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Embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown Resigns By / AP — Permalink (09-12) 12:08 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president," three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. | |
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Michael Stickings: AP reports: "Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown resigned Monday, three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Oliver Willis: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" AP "I'm turning in my resignation today," Brown said. Judd @ThinkProgress: UPDATE: "Brown, who said he last talked to Bush five or six days ago, said the resignation was his idea. |
Chris Bowers: I think it is particuarly interesting that as Roberts begins to speak, the news wire has Brown resigning from FEMA. Justin Gardner: From the SF Gate: [quote] Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best...[end quote] Kevin Drum: MIKE BROWN WATCH....CNN is reporting that FEMA chief Mike Brown has resigned. That's a shocker, isn't it? |
| Also: Scared Monkeys, Hilzoy @ObsidianWings, Admin @ThinkProgress | |
FEMA director Brown resigns CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown resigned Monday after coming under fire over his qualifications and for what critics call a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. | |
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Michael Stickings: UPDATE II: From CNN: "Asked Monday about the resignation as he toured the devastated city of Gulfport, Mississippi,... Ed Kilgore: Brownie, We Hardly Knew Ye — From: Politics Today comes the news that FEMA director Michael Brown has resigned. James Joyner: (Update: Story link) Embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown Resigns (AP) [MSNBC] [snipped quote] Brown was certainly a distraction and almost certainly unqualified for the job. |
Echidne: Part of the illusion game is to shroud everything into words which carry nothing but sound: [snipped quote] So criticism... Josh Marshall: Okay, so Michael — Brown's hold on the FEMA sachemship is now officially over. Last Night: CNN: Brown Resigns from FEMA — CNN just reported Michael Brown resigned as head of the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency. |
| Also: Forkum | |
Bush Denies Racial Component to Response By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS — President Bush denied Monday there was any racial component to people being left behind after Hurricane Katrina, despite suggestions from some critics that the response would have been quicker if so many of the victims hadn't been poor and black. | |
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Michael Stickings: Bush on Katrina: Race had nothing to do with it — From AP: "President Bush denied Monday there was any racial... Gateway Pundit: (Reuters) President Bush made his first visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina and broken levees ravaged the city. Jo Fish: Right — Preznit Hates The Poor is absolutely convinced in his own alcoholic brain that his administration didn't do the cut'n'run down in the Big Easy. |
Matthew Yglesias: "President Bush denied Monday there was any racial component to people being left behind after Hurricane Katrina,... John @AmericaBlog: Please ignore that incompetent imbecile in charge of protecting your life — Bush, interviewed in New Orleans today, is... Digby: Deja Vu All Over Again [quote] BUSH:"Look, there will be plenty of time to play the blame game," he said. "That's what you're trying to do.[end quote] |
All the President's Friends By / NYT — Permalink The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. | |
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The Poor Man: Shrill The Krugmanomicon: The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal... Brad DeLong: Paul Krugman is frightened: All the President's Friends - New York Times: How many FEMA's are there? Riggsveda @Corrente: 67476-BushFrown In Paul Krugman's latest column this morning, he outlines some examples of Bush's deliberate seeding of... |
McQ: Krugman: Old habits die hard — You know like exaggeration to put it kindly (better known as a "falsehood" if you're not in a kindly mood). Don: "And in his column today, he said it "earned universal praise during the Clinton years." Huh? Susie Madrak: Hacks Krugman goes into the whole sorry history of hackdom in this administration and concludes: Let's not forget that... |
| Also: Stirling Newberry | |
Judge Bork's Inkblot By / NYT — Permalink 1. The Ninth Amendment provides that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Do you believe that this language binds federal courts, or do you believe - as Robert Bork does - that it is an indecipherable "inkblot?" | |
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Angry Clam: GOTCHA!" answers by Ralph Neas and company, I thought that I'd take up Professor Glenn Reynolds' challenge in the New York Times. Ann Althouse: The NYT op-ed page has five persons each writing five questions for John Roberts. Glenn Reynolds is one of the five. Michelle Malkin: Five more questions for John Roberts. Patrick Ruffini's SCOTUS wire is here. Stay tuned to Confirm Them and Bench Memos throughout the day. |
James Joyner: Judge Bork's Inkblot — Glenn Reynolds has five intriguing questions for John Roberts in today's New York Times. Jeralyn Merritt: More Questions for Judge Roberts — Law Prof Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has five questions for Judge John Roberts in an op-ed in today's New York Times. Glenn Reynolds: I'VE GOT FIVE QUESTIONS FOR JUDGE ROBERTS in today's New York Times. Here's one: [snipped quote] Follow the link for the rest. |
Utility Error Blamed for L.A. Blackout By / AP — Permalink LOS ANGELES — Utility workers connected the wrong wires and caused a blackout across major portions of Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, trapping people in elevators and snarling traffic at intersections, authorities said. | |
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Smash: ASSOCIATED PRESS: "An official with the city Department of Water and Power said it appeared the problem began when two power receiving stations failed. Ezra Klein: Lights Out — Apparently, LA's experiencing a massive power outage. The classroom I'm in is unaffected, but the rest of the city isn't quite so likely. |
McQ: Just wondering: [snipped quote] I mean, who else, according to a certain segment's 'conventional wisdom' is so inept? |
Hey, Big Spender Opinion Journal — Permalink With almost no debate and with precious few provisions for oversight, Congress has passed President Bush's mammoth $62 billion request for emergency Katrina relief. House Speaker Denny Hastert says the final total will "probably [be] under the cost of the highway bill" that Congress passed last month with a pricetag of $286.4 billion. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: John Fund: "Last week Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma asked White House Budget Director Josh Bolten if he planned to... Greg Ransom: Or Harry Truman? [snipped quote] As someone asked, what ever happened to "the Republican wing of the Republican party?" |
Acidman: This country is still paying for Johnson's f**k-ups and we will be for a long time to come. Just go read this. WTF? Glenn Reynolds: THE DEMOCRATS' APPROACH TO NATIONAL CRISES: I think it's the way to go. But will Bush have the backbone to do it? |
Bush Approval Rating at All-Time Low By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush's public standing has hit record lows amid broad support for an independent investigation of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and calls for postponing congressional action on $70 billion in proposed tax cuts to help pay for storm recovery, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. | |
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Jo Fish: Apparently as the flood waters start to slowly recede in N'Awlins and along the Guff Coast, the one thing that they are... Atrios: No Pony for Holden — But, no pony for Bush either: "President Bush's public standing has hit record lows amid broad... |
Judith Weiss: No matter how low Bush's approval ratings sinks, the Dems' sink lower. |
FEMA Director Michael Brown resigns By / MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president," three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. | |
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Steve Soto: He is resigning from FEMA, and will now blame the media for his performance. And you can bet that he will continue to swear unyielding loyalty to Dear Leader. |
Dave Pell: Brownie (Counter)Points — Turns out Brownie is not doing a heck of a job. I wonder if Jim Haslett is available? permalink | politics | send |
A Stumble Amid the Good Stuff By / WaPo — Permalink One of the ironies of Hurricane Katrina is that while the storm and its watery aftermath swept away com- I was impressed especially by the work of the television networks, whose correspondents and crews not only captured this terrible human drama visually but whose reporting and commentary often found the words for scenes that seemed indescribable. | |
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Cookie Jill: telling a whopper at wapo senior bush official lies to wapo propogandist...i mean "journalist. " Laura Rozen: Late Update: More from Post ombudsman Michael Getler. |
Jim Romenesko: Michael David Smith writes: "[WP ombud Michael] Getler acknowledged that Post reporter Spencer S. Hsu was wrong to... |
L.A., Melbourne Targeted in Purported Al Qaeda Tape By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — A suspected new Al Qaeda videotape that singles out two cities — including Los Angeles — as likely targets for terrorist attacks surfaced over the weekend, a dose of chilling propaganda apparently timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Sept. | |
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Baldilocks: Bill Quick reminds us that the Sheikh of OC—Adam Gadahn—threatened to blow up LA (and Melbourne, Australia) just... |
Ezra Klein: Terrorism isn't currently suspected, but coming on the heels of yesterday's Al-Qaeda tape promising a strike against Angelenos, it's definitely a little creepy. |
Triumphant England reclaim Ashes BBC — Permalink Fifth Test, The Oval: Kevin Pietersen smashed his first ever Test century to earn the draw that gave England a 2-1 series win and the Ashes for the first time since 1987. Pietersen, who was dropped twice, hit 158 and Ashley Giles 59 before England were bowled out for 335 at The Oval, to snuff out Australian hopes of victory. | |
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Brian Micklethwait: England regain the Ashes — In circumstances which for an hour or two were excruciatingly tense, but which in the end... Jan Haugland: England reclaims ashes — National disaster declared in Australia. |
Harry @CrookedTimber: Ashes back; will Warne be? After a rivetting series, England have, at last, won the Ashes back. |
Hopelessness Begins to Lift in New Orleans By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Though 50 percent of New Orleans remains flooded and teams are still working to recover the dead, there are signs that hopelessness is beginning to lift two weeks after Hurricane Katrina plowed ashore. | |
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McQ: In fact in a story today, a casualty figure of 197 was released. Cliff May: DEATH TOLL? From the AP: "Authorities raised Louisiana's death toll to 197 on Sunday." |
Roger L. Simon: While well over a hundred thousand people (possibly double that) died in the Asian cataclysm, the latest death toll... |
John Roberts, Blown Away? By / WaPo — Permalink Hurricane Katrina is having a gale-force impact on the John Roberts confirmation hearings. When the Senate hearings begin this morning, the cable news networks plan to dip in and out after carrying some opening statements. | |
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Don: Here's Times executive editor Bill Keller explaining why critic Allesandra Stanley doesn't owe Geraldo Rivera a... |
Gal Beckerman: As Howard Kurtz noted today in his column, Roberts has been, for a variety of reasons, sliding past any real press scrutiny. |
45 Bodies Found at New Orleans Hospital By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Forty-five bodies have been found at a hospital that was abandoned more than a week ago after it was surrounded by floodwaters unleashed by Hurricane Katrina, a state health official said Monday. | |
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Gateway Pundit: 10,000 - 279 = 9,721 (At present the mayor's calculations are off by 97.2%) State Emergency Authorities ordered 25,000 body bags following the announcement. |
Acidman: no excuse — This crap is inexcusable in this country. What did the staff do? Just run off and abandon those people? |
To Fill O'Connor's Shoes, Bush Might Want to Cross the Aisle By / LAT — Permalink In today's polarized political environment, it may seem inconceivable. But presidents in the past occasionally have found it in their interest to fill Supreme Court vacancies with nominees from the opposition party. These presidents weren't naive or altruistic. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Brownstein Shanks One — Normally I take umbrage when conservatives are described as the "Stupid Party," but if one... Captain Ed: Brownstein indulges in wishful thinking from the Left by spending an entire article detailing why he thinks Bush might... |
Ken Masugi: LA Times columnist Ronald Brownstein argues that President Bush should consider making a Democratic appointment to the... |
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on Nomination of Judge Roberts NYT — Permalink The following is the text of the hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions. U.S. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA) CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR ORRIN G. HATCH | |
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California Yankee: The Quotations are from transcript of today's hearings provided by the New York Times. |
TChris: Roberts Speaks — The NY Times faithfully reprints 55 pages of speeches given by members of the Senate Judiciary... |
Senate To Start Roberts Hearings WaPo — Permalink The Senate convenes the first confirmation hearing for a chief justice nominee in nearly two decades today, starting a week of admonitions and questions for John G. Roberts Jr. certain to probe deeply into the conservative views of a man who could shape the court's direction for decades to come. | |
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Norbizness: Therefore, I might do myself a favor and skip this week's hearings. If I wanted some sort of highly stylized noh theatre, I'll watch Throne of Blood. Jon Henke: Deploy these quotes as necessary, and let the games begin. Betsy Newmark: Edward Kennedy has found a hook to tie Katrina to his grilling of Judge Roberts. |
Michael Stickings: From The Washington Post (including a review of Roberts's views on a number of key issues): [snipped quote] I concur. Avedon Carol: A lot to answer for — It's all about to happen. Scared Monkeys: It is expected that the questioning will focus on [snipped quote] by the Democratic members of the committee, as these are hot button issues for the constituency. |
| Also: Dr. Steven Taylor, Michelle Malkin, Orin Kerr | |
Lavish tastes of card-carrying lowlifes NY Daily News — Permalink Profiteering ghouls have been using debit cards distributed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - intended to buy essentials for evacuated families - in luxury-goods stores as far away as Atlanta. "Two I'm certain have purchased; one actually asked if she could use it in the store. | |
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Jack Cluth: I don't want to be the one to say "I told you so", but... Lavish tastes of card-carrying lowlifes You just had to know... McQ: Your relief money at work — Yes, dear, there is a Santa Claus: [snipped quote] Well yeah ... but not outraged enough not to take the cards. |
Scared Monkeys: From The New York Daily News: [snipped quote] While this is not surprising, it does make one wonder what the criteria... Kathryn Jean Lopez: According to the Daily News there are at least two taxpayer-funded $800 Louis Vuitton handbags out there. |
Palestinians torch four Gaza synagogues Israel Insider — Permalink Palestinians burn the synagogue at Netzarim. Thousands of triumphant Palestinians poured into abandoned Jewish settlements early Monday, setting empty synagogues on fire and shooting in the air, as the last Israeli soldier rolled out of the Gaza Strip, completing the Israeli pullout from the territory after a 38-year presence. | |
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Roger L. Simon: But I had to gulp (although I was hardly shocked) when I saw the pictures and read the reports of the Palestinian torching of synagogues at Netzarim and elsewhere. |
John @PowerLine: From Israel Insider: [snipped quote] The photo below is of Palestinians burning the synogogue at Netzarim: netzarimsynagogueonfireAR T_0.jpg |
CASHING IN ON DISASTER Sun-Sentinel — Permalink Hurricane Frances hit South Florida Labor Day weekend, 100 miles north of Miami-Dade County, but Sun-Sentinel reporters found that the federal government approved $28 million in storm claims there for new furniture and clothes and thousands of new televisions microwaves, refrigerators and other appliances. | |
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Cookie Jill: "- govexec.com" the sun sentinel had a special series on the fema fraud in florida "cashing in on disaster hurricane... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Michael Brown testified at the hearings and defended FEMA. The Senate Panel found widespread FEMA fraud. More here. |
Transcript for September 11 MSNBC — Permalink MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday... Unidentified Man: Residents of New Orleans, we're here to help you. MR. RUSSERT: Hurricane Katrina, day 13. How goes the recovery? With us: the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. | |
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John Cole: One of my opinions is that statements like this demonstrate the wide gulf between the plausible and the desired: MR. RUSSERT: What's the biggest mistake you made? Arianna Huffington: Third question: "Do you believe that New Orleans could have Mardi Gras in February of 2006?" |
Garrett M. Graff: That would be the confirmation hearings for the next Chief Justice of the United States (or, as Tim Russert incorrectly... Taegan Goddard: Quote of the Day — [snipped quote] — Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), quoted on Meet the Press, of a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. |
Blackout Hits L.A.; Terrorism Ruled Out By / AP — Permalink LOS ANGELES — A blackout hit a large portion of the Los Angeles area Monday afternoon, snarling traffic at intersections and trapping people in elevators. The city was investigating the cause of the outage. But Sgt. Catherine Plows, a police spokeswoman, said terrorism was not suspected. | |
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Kevin Roderick: Updates: • The first AP story says that the LAPD has gone on full tactical alert, but there is no official suspicion of foul play or terrorist activity. |
Andrew Cochran: Large sections of LA were out of power, just a couple of days after the release of an Al Qaeda tape which threatened LA and Melbourne with terrorist attacks. |
Hearings Tempest Downgraded to Topical Storm By / WaPo — Permalink Hurricane Katrina is having a gale-force impact on the John Roberts confirmation hearings. When the Senate hearings begin this morning, the cable news networks plan to dip in and out after carrying some opening statements. | |
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Richard TPD: Today the WaPo did an amazing thing: It actually said a senior administration official lied to them in spreading the... Garrett M. Graff: Weekend Notes — Some reading to get you started today: Howard Kurtz's weekly media column (yes, he still writes one)... Jim Romenesko: WP won't name Bush admin source who gave bad Katrina info — Washington Post On Sept. 4, the Post quoted a "senior Bush... |
Atrios: I thought this line was fascinating: Spencer Hsu, the article's co-author, says he "tried to make clear that the source... Laura Rozen: Unreliable Source — The Washington Post addresses the recent episode of the paper's publishing an anonymous White House... Brian Stelter: Judge The Nudge: Critics Weigh In > Howard Kurtz: "A review of the videotape shows no nudging or other physical contact by Rivera." |
| Also: Josh Marshall | |
On Iraq, Short Memories By / WaPo — Permalink If you read even respectable journals these days, including this one, you would think that no more than six or seven people ever supported going to war in Iraq. A recent piece in The Post's Style section suggested that the war was an "idea" that President Bush "dusted off" five years after Bill Kristol and I came up with it in the Weekly Standard. | |
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Jo Fish: Shorter Robert Kagan — From his column in today's Post. "Rewriting history is a detestable practice, the War in Iraq is all Bill Clinton's fault anyhow." Nick Gillespie: That's coming from reliable Bush ally (certainly on foreign policy), The Washington Times. Whole thing here. |
McQ: Iraq: Short memories about going to war — Interesting column in the Washington Post today by Robert Kagan. |
Kilgore Can't Count On a Lift from Bush By / WaPo — Permalink A day after President Bush beat U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry in Virginia by 9 percentage points last year, the president's campaign manager in the state called the results a demoralizing blow to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Timothy M. Kaine. | |
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Ezra Klein: In Virginia, his existence is proving a negative for Kilgore — reverse coattails, if you will. |
Mark Krikorian: In fact, another story on the poll shows that President Bush's sagging approval ratings are a liability to Kilgore;... |
Gulf Coast Isn't the Only Thing Left in Tatters; Bush's Status With Blacks Takes Hit By / NYT — Permalink From the political perspective of the White House, Hurricane Katrina destroyed more than an enormous swath of the Gulf Coast. The storm also appears to have damaged the carefully laid plans of Karl Rove, President Bush's political adviser, to make inroads among black voters and expand the reach of the Republican Party for decades to come. | |
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Matt Singer: As the New York Times reports, a Pew poll finds that 2/3 of black Americans identify race as a cause for the slow response by government. Hugh Hewitt: So begins the Washington Times this morning, which contrasts with the agenda journalism of The New York Times' Elisabeth... Joe @AmericaBlog: Looks like this really just another political event which should come as no surprise: [snipped quote] That is more... |
Steve M.: Good Lord, it really is all about appearances for these Bush people, isn't it? Oliver Willis: Team Bush: "Grab some black people" — This story detailing the shucking and jiving by the Bush administration into the... Ann Althouse: Hurrichicanery. There's too much of it — the political trickery of scoring points off Katrina. |
Jews and Freemasons controlled war on Iraq, says No 10 adviser By / Telegraph — Permalink Tony Blair decided to wage war on Iraq after coming under the influence of a "sinister" group of Jews and Freemasons, a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has claimed. | |
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Andrew Stuttaford: BLAIR'S BLATHER — Andy McCarthy has an excellent piece today on Blair's predictably dishonest and disingenuous response to the London attacks. Damian Penny: Another moderate — Ahmad Thomson: prominent lawyer, representative of Britain's Association of Muslim Lawyers, advisor... Andrew Olmsted: Why did the UK go to war in Iraq? A Muslim lawyer in England has an interesting opinion. |
Jan Haugland: He holds extreme views that are, I fear, more mainstream among Muslims than we would like. Marc @USSNeverdock: Another voice whispering in the PM's ear is Ahmad Thomson, from the Association of Muslim Lawyers, who says: "Tony... John Hawkins: Strategy Includes Preemptive Use Against Banned Weapons (Free WAPO Reg Req)" Columns "Mark Steyn: Terror War All But... |
| Also: Justin Gardner, Sterling @MemeFirst | |
This Is "Tackling Extremism"? NRO — Permalink Blair's post 7/7 committees may do more to disarm England than militancy. After the 7/7 bombing attacks by Islamo-fascists that killed scores of Londoners, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced with great fanfare that he would create a Home Office task force of committees to "tackle extremism." | |
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Ted Belman: Andrew C McCarthy, NRO Blair's post 7/7 committees may do more to disarm England than militancy. |
Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - This Is "Tackling Extremism"? They don't call it Londonistan for nothing. [snipped quote] Not too well from the looks of things. |
Under Pressure, Rebels Abandon an Iraqi Stronghold By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 11 - Fighting in the northern insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar calmed Sunday, as thousands of American and Iraqi troops who entered the city this weekend found that many insurgents had fled and that its most dangerous neighborhood was largely deserted, Iraqi and American military officials said. | |
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Bill Roggio: Many of Sunday's news accounts intimated the majority of the terrorists fled the city, but the high number of killed/captured in Tal Afar shows this is not the case. |
Andrew Sullivan: GOOD NEWS IN MOSUL: A soldier looks on the bright side. There has been some success at Tal Afar as well. |
How, in the Katrina debate, can we be talking about racism? By / Townhall.com — Permalink "The charges of racism-inspired foot-dragging isn't just nonsense. It's pernicious nonsense." This is how the New York Daily News called it regarding charges, from the usual circle of black leaders, that the rescue efforts in New Orleans were slow because the victims were black. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Just remember, folks: when a horrific hurricane destroys your entire life, and you've got a horde full of people... |
Betsy Newmark: Before you run out to buy your "Bush doesn't care about black people" T shirt, you might want to read Star Parker's... |
President Makes His 3rd Visit to Gulf Coast WaPo — Permalink President Bush arrived in flood-ravaged New Orleans last evening amid continued criticism of his administration's sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina, but as officials reported tentative progress in the mammoth recovery effort. | |
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Matt Singer: Trying to Avoid "Interfering" — That's why Bush was holding cakes and "playing" guitar why New Orleans drowned: "The White House is sensitive to the notion of getting in the way. |
Amanda @ThinkProgress: Bush "Did Not Want to Interfere" With Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts — Buried at the end of a Washington Post article... |
Honoring Terror's Victims and Supporting the Troops NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 - Striding behind a military color guard, thousands of marchers cut a broad swath through the capital on Sunday in a walk organized by the Defense Department to commemorate the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and to support American troops. | |
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Jim Henley: One somewhat-blogged excerpt from the NYT report on yesterday's ... event at the Pentagon informs that Chris @AmericaBlog: NY Times coverage of the not-so-much-freedom march — Notice once again the lack of an aerial photo from the event? |
Michael Froomkin: UPDATE: Carpetbagger Report has more on the unFreedom at the 'Freedom' March: protestors had signs confiscated, and this... |
Why Levee Breaches In New Orleans Were Late-Breaking News WSJ — Permalink On Sunday, Sept. 4, Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press" asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to explain President Bush's statement that the government couldn't have anticipated breaches in levees in New Orleans. Mr. Chertoff talked about news coverage. | |
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John Cole: WSJ on the Levee Breaches The WSJ has a pretty interesting piece on why almost everyone in the media and elsewhere... Jim Romenesko: > Recent grad believes j-school prepared him for storm reporting (CJR) > AP executive editor Carroll is proud of... |
Kevin Drum: FEMA AND THE LEVEES....Today's Wall Street Journal features an article about the levee breaches in New Orleans that asks, essentially, What did they know and when did they know it? Brian Stelter: Aftermath: Media Gave "Conflicting Reports" About Levee Breaches — Media outlets gave conflicting reports on the state... |
Does the Truth Lie Within? NYT — Permalink Seth Roberts is a 52-year-old psychology professor at the University of California at Berkeley. If you knew Roberts 25 years ago, you might remember him as a man with problems. He had acne, and most days he woke up too early, which left him exhausted. | |
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Ogged @Unfogged: Sugar Water! Seth Roberts is an interesting guy. via MR [update: paper available here. See pg. 30 for fructose water. |
Alex Tabarrok: Stephen Dubner, who read about Roberts on MR, and Steve Levitt have just profiled him in the NYTimes Magazine; they do... |
Guitarist Clarence Gatemouth Brown Dies at 81 By / NYT — Permalink Clarence Gatemouth Brown, an eminent guitarist and singer who spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun and R & B styles, died on Saturday. He was 81. Clarence Gatemouth Brown in a performance in New York in 1996. | |
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Jesse Walker: Clarence Gatemouth Brown, RIP — The blues/country/Cajun/jazz/ funk/miscellaneous musician survived the hurricane, then died of natural causes on Saturday. |
James Joyner: Guitarist Clarence Gatemouth Brown Dies at 81 — Legendary blues guitarist Clarence Gatemouth Brown died Saturday, aged 81. |
Chat From the War Zone By / LAT — Permalink With the hiring of blogger-journalist Kevin Sites, Yahoo is set to compete with TV news. Yahoo Inc. has been talking like a major media company. Today it will start acting like one. | |
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Scott Sala: Technorati Tags: melody+nelson MT+melody+nelson blogging+melody+nelson — Yahoo Hires Kevin Sites Remember the... Brian Stelter: Former NBC/CNNer Kevin Sites Becomes Online War Correspondent For Yahoo sitessept13.jpgKevin Sites, a former... |
Kevin Roderick: • Kevin Sites will provide video news to Yahoo under a new project to be announced today. Jim Romenesko: > Sites plans to travel solo, armed with a nearly 40-pound sack filled with cameras, a notebook computer, satellite phones and other gadgets. |
How's He Doing? By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Ask someone to describe the presidency of George W. Bush, and "average" is not a word you're likely to hear. Mr. Bush's detractors treat him with a level of vituperation unseen since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt; some even blame him for bad weather. | |
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James Joyner: How's He Doing? Brendan Nyhan: Someone has lost their mind — according to a survey conducted by James Lindgren of Northwestern University, [snipped quote] Sixth best of all time? |
S.Z.: Future Historians Will Say Bush Is a Great President, Unless They Say He's a Miserable Failure James Taranto, editor... |
The Rankings Opinion Journal — Permalink In February and March 2005, the Federalist Society and The Wall Street Journal asked an ideologically balanced group of 130 prominent professors of history, law, political science and economics to rate the presidents on a 5-point scale, with 5 meaning highly superior and 1 meaning well below average. | |
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James Joyner: James Taranto looks at a new survey ranking George W. Bush 19th out of the 40 presidents who served more than a few months in office. |
Brendan Nyhan: Let me note the top five finishers in the Londregan survey: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. |
An Anchor Who Reports Disaster News With a Heart on His Sleeve By / NYT — Permalink The CNN anchor Anderson Cooper strikes a pose in the September issue of the men's magazine Maxim, modeling a sharp black suit set off by his prematurely gray hair. A stylized jumble of broken television sets is piled high beside him. Anderson Cooper of CNN. | |
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Brian Stelter: Cooper: "The Anti-Anchorperson" — Anderson Cooper strikes a pose in September's Maxim and Esquire, but it is a "very... |
Jim Romenesko: CNN's Cooper is called "the anchorperson of the future" — New York Times Anderson Cooper is "an anti-anchorperson," says CNN/US president Jonathan Klein. |
Georgia's New Poll Tax NYT — Permalink In 1966, the Supreme Court held that the poll tax was unconstitutional. Nearly 40 years later, Georgia is still charging people to vote, this time with a new voter ID law that requires many people without driver's licenses - a group that is disproportionately poor, black and elderly - to pay $20 or more for a state ID card. | |
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Steve M.: Choose one — you can't choose "neither": In 1966, the Supreme Court held that the poll tax was unconstitutional. |
Captain Ed: Gray Lady Shrieking Over ID Requirement — Leave it to the Gray Lady to start shrieking over a state requiring the same... |
Yahoo Hires Journalist to Report on Wars By / NYT — Permalink SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Yahoo, in its first big move into original online video programming, is betting that war and conflict will lure new viewers. Lloyd Braun, the former chairman of ABC's entertainment group who now oversees Yahoo's expanded media group... | |
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Jim Romenesko: Yahoo hires Sites to report on wars around the world — New York Times "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" will focus entirely... |
Ed Cone: Job postings — Congrats to Kevin Sites on his new job with Yahoo!...Just the kind of person who would make a journalism... |
Tabloid Tried to Suppress Videotape By / LAT — Permalink SACRAMENTO — Soon after Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the 2003 recall campaign, a tabloid publisher that was recruiting him as a consultant tried to suppress a risque 1983 Playboy video starring the future governor. | |
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Kevin Roderick: Turns out he also "didn't" try to hush up Arnold's risque video for Playboy, the Times says. |
Taegan Goddard: Tabloid Linked to Schwarzenegger Suppressed Video — "Soon after Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the 2003 recall campaign,... |
The Other America MSNBC — Permalink An Enduring Shame: Katrina reminded us, but the problem is not new. Why a rising tide of people live in poverty, who they are—and what we can do about it. What's this? Sept. 19, 2005 issue - It takes a hurricane. it takes a catastrophe like Katrina to strip away the old evasions, hypocrisies and not-so-benign neglect. | |
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Attaturk: The Debate — Newsweek hightlights one of the stark truths laid bare for all to see of Katrina, the crushing poverty... Oliver Willis: The Real Bias Of The "MSM" — It takes a catastrophic hurricane and flood for the media to notice that we have a lot of poor people in this country, largely of black ethnicity. |
Echidne: On Poverty — Jonathan Alter writes about the poverty question in the aftermath of Katrina. |
NBC's Williams: Journalists' gloves off AP — Permalink NEW YORK (AP) — NBC's Brian Williams says the lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina for journalists may be the end of an unusual four-year period of deference to people in power. | |
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DavidNYC @DailyKos: Frightened Children (Bumped — kos) Oliver Willis catches an absurd - but revealing - remark coming out of the mouth of Brian Williams, NBC's lead anchor. Brian Stelter: Aftermath: Bringing Back A "Healthy Amount Of Cynicism" To The Media bwsept13.jpg"NBC's Brian Williams says the lasting... |
Oliver Willis: NBC's Anchor Admits They've Been Deferring To Bush — Here we have the lead anchor on the top rated network news program... |
Iraq constitution talks go on as referendum nears Reuters — Permalink BAGHDAD, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Iraqi politicians have failed to conclude negotiations on a draft constitution and it remains unclear when a final text may be printed, less than five weeks before a referendum, Iraqi and U.N. officials said on Sunday. | |
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John Cole: Your Guess Is As Good As Mine As to the status of the Iraqi Constitution: Iraqi politicians have failed to conclude... Andrew Olmsted: IRAQI POLITICS Discussions regarding the proposed Iraqi constitution continue, as Iraqi politicