordinary show of national unity. But when Hurricane Katrina hit last week, the opposite occurred, with Americans dividing along sharply partisan lines in their judgment of the president's and the federal government's response. | |
|
Jesse Taylor: (Based off this Dan Balz article. Cori Dauber: No Unity Here — The Post notes that, (as if we needed someone to point this out for us) while the response to Sept. 11... Patrick Ruffini: In today's Post, Dan Balz notes a striking contrast between 9/11 and today: [snipped quote] Though giving about equal due... |
James Joyner: For Bush, a Deepening Divide (WaPo, A19) [snipped quote] Friendlier analysts than Balz, including Newt Gingrich and... Taegan Goddard: A Deepening Divide — The "starkly different verdicts on Bush's stewardship of the two biggest crises of his presidency"... Joel Makower: An excerpt from today's Washington Post: To his critics, Bush is now reaping what he has sown. |
| Also: Attaturk | |
Katrina jolts the press By / Salon — Permalink Frustrated news consumers are supposed to be cheering that the national press corps has finally awaken from its five-year, self-induced slumber, opting to play hardball with the Bush administration by actually holding officials accountable in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. | |
|
Oliver Willis: The Media Jackals — No need for applause Forgive some of us for not celebrating the press's coming-out party. Guest Blogger: > Don't celebrate too quickly, says Salon's Eric Boehlert. |
Jim Romenesko: Boehlert: I'm not celebrating news media's coming-out party — Salon Eric Boehlert says the fact that Katrina reporters'... |
The 'Stuff Happens' Presidency By / WaPo — Permalink We're not number one. We're not even close. By which measures, precisely, do we lead the world? Caring for our countrymen? You jest. A first-class physical infrastructure? Tell that to New Orleans. Throwing so much money at the rich that we've got nothing left over to promote the general welfare? | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: In WaPo, Harold Meyerson almost sounds like a leftie blogger. "By which measures, precisely, do we lead the world? |
Paul @PowerLine: The "stuff happens" presidency — That's what knee-jerk leftist columnist Howard Meyerson dubs the Bush administration. |
Wal-Mart at Forefront of Hurricane Relief WaPo — Permalink At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, as New Orleans filled with water, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. called an emergency meeting of his top lieutenants and warned them he did not want a "measured response" to the hurricane. | |
|
Ezra Klein: Credit where it's due, Wal-Mart's done a damn good job on hurricane relief: "Wal-Mart's response to Katrina — an... Joe Gandelman: One Of Hurricane Katrina's Fastest Relief Sources: Walmart — Walmart has taken a lot of heat in many quarters but... Radley Balko: Civil Society — The Washington Post: [snipped quote] H. Lee Scott for director of FEMA? |
Brian Keegan: Just don't say that they don't know how to git 'er done. Alex Tabarrok: Not Just Low Prices — From the Washington Post: "While state and federal officials have come under harsh criticism for... |
I'm fit for the job, disaster boss sez By / NY Daily News — Permalink Embattled FEMA head Mike Brown insists he is well-qualified to lead the nation's disaster response agency - though he spent his time before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency probing whether a breeder was performing liposuction on a horse's rear end. | |
|
John @AmericaBlog: NY Daily News has more on FEMA's Michael Brown - it's juicy — NY Daily News "Embattled FEMA head Mike Brown insists he... |
Judd @ThinkProgress: "Embattled FEMA head Mike Brown |
Who's to Blame for Delayed Response to Katrina? ABCNEWS — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 6, 2005 — In New Orleans, those in peril and those in power have pointed the finger squarely at the federal government for the delayed relief effort. But experts say when natural disasters strike, it is the primary responsibility of state and local governments — not the federal government — to respond. | |
|
TheAnchoress: Oh, please. ABC NEWS (yes, them!) also finally took a look around -and wondered about a few things. Todd Gitlin: As a result, he landed last night on ABC World News Tonight, CNN's Lou Dobbs, and elsewhere, saying more or less what he... Captain Ed: Katrina: ABC Notices The New Orleans Emergency Plan — At least one major media outlet has finally noticed that New... |
Jeff Goldstein: (UPDATED) From ABC News: "In New Orleans, those in peril and those in power have pointed the finger squarely at the federal government for the delayed relief effort. Marc @USSNeverdock: ABC News reports. "NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 6, 2005 — In New Orleans, those in peril and those in power have pointed the... |
Same-sex marriage bill goes to Schwarzenegger AP — Permalink Vote: California lawmakers became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing same-sex marriages. Next: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could veto the measure. He has said the issue should be decided by voters or the courts. | |
|
Phillip Martin: California OKs Same-Sex Marriages — In case you've missed it, the California legislature has OK'ed same-sex marriages. Last Night: Same Sex Marriage Bill Passes in California Legislature — The California legislature today adopted a same sex marriage... |
California Yankee: According to the Associated Press, San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno had sponsored an earlier bill that fell four votes short of passing the Assembly in June. |
Dems Assail White House on Katrina Effort AP — Permalink (09-07) 10:03 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' top two Democrats furiously criticized the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday, with Sen. Harry Reid demanding to know whether President Bush's Texas vacation impeded relief efforts and Rep. Nancy Pelosi assailing the chief executive as "oblivious, in denial" about the difficulties. | |
|
Oliver Willis: Oblivious, In Denial, Dangerous — That's America in the Bush years In a letter to the Senate's Homeland Security... Joe Gandelman: The Scariest Hurricane Katrina Quote Yet — This has to be one of the scariest quotes to come out of the Hurricane... |
John @AmericaBlog: Why don't you ask the thousands of people you killed in New Orleans - you know, the ones you just banned the media from... |
Nightmare in New Orleans By / Reason — Permalink People couldn't help contrasting the catastrophes. During the first disaster, New Yorkers remained calm, cooperative, and nonviolent; the crime rate plunged, and the city was overwhelmed with spontaneous acts of mutual aid. | |
|
Jim Henley: Like and Unlike — Superb Jesse Walker column about Katrina, the social order and cooperation. |
Radley Balko: Jesse Walker has a sober, optimistic look at cooperation and natural disasters, too. |
Poll: Most Americans believe New Orleans will never recover CNN — Permalink (CNN) — A majority of Americans believe the city of New Orleans will never completely recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flooding, according to results of a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Tuesday. | |
|
John @PowerLine: Based on this CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, most Americans would join with Glenn's preference for tangible lessons over assignment of guilt. Mary Madigan: The blame game by Mary Madigan According to this CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, 38 percent of Americans polled believe that... |
Steve M.: A mixed verdict in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll: ...Forty-two percent of respondents characterized President Bush's... |
AN OBSCENE CHARGE New York Post — Permalink PERHAPS the gravest weakness of contemporary liberalism is its tendency toward preening vanity — the regrettable undercurrent that suggests the views liberals espouse demonstrate just how much better, kinder, more thoughtful, more large-hearted and more caring they are than those who might think differently about policy. | |
|
John Derbyshire: However, I couldn't help but notice two things in JPod's New York Post column this morning. JPod: For a more serious take on this matter, check out my column this morning in the New York Post. |
Betsy Newmark: John Podhoretz comes out swinging against the idea that somehow the victims of Hurricane Katrina are also racial victims. |
House cancels hearings on Katrina response CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled. | |
|
Joe Gandelman: House Cancels Katrina Hearings As DeLay Blames Local Officials — The way it's been going, you knew this was coming, didn't you? Jo Fish: BugWit — Bugman speaks. This is not the Blame Game. "DeLay added that Alabama and Mississippi did a much better job of responding quickly than Louisiana. |
Oliver Willis: House cancels hearings on Katrina response The House majority leader [Tom DeLay] late Tuesday tried to deflect... Stirling Newberry: Welcome to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Bushistan — US Agency censors pictures of the dead in New Orleans Tom DeLay cancels Katrina response hearings. |
Don't blame only feds NY Daily News — Permalink Let's take a break from the joy of Bush bashing to reveal the dirty little secret of New Orleans: Its local government deserves an F for its planning and response to Katrina. And one other thing: The New Orleans police force would be a joke if it weren't a disgrace. | |
|
TheAnchoress: Michael Goodwin of the NY Daily News also offered up some balanced commentary: The charge of racism-inspired foot-dragging isn't just nonsense. Ace: Michael Goodwin: "Start with crime. That looters ran unchecked after the hurricane isn't surprising when you consider that criminals have had the run of the city for years. |
Paul @Wizbang: Don't blame only feds Crime rate, inept pols leveled New Orleans before the storm Let's take a break from the joy of... |
The trouble at the local level By / Townhall.com — Permalink "You and your family (yes, your children, too) should be dropped right in the middle of New Orleans and be forced to live there for three days, and maybe then your tight grip on the GOP might be loosened and you'll be awakened to the failures of the incompetent man sitting in the White House." | |
|
Joe Gandelman: And aren't. UPDATE: Linda Chavez writes about problems at the local level. Kathryn Jean Lopez: "YOU AND YOUR FAMILY (YES, YOUR CHILDREN, TOO) SHOULD BE DROPPED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW ORLEANS AND BE FORCED TO... |
TheAnchoress: When a son is facing Katrinaâ Linda Chavez writes: As it happened, my youngest son, Rudy, was in New Orleans as... |
California Legislature Approves Gay Marriage WaPo — Permalink SACRAMENTO, Sept. 6 — The California Assembly voted Tuesday to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, making the state's legislature the first in the nation to deliberately approve same-sex marriages and handing a political hot potato to an already beleaguered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). | |
|
Frederick Maryland: As the bill heads to Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk to be signed or vetoed, the Washington Post writes: "As a former... Ezra Klein: The California legislature approved a gay marriage bill, which he's either got to sign or veto. Kevin Drum: Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Paleolithic) provided the opposing argument: "It's not about civil rights or personal rights, it's about acceptance. |
Jesse Taylor: In case you couldn't tell, Tim Graham is gone off his rocker (at this point, I think it's safe to say... John Cole: Gay Marriage Provision Passed In Cali First in the nation: The California Assembly voted Tuesday to allow gay and... Tim Graham: The Washington Post story is big on establishing on its front page that this could be a "tipping point" in the crusade... |
| Also: Gary Farber, Verity @SouthernAppeal, Joshua Claybourn, Roger Ailes | |
Democrats shift strategy on Roberts By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said yesterday that they will invoke the vast disparities in income and living conditions laid bare by the Hurricane Katrina disaster to sharpen their questioning of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. at his confirmation hearings next week. | |
|
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Let's Get Tenuous — Evidently, the new tactic designed to throw a wrench into the confirmation hearings for John... Ezra Klein: The Right Questions — Now this is what I'm talking about: "Senate Democrats said yesterday that they will invoke the... |
Ann Althouse: The Boston Globe reports: [snipped quote] Or did Leahy watch the scenes of hardship on television with a growing sense of... Kathryn Jean Lopez: NO, BUT SERIOUSLY — Katrina was John Roberts fault. Day 2. Wake me up when September ends. |
Franken Signed Air America's Payment Pact By / New York Sun — Permalink The Air America radio network's biggest star, Al Franken, and its former chairman, Evan Montvel Cohen, were among the signers of a confidential agreement last November that said the network would repay $875,000 to a Bronx nonprofit organization, the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. | |
|
Michelle Malkin: Update by Michelle, 7:08 am EDT: About two and a half hours after this post was published, the New York Sun published this article by David Lombino. |
Scott @PowerLine: David Lombino also keeps up with the story in today's New York Sun: "Franken signed Air America's payment pact." |
Haunted by Hesitation By / NYT — Permalink It took a while, but the president finally figured out a response to the destruction of New Orleans. Later this week (no point rushing things) W. is dispatching Dick Cheney to the rancid lake that was a romantic city. | |
|
Gal Beckerman: Go to comments — Hidden Angle The Veil Falls Yet Again In her New York Times column today, Maureen Dowd delights in... Barbara O'Brien: In today's New York Times, Maureen Dowd speculates about what those goals might be. "Maybe Mr. Cheney is going down to New Orleans to hunt looters. |
Michael @AmericaBlog: Maureen Dowd says Cheney was house-hunting: [snipped quote] Dick Cheney was SHOPPING FOR A MANSION DURING THE WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN OUR NATION'S HISTORY. Attaturk: Today, she kicks Bush's slovenly, incompetent, ass all over the place, and then comes back and places a few in his... |
Bush Promises to Seek Answers to Failures of Hurricane Relief NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 - Under relentless political fire over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush on Tuesday tried to steer the public debate toward progress in the region, promising to investigate earlier stumbles, as anxious lawmakers returned to the Capitol pledging inquiries of their own and aid money for the storm victims. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: Billmon: [quote] I guess this is what Bush was talking about yesterday when he called himself a "problem solver."[end quote] Brendan Nyhan: "Problem solvers" — The latest excuse for not firing failed horse association executive and FEMA director Michael... |
Sam Rosenfeld: From a piece in today's New York Times, here's something I certainly hadn't heard mentioned before as a possibility. Billmon: The Potemkin President, Part II — [snipped quote] Here's the photo op from Reuters, also via Kos: firemen.jpg I guess... |
Support for governor continues to slide By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink Barely more than one in three Californian voters would re-elect Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger if he decides to run for a second term — and contests between him and his Democratic challengers, Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly, would be too close to call if they were held now, a Field Poll released today shows. | |
|
Ezra Klein: And now, wielding an impressive 36% reelect rating, Arnold's got the toughest choice of his political career. Taegan Goddard: Poll Says Schwarzenegger Might Not Be Back — Just one in three voters would re-elect California Gov. Arnold... |
Gerry Daly: Governor's Race Too Close To Call The San Francisco Chronicle (hat tip, Dave Wissing): [snipped quote] Actually, these... |
Katrina Takes Environmental Toll WaPo — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 6 — The dank and putrid floodwaters choking this once-gracious city are so poisoned with gasoline, industrial chemicals, feces and other contaminants that even casual contact is hazardous, and safe drinking water may not be available for the entire population for years to come, state and federal officials warned Tuesday. | |
|
Billmon: A Better Class of Idiot — [snipped quote] Clearly, this is a man with realistic expectations. |
Gary Farber: THE WATER isn't lovely: [snipped quote] Read The Rest Scale: 3 out of 5. |
Calif. Lawmakers Pass Gay Marriage Bill By / AP — Permalink SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gay rights supporters cheered loudly from the gallery as California lawmakers became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing same-sex marriages. But their celebration may be short-lived. | |
|
Hugh Hewitt: If he's even thinking about it, he vetoes California's new same sex marriage bill, citing Prop 22 and demanding that any... James Joyner: California Lawmakers Pass Gay Marriage Bill (AP) [snipped quote] Schwarzenegger's position here would seem quite bizarre, turning Republican orthodoxy on its head. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Well, by passing this bill (warning: AP), the leftists in our state legislature basically have guaranteed to have stirred up social conservatives out here into a frenzy. |
Specter Asks; Roberts Answers, for the Most Part By / WaPo — Permalink There are advantages to being Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, and Arlen Specter used them yesterday to sit down with the man nominated to be chief justice of the United States and to quiz him about abortion, consensus-building and other topics. | |
|
Avedon Carol: Stupidest Q&A of a nominee: Arlen Specter talked to Roberts, asking mostly pointless questions, gets pointless answers all around. William J. Dyer: And an article in tomorrow's WaPo now confirms that much: [snipped quote] This article will apparently be buried back on... Juan Non-Volokh: Look, Up in the Sky . . . It's a bird . . . It's a plane. No, it's super-precedent! [snipped quote] Beldar has more. |
Jo Fish: French Fry Lies — Interesting blip from a story in the Post. Scared Monkeys: "A dialogue among equals" is how John Roberts addressed questions posed by Arlen Specter on how he will deal with the... Ann Althouse: Here's Part 1. And Beldar is re-skewering him for it. Here's the WaPo story quoting Specter. |
| Also: Kathryn Jean Lopez | |
Gonzales Is Mentioned in Supreme Court Remarks NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 - President Bush said Tuesday that his list of candidates to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was "wide open," and he jokingly but pointedly singled out Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. | |
|
John Cole: Supreme Court Nominations I don't know what to make of these comments: President Bush said Tuesday that his list of... William @SouthernAppeal: News reports indicate Bush will appoint a Hispanic to the High Court — According to this NYT article, Dubya might be... |
Dr. Steven Taylor: SCOUTS Speculation — Via the NYT: Gonzales Is Mentioned in Supreme Court Remarks ""President Bush said Tuesday that..." |
Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed for Days By / WaPo — Permalink Offers of foreign aid worth tens of millions of dollars — including a Swedish water purification system, a German cellular telephone network and two Canadian rescue ships — have been delayed for days awaiting review by backlogged federal agencies, according to European diplomats and information collected by the State Department. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: Elizabeth Williamson writes in today's Washington Post that among the problems the Bush Administration is solving are... Gary Farber: ABOUT THAT FOREIGN AID? It's speeding towards you. Or maybe not. |
Tbogg: Let me rephrase that... FEMA...the gift that keeps on killing: Offers of foreign aid worth tens of millions of dollars... Chris @AmericaBlog: Foreign aid donors still waiting for clearance — I heard wingnuts early on crying about "where are all of the foreign... |
Visiting survivors, Oprah seeks stories that haven't been told By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink Seeking "the stories that haven't been told," talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey toured New Orleans and visited with Hurricane Katrina survivors for a show that originated Tuesday from the Reliant Astrodome. | |
|
Blackfive: Here's some another senseless statement from Nagin: ...New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told Winfrey that politics played a role in the delayed government response. |
Jack Cluth: A postcard from Hell — Visiting survivors, Oprah seeks stories that haven't been told I was sitting in an emergency... |
In the madness of hurricane and its aftermath, TV is the unblinking eye that brings clarity By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink Every day — sometimes every hour — brings dramatic change and unimaginable repercussions as television follows the Hurricane Katrina fallout. Much in the same manner of Sept. 11 coverage, it has become one of those events where history is televised and it's nearly impossible to look away. | |
|
Jim Romenesko: TV journalists' performances called "dramatically uneven" — San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman praises CNN's Aaron... |
Brian Stelter: Goodman: "One Or More People At MSNBC" Should Be Fired For Hiring Rita Cosby — CNN's Aaron Brown stood out as a voice of calm in the aftermath coverage, Tim Goodman writes. |
President of NBC News Announces His Resignation By / NYT — Permalink Neal Shapiro, who led NBC News through the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the conflict in Iraq, and who oversaw the first anchor succession on a network nightly newscast in nearly a quarter-century, announced yesterday that he was resigning as president of the news division, effective Friday. | |
|
Brian Stelter: NBC Prez: Morning Papers shapirocapussept7.jpg > Nice Jacques Steinberg lead: "Neal Shapiro, who led NBC News through... |
Jim Romenesko: > Steinberg: By many measures, Shapiro's tenure was a success (NYT) > De Moraes: Shapiro's tenure as news boss had its ups and downs (WP) |
Oil-For-Food Probe: UN Needs Overhaul to Stop Fraud By / WaPo — Permalink UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 6 — The U.N. Security Council and Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to adequately manage and police the $64 billion U.N. oil-for-food program, creating a permissive environment that enabled Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq to take... | |
|
Captain Ed: The Washington Post tells its readers that Annan says Saddam made him do it: "Volcker's new report will sharply... |
Cori Dauber: Poor Kofi — Today he's saying wishes he'd never heard of Oil for Food. I'll bet. |
Osama and Katrina By / NYT — Permalink On the day after 9/11, I was in Jerusalem and was interviewed by Israeli TV. The reporter asked me, "Do you think the Bush administration is up to responding to this attack?" As best I can recall, I answered: "Absolutely. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: There are a number of worthy rants in the papers today. For example, Tom Friedman almost gets shrill. Ed Cone: Furious Friedman — Friedman is furious. His studiously even tone breaks in today's column. Attaturk: And Tom Friedman, manages to sidestep his constant enabling of these morons and makes sense: "These are people so much... |
Kevin Edit This: Posted by KTK Edit This Tom Friedman finally sees the light: "On the day after 9/11, I was in Jerusalem and was interviewed by Israeli TV. Armando @DailyKos: Well, Tom Friedman returns from his vacation to prove David immediately right in his prediction: [snipped quote] Some of... |
New Orleans Mayor Orders Forced Evacuation By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS - To the estimated 10,000 residents still believed to be holed up in this ruined city, the mayor had a blunt new warning: Get out now — or risk being taken out by force. | |
|
James Joyner: Katrina: New Orleans Mayor Orders Forced Evacuation — More than a week after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the... |
Dr. Steven Taylor: New Orleans Update — New Orleans Mayor Orders Forced Evacuation: "To the estimated 10,000 residents still believed to... |
Mitt Romney's Evangelical Problem By / Washington Monthly — Permalink Washington pundits in the throes of post-election doldrums are notoriously eager to find a fresh face to crown the "early favorite" for the next presidential campaign. Even by those standards, however, the speed with which they flocked to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been remarkable. | |
|
John J. Miller: YOUR DAILY MITT UPDATE — The Washington Monthly runs an article on whether Mitt Romney's Mormonism makes him unelectable. |
Kathryn Jean Lopez: ABOUT ROMNEY'S LOOKS — I'd like to state for the record that I (despite the likes of this and this) was not the one who "sighed over his 'chiseled handsomeness.'" (Whodunnit? |
Excusing the Chief? NRO — Permalink The problem here is that whatever the truth about the secretary-general's family ties to U.N. business, he was responsible for a great deal more than simply that particular U.N. contract. | |
|
Jan Haugland: Claudia Rosett, the journalist who has tirelessly followed UNSCAM from long before the mainstream media bothered to touch it, is not too optimistic that this will be a reveal-all. Glenn Reynolds: UNSCAM UPDATE: Claudia Rosett has more on the latest oil-for-food developments. Excerpt: [snipped quote] She seems to expect a whitewash, though. Kathryn Jean Lopez: OIL-FOR-FOOD — Claudia Rosett, in a new piece, previews and predicts what the Volcker report will look like Wednesday. |
Roger L. Simon: Nervous Time at the UN — In her run-up to Wednesday's Volcker Committee mega-report on oil-for-food — Exposé, At Last? Marc @USSNeverdock: UN oil for food scandal update — Fox News, Claudia Rosett and Roger Simon all have reports on the pending final Volcker report. |
Deposed Gaza security chief Moussa Arafat assassinated AP — Permalink Dozens of Palestinian gunmen stormed the home of deposed Gaza security chief Moussa Arafat before dawn Wednesday and shot him dead, witnesses and police said. Arafat, 65, a cousin of the late leader, Yasser Arafat, was fired earlier this year by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. | |
|
Alcibiades @KesherTalk: Moussa Arafat, Arafat's obnoxious cousin, a founder of Fatah, and one of Abbas' main opponents, was finally assassinated... Colt: Update: Moussa Arafat was assassinated last night. « ok, I'm done now |
Gateway Pundit: (AP) Manhal Arafat, the son of General Moussa Arafat who was shot to death Tuesday night, was kidnapped and killed by his abductors. |
The Note: A Soul, a Spirit Capable of Compassion ABCNEWS — Permalink We are back but we are rusty, so let's start out in our role as masters of the obvious. There are only two big political stories for the foreseeable future. They aren't tax reform and Social Security personal savings accounts. | |
|
Steve Soto: In this case, the media, as evidenced by the dismissive tone of ABC News' The Note this morning, will push the blame... Nico @ThinkProgress: McClellan "refused to directly answer questions |
Attaturk: The 500 f**kwits of Irreality — You know it might be nice if the Note mentioned the fact that the biggest story of... |
Right city, wrong state CNN — Permalink (CNN) — Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles. A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston. | |
|
Paul @Wizbang: FEMA FOLLIES — If you've ever wondered why true conservatives are skeptical about the ability of government... Right... Jay Tea: (For one FEMA screwup that's almost laughable, see here.) Asking them to do any more just doesn't make sense. Joe Gandelman: This FEMA bungle is almost funny. —On the other hand, Barcepundit DOES have a point here... —An "anonymous U.S. Naval officer" defends U.S. military response to the crisis. |
Brendan Nyhan: Update 9/7: Here's an example of Bush administration "problem solving" from CNN via Wonkette: A South Carolina health... Jesse Taylor: You could argue that I'm only focusing on the bad stuff, but when refugees were evacuated from the city of Louisiana to... Gary Farber: JUST GET ON THE PLANE and quit asking petty questions like where are we going? "Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles. |
| Also: Steve M., John @AmericaBlog | |
Bush to Probe Storm Response WaPo — Permalink Stung by criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush yesterday promised to investigate his own administration's emergency management, then readied a request for tens of billions of dollars for relief and cleanup. | |
|
Sam Rosenfeld: But it's perhaps a telling sign of the fractures among Republicans that, as is made clear in both the Times piece and... Tbogg: Make him an offer... Dick Cheney sends Scooter Libby on a mission Posted by Picasa Charles Grassley is about to discover... |
Joe Gandelman: He announced he'll launch a probe to let the chips fall where they may — and, why, he'll even oversee the let-the-chips-fall-where- they-may investigation himself. |
FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. | |
|
Laura Rozen: It is to serve FEMA's new self-declared role to make the administration look good: "(...Brown's memo told employees... Jesse Taylor: I have it on good authority that Ahmad Chalabi has been tapped to replace Ray Nagin as mayor of New Orleans. Venkat @BeggingToDiffer: Meanwhile, this AP report sheds a bright spotlight on some of that lawyering. |
Armando @DailyKos: "Just before we walked into this room, President Bush called and told me to share with all of you that he is very concerned about the citizens." Joe Gandelman: The latest damning report on FEMA comes via this Washington Post report which says, among other things: "The... Mary @LeftCoaster: Of course, Michael Brown knew right away Katrina was a huge deal, and so he let his boss know that it would be important... |
| Also: Oliver Willis, Josh Marshall, Attaturk, RandyMI @DailyKos, Lambert @Corrente, Joe @AmericaBlog | |
Barbara Bush: It's Good Enough for the Poor By / The Nation — Permalink The Nation — Finally, we have discovered the roots of George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism." On the heels of the president's "What, me worry?" response to the death, destruction and dislocation that followed upon Hurricane Katrina comes the news of his mother's Labor Day visit with hurricane evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston. | |
|
Picasa: (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan) Barbara Bush: "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. Frederick Maryland: Condescension Masked as Compassion — John Nichols of The Nation writes of former First Lady Barbara Bush's recent visit... |
Woundwort: Good Times for the Poor — Barbara Bush spent some time visiting families in the Houston Astrodome who have been displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. |
California Legislature approves gay marriage bill By / AP — Permalink (09-06) 20:59 PDT SACRAMENTO, (AP) — The California Legislature on Tuesday became the first legislative body in the country to approve a bill allowing same-sex marriages, but the measure faces an uncertain future before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. | |
|
Kos @DailyKos: California is now the first state to have gay marriage pass its legislature. [snipped quote] Will Schwarzenegger sign the bill? |
Oliver Willis: And California just said gay marriage is a go. |
Police Vow to Get Remaining Residents Out of New Orleans By / NYT — Permalink BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 6 - As a handful of pumps toiled to drain the water out of a sprawling city today, the New Orleans police said they would force the 10,000 or so residents left in the city to leave and Louisiana officials warned of long-term damage to the area's environment. | |
|
Jack Cluth: Police Vow To Get Remaining Residents Out Of New Orleans Good luck with that one. Some folks aren't going to want to leave, no matter what. John Cole: Police/Military to Forcibly Remove Residents The people who refuse to leave no longer have a say in the matter: As a... Justin Gardner: Good. CNN has the story. [snipped quote] We can only hope for the best now. More from the NY Times. |
Arianna Huffington: Sixty percent of the city remains underwater; up to 160,000 homes in the state of Louisiana have been submerged or... Scared Monkeys: According to the NY Times, the police in New Orleans vow to remove all the remaining residents. |
PROGRAMS CNN — Permalink AIRS: 6-7 p.m. ET Monday-Friday We'll have the latest on rescue and relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from reporters in the region. There's no denying both political parties in Congress are now owned lock, stock and barrel by corporate interests. | |
|
Jon Lackow: Vote on whether Katrina victims should get some relief from the new bankruptcy law. Update—Chuck Grassley thinks a reprieve isn't needed. |
Last Night: See "Larry King Live" on Wednesday for answers Word on the street in Little Rock is that its intrepid and indefatigable... |
US lawmakers prepare Katrina probe, financial aid By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The Republican senator leading a Senate investigation into the government's response to Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it was "woefully inadequate" and it had raised doubts about the U.S. ability to cope with a terrorist attack. | |
|
Joe Gandelman: Congress may not respond the same way — even Republicans, if initial signs are any indication: "The Republican... Hugh Hewitt: The Collins Moment — Maine's Senator Susan Collins chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and along with... |
Captain Ed: The Senate Homeland Security Committee announced earlier today that they would start an investigation into the... |
Native ingenuity By / Boston Globe — Permalink LIKE EVERY AMERICAN schoolchild, I learned the story of the Pilgrims in school—how half of the Plymouth colonists died of starvation in the first winter, the remainder surviving only by squatting on an abandoned Indian village and ransacking Indian homes and graves for caches of food. | |
|
Brad Plumer: Now that that's over and done with, here's a fun piece by Charles C. Mann in the Boston Globe, asking whether the... |
Ezra Klein: Guns vs. Longbows — In case you need a break from Katrina... |
Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA Salt Lake Tribune — Permalink ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?" As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working... | |
|
The Poor Man: Re-evaluating the Bush administration's response to Katrina Whenever we read stories like this … Not long... Brendan Nyhan: In response, as Atrios and Salon point out, the FEMA spokesperson said this: "I would go back and ask the firefighter to... Ross @TheTalentShow: Attention Bush Defenders: What say you about this? |
TheAnchoress: And btw - I wasn't going to bring this up, but I cannot help but wonder which party made the sexual harrassment training mandatory, here? Mark Schmitt: 1-800-GET-A-CLUE — I read this astonishing article from the Salt Lake Tribune twice, and only on a second reading did I realize the essential absurdity of it. Kevin Drum: Salt Lake Tribune: "'[FEMA has] people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified,' said a Texas firefighter. |
| Also: Norbizness, Jon Henke, Steve Soto, Barbara O'Brien, Chris Bowers, Michael Bérubé, Steve M., Dr. Steven Taylor, Laura Rozen, Avedon Carol, Jason Van Steenwyk, Attaturk, Jesse Taylor, Billmon, Glenn Reynolds, Joe Gandelman, Michael J. Totten, Scott Shields, Brad DeLong, Kos @DailyKos, David Sirota, Mary @LeftCoaster, Kate O'Beirne, Josh Marshall, Andrew Sullivan, Kash, Harry Shearer, Hilzoy @ObsidianWings, Gary Farber, Ed Cone | |
Murder and rape - fact or fiction? Guardian — Permalink There were two babies who had their throats slit. The seven-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in the Superdome. And the corpses laid out amid the excrement in the convention centre. In a week filled with dreadful scenes of desperation and anger from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina some stories stood out. | |
|
Roger Ailes: Perhaps he confused the facts with a particularly violent episode of Star Trek. Goldberg is a racist, pure and simple. Marc @USSNeverdock: In this report the Guardian cast doubt on all the horror stories of rape and murder at the Superdome. Amanda Marcotte: As could be predicted, the endless stream of stories of criminal behavior pouring out of New Orleans in the wake of Katrina were exaggerated. |
Natalie Solent: The Guardian's Gary Younge wrote yesterday: "New Orleans police have been unable to confirm the tale of the raped... John Cole: Unfortunately, this sort of undertaking is left to the foreign press, as the American press is busy emoting elsewhere... Damian Penny: Katrina's urban legends — According to The Guardian, many of the worst horror stories about the people stuck in the... |
| Also: Clayton Cramer, Avedon Carol, Captain Ed, Michelle Malkin, McQ, Jan Haugland, Dan Darling, Susie Madrak, Matt Welch, Gary Farber, Scared Monkeys, Mark R. Levin | |
The Deadly Bigotry of Low Expectations? By / Reason — Permalink All along Hurricane Katrina's Evacuation Belt, in cities from Houston to Baton Rouge to Leesville, Louisiana, the exact same rumors are spreading faster than red ants at a picnic. | |
|
Jim Henley: Matt Welch makes an early stab at something that merits considerable investigation in the days ahead: how much of the... DavidNYC @DailyKos: America's Finest News Source — As always, The Onion gets it exactly right: [snipped quote] While you're at it, check out... Sam Rosenfeld: Matt Welch has a good piece up on Reason's site about the possible consequences of the lurid, racially tinged, and... |
John Cole: Update #2 *** More here from Matt Welch, and the Belgravia Dispatch offers up some thoughts on Katrina and the response. Gary Farber: But "confusion" seems to be an operative word. Read The Rest Scale: 0 out of 5. Also: Matt Welch on the lies and rumors. Matt Welch: New Reason Online Column — "The Deadly Bigotry of Low Expectations? Did the rumor mill help kill Katrina victims?" |
Bush to oversee probe into what went wrong By / MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - Beset with 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 that the country would withstand more storms or even a weapons of mass destruction attack. | |
|
Avedon Carol: Yes, the most trusted investigator in America - George W. Bush. (Because he's a guy who can admit a mistake, right?) Joe Gandelman: Bush Vows Probe As More Unflattering FEMA Info Emerges — President George Bush has vowed to get to the bottom of... Cernig: Meanwhile the breaking news is that even while Congress appoints an investigation, Bush has announced he wants one of his own. |
Justin Gardner: From MSNBC: "WASHINGTON - President Bush intends to seek as much as $40 billion to cover the next phase of relief and... New Donkey: The Bush "Investigation" — As a follow-up to his administration's not-so-subtle efforts to blame state and local... Steve Soto: Bush, Friday, complimenting FEMA Director and former horse attorney Michael Brown After enduring criticism that his... |
| Also: Gary Farber, Kos @DailyKos, Billmon, Laura Rozen | |
Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dead at 70 By / AP — Permalink (09-06) 14:20 PDT Los Angeles (AP) — Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show "Gilligan's Island" made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died. He was 70. | |
|
Kevin Edit This: Posted by KTK Edit This Bob Denver, "Gilligan" of Gilligan's Island and - for those slightly older - "Maynard G. Krebs"... Jeralyn Merritt: R.I.P. Bob Denver — Bob Denver died Friday. Most of the blog eulogies for Bob Denver talk about Gilligan's Island. Skippy: the worst hurricane news ever bob denver, tv's gilligan, dead at 70. |
Vanderleun: Noted "WORK!?!?" GILLIGAN TO MILLIONS, he'll always be Maynard G. Krebs to me: Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, dead at 70. TheAnchoress: Bob Denver, of Gilligan's Island (and a short-lived series called Good Guys, co-starring Herb Edelman and Joyce Van... Avedon Carol: You remember that other guy: Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dead at 70 "Krebs, whose only desire was to play the bongos and... |
| Also: Don | |
New Orleans myths: The numbers tell a different story American Thinker — Permalink There will be plenty of time to argue about who was responsible for the slow response in New Orleans this week in dealing with those who did not choose to leave, or were unable to leave the city before the hurricane hit. | |
|
Cernig: Class and Katrina — Have you noticed yet how every op-ed that sets out to show that the "left behind" of New Orleans... RCox: Media's Remedial Math — Mark Tapscott has a link over to an American Thinker article worth reading. Here is a summary of a key point. Steve Antler: LIbels debunked... Richard Baehr addresses the myth that rich whites were the ones who got out of town, leaving only... |
Marc @USSNeverdock: New Orleans myths: The numbers tell a different story — The American Thinker exposes some myths surrounding New Orleans... TheAnchoress: Betsy links to a great piece with a slightly different take on things. Betsy Newmark: If you have sensed that the media is putting out a skewed story about the hurricane tragedy and political blame, you must read Richard Baehr's column today in the American Thinker. |
| Also: Lorie Byrd | |
FEMA Director Singled Out by Response Critics WaPo — Permalink Michael D. Brown has been called the accidental director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, caricatured as the failed head of an Arabian horse sporting group who was plucked from obscurity to become President Bush's point man for the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. | |
|
USMC_Vet: AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY & THE AMERICAS President Bush has promised an investigation into how the Federal Government... Damian Penny: Moreover, there's a lot of evidence that President Bush knew - or should have known - that Brown was out of his depth... Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post jumps in with front page criticism singling out Michael Brown, head of FEMA, and blaming him for much of the chaos after the hurricane. |
Joe Gandelman: Jeff Jarvis Glynn Wilson Michelle Malkin Donklephant (calls for firing after disaster relief is over) Restless Mania... Judd @ThinkProgress: Top FEMA Deputies Make Brown Look Qualified — If Bush were to fire FEMA director Mike Brown the agency would be run by the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Staff. Laura Rozen: In an administration in which PR is policy, it sounds like Fema chief Mike D. Brown has already effectively been... |
| Also: Faiz @ThinkProgress, Gary Farber, Rich Lowry | |
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan White House — Permalink James S. Brady Briefing Room MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everybody. The President has had a very busy morning, as he has continued to spend most of his time focusing on the Katrina response efforts and making sure that people in the region are getting the help that they need. | |
|
Liz Cox Barrett: Go to comments — Spin Buster We're All Helen Thomas ... For Now Something unusual happened during Scott McClellan's... Jim Romenesko: WH to press: The time for bickering, blame-gaming is later — WhiteHouse.gov McClellan From today's White House press... Magpie @PacificViews: At today's White House press briefing, reporters were staying on press secretary Scott McClellan's case like junkyard dogs chewing on an intruder. |
Joe Gandelman: The bottom line of the White House line is this, as described by White House press mouthpiece Scott McClellan: if you... Laura Rozen: Romenesko: "WH to press: The time for bickering, blame-gaming is later WhiteHouse.gov From today's White House press... |
Bush Says He'll Find Out What Went Wrong By / AP — Permalink (09-06) 08:49 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. | |
|
Justin Gardner: More from the AP: [snipped quote] Ahh, the spectre of the WMDs… Forgive me if I'm cynical after these crazy times,... Bob Cesca: And George W. Bush, the man responsible for appointing and/or supporting these criminally negligent excuses for... Greg Ransom: Bush to head investigation of Katrina disaster response disaster — President Bush tells the AP that he himself plans to... |
Joe Gandelman: The second part of it — Bush overseeing it HIMSELF — is bound to undermine the credibility of any such... Sam Rosenfeld: Cue the Associated Press: "Bush also announced he is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Gulf Coast region on... John @AmericaBlog: Bush is going to investigate his OWN bungling of Hurricane Katrina. That's nice. |
| Also: Josh Marshall | |
Missouri Condemnation No Longer So Imminent By / WaPo — Permalink SUNSET HILLS, Mo. — When David Wright retired from his factory job in 1997, he poured just about all his savings into a handsome brick house in the Sunset Manor subdivision here. "This was our dream," said David's wife, Lorraine. "We were set here for the rest of our lives." | |
|
Jo Fish: By passing legislation that forbid the kind of 'takings' that Kelo specifically allows...except (and you knew there was an exception, right?) Glenn Reynolds: MORE KELO BACKLASH: [snipped quote] I'm glad to hear it. Todd Zywicki: More Anti-Kelo Backlash: This time in Missouri. |
Justin Gardner: From the Washington Post: [snipped quote] To take away somebody's home, in favor of land development is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG…and now we're fighting back. John Cole: More Kelo Backlash Another story on the backlash from the Kelo v. New London SCOTUS decision, this time in Missouri. Pejman Yousefzadeh: The Kelo Backlash Continues Apace — Via Virginia Postrel, we have this extremely encouraging bit of news |
| Also: Virginia Postrel | |
25 Dems could vote for Roberts By / The Hill — Permalink Members of the Senate Democrats' K Street inner circle are predicting that as many as 25 Democrats will vote to confirm John Roberts as chief justice of the United States. | |
|
Avedon Carol: Meanwhile, 25 Democrats are rumored to be likely to vote for Roberts - mainly because they are afraid of the fight costing political capital. Sam Rosenfeld: Suffice it to say that Democrats might want to take the few extra days of preparation for the hearings to finally rid... Scared Monkeys: That is the word coming from Elana Schor over at the The Hill,. a newspaper that bill itself as The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress. |
California Yankee: The fact that the polling numbers have stabilized with over 50 percent favoring Roberts's confirmation, along with The... Ezra Klein: So for 25 Democrats to already be hinting themselves in the "aye" column, hearings unheard, is a pretty sad commentary... Justin Gardner: 25 Dems For John Roberts, Chief Justice — Essentially, the process is over for the man who would be Chief Justice. |
| Also: James Joyner | |
Small signs of progress in New Orleans CNN — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — Crews worked to drain the putrid floodwaters out of New Orleans on Tuesday, as authorities warned of the horrors still submerged in the city. Mayor Ray Nagin told NBC's "Today" that he did not know how many bodies would be revealed once the waters recede. | |
|
Joe Gandelman: Tidbits about progress amid the troubling and sad (the presence of e-coli bacteria; predictions the Superdome will have to be ripped down). Last Night: Louisiana officials have told CNN within the last two hours that the Superdome may be torn down. [snipped quote] Was it damaged that bad? Ann Althouse: The good news from New Orleans. Here. Ordinary people, I assume, will eagerly consume the good news. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Forced Evacuations to Begin in New Orleans — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has issued a new order tonight: Everyone must... Michelle Malkin: Via Steve J. at Angry in the Great White North, CNN is reporting that the Superdome may be torn down: "The Louisiana... James Joyner: Official: E. Coli bacteria detected in floodwater (CNN) [snipped quote] This isn't really surprising but does make the situation even worse. |
Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, Dies at 70 By / AP — Permalink LOS ANGELES - Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show "Gilligan's Island," made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died. He was 70. | |
|
Charles Kuffner: RIP, Bob Denver — Goodbye, Gilligan. "Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show... John @AmericaBlog: Gilligan has died — Ok, here is my favorite quote from the obituary on AP: [snipped quote] LOL Hey, I loved the show, but let's not get carried away, Sherwood. Glenn Reynolds: HE FINALLY ESCAPED THE ISLAND: [snipped quote] Future scholars will regard the show as a profound critique, and celebration, of mid-20th Century America. |
Scared Monkeys: From the AP: "Bob Denver, the bumbling namesake of ''Gilligan's Island'' who embarked on what was supposed to be a... Gary Farber: THE MANY LIVES OF DOBIE GILLIS are over. As is his part in this tale. If only the Professor had been there! |
Craig Martelle: FEMA is not a first responder Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Permalink As one who has received training by FEMA in emergency management and also training by the Department of Defense in consequence management, I believe that the federal response in New Orleans needs clarification. The key to emergency management starts at the local level and expands to the state level. | |
|
Jesse Taylor: Craig Martelle attempt to defend FEMA's response is a lot of fluff around this central point: "The folks in New Orleans... McQ: Our authority is defined by the Louisiana Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, Chapter 6 Section 709,... Betsy Newmark: From another perspective, Craig Martelle writes, using his own background, to explain exactly what the role of FEMA is. |
Barbara O'Brien: Via Memeorandum, I see they are still linking to anything they can find that either (1) blames the victims, (2) blames... Ace: Stating the obvious, but well: FEMA is not a first-responder. That's on the local police and government (duh!) . Forkum: From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Craig Martelle: FEMA is not a first responder. |
| Also: MarkInMexico, Kathryn Jean Lopez | |
Hundreds Refuse to Evacuate LAT — Permalink NEW ORLEANS — Search teams pressing to evacuate the living and find the dead after a full week under the high-water sway of Hurricane Katrina found their efforts complicated Monday by the refusal of hundreds of residents to leave the paralyzed city. | |
|
Joe Gandelman: Yet, some stubbornly refuse to evacuate. Sort of like some near-negligent Bush administration cabinet officials. Norm Geras: > Staying: "On Monday, the crew rescued 183 people but was turned away by 150 more, said Billy Parker, manager of the Texas Task Force One Water Strike Team. Lambert @Corrente: Katrina: OJ's going to find the real killer! No, no. Wrong headline. Sorry about that. Bush is going to investigate Katrina! |
Ken Masugi: The Magic Marker Strategy for NO Holdouts — Hundreds of New Orleans residents refuse to leave their flooded houses (LAT). Gary Farber: But some folks really don't want to leave: "A senior New Orleans police official said Monday that some 10,000... |
President Meets with Cabinet White House — Permalink THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. My message to the Cabinet this morning is this: This administration is not going to rest until every life can be saved; until families are reconnected; until this recovery is complete. | |
|
Barbara O'Brien: We're problem-solvers." —President George W. Bush, while contemplating his next move in the Blame Game. Derek Chollet: Here's his statement in full: "Q Do you intend to replace any from your administration who are leading this recovery... |
Arianna Huffington: Arianna Huffington: George Bush, David Caruso, and Katrina: Why Now Is Precisely the Time for Finger-Pointing — Here's... Gary Farber: Transcript here: "Q Do you intend to replace any from your administration who are leading this recovery effort, who... |
Looking the other way By / Townhall.com — Permalink On August 6, as her 15 minutes of fame was just beginning, Cindy Sheehan used an odd term in a TV interview with Mark Knoller of CBS. She referred to the foreign insurgents and terrorists in Iraq as "freedom fighters." | |
|
Patterico: John Leo's latest column states: On August 6, as her 15 minutes of fame was just beginning, Cindy Sheehan used an odd term in a TV interview with Mark Knoller of CBS. Scott @PowerLine: Leo's column is "Look the other way." Whom exactly was she speaking for? Ed Driscoll: The Ultimate Airbrush — John Leo looks at how the press airbrushed the most extreme language out of quotes by Cindy Sheehan (hey, remember her?) |
Ace: Here's the excellent John Leo column on the media deliberately covering for Cindy Sheehan in order to protect her as a speaker of "truth to power." Jeff Goldstein: You realize that, right?" * "Sure. The neocons are just lucky that Kung-fu mysticism doesn't work on hurricanes. Mike Rappaport: Objective Journalism — John Leo notes how the MSM behaves as arm of the Democrats: "On August 6, as her 15 minutes of... |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds | |
Grim Mission in New Orleans CNN — Permalink THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Carol. I'm Miles O'Brien. A grim mission in New Orleans. Teams going house-by-house to find the victims of Katrina who couldn't escape in time. | |
|
Captain Ed: On CNN yesterday, even Mayor Ray Nagin now recalls his civics classes, although he still hasn't done much to take... TheAnchoress: In an interview with CNN's Soledad O' Brien, Nagin remarked defensively: And as a last resort, once this thing is... MarkInMexico: In this CNN interview, Mayor Culpa, er, Nagin himself first defends his and his city government's actions with, [snipped quote] Ok, that's easy, a big easy. |
Marc @USSNeverdock: Katrina - Blame Game Continues — This CNN transcript provides some interesting insight. Kevin Aylward: From the CNN transcript:S. O'BRIEN: There are people who say your evacuation plan, obviously in hindsight, was disastrous. Forkum: N.O. Blame — From a CNN interveiw between reporter Soledad O'Brien* and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (via Little Green... |
| Also: Lorie Byrd, McQ, Betsy Newmark, Michelle Malkin, Scared Monkeys, Kathryn Jean Lopez | |
Bob Denver, TV's 'Gilligan,' dies at 70 AP — Permalink LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — Bob Denver, whose portrayal of goofy castaway Gilligan on the 1960s TV show "Gilligan's Island" made him an iconic figure to generations of TV viewers, has died. He was 70. | |
|
Ann Althouse: So soon after failing to make a public demonstration of mourning upon the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, I'm... James Joyner: Bob Denver of 'Gilligan's Island' dies at 70 — Bob Denver, who starred in the 1960s situation comedies "Gilligan's Island" and "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," died Friday. |
Scared Monkeys: Bob Denver, best known for his portrayal of Gilligan, on Gilligan's Island passed peacefully September 2nd, 2005 surrounded by his family . |
Throwing out the thugs By / Townhall.com — Permalink 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. | |
|
Tbogg: Posted by Picasa Rebecca Hagelin likes writing "gangsta": Could it be that in a pop culture where the gangsta style is... Bob Cesca: Maybe Bush will summon proof that a few bad apples were to blame for the torture and execution of those who, as Rebecca... Amanda Marcotte: Shorter Rebecca Hagelin: The people in the days of the Titanic had the right idea—drown all of your poor people so there's no one left to get angry. |
Avedon Carol: Roger Ailes finds the view from those people who still love Bush: Rebecca Hagelin asks why the poor don't have the... Roger Ailes: And The Bigots Played On — Rebecca Hagelin asks why the poor don't have the courtesy to shut up and drown, like the underclass passengers in steerage on the Titanic did. Greg Ransom: See also Rebecca Hagelin, "Throw out the thugs", John Tierney, "Magic Marker Strategy" and Mark Steyn, "The Big Easy Rocked." |
| Also: Susie Madrak | |
Jewish Agency urges New Orleans college students to study in Israel By / Haaretz — Permalink The Jewish Agency has invited university students in New Orleans - Jews and non-Jews alike - to study in Israel. According to the Jewish Agency, some 20 college students have taken an interest in the offer. | |
|
Hugh Hewitt: From Volokh.com's David Bernstein: Opportunity for Katrina-Affected Students to Study in Israel: Some details here. |
David Bernstein: Opportunity for Katrina-Affected Students to Study in Israel: Some details here. |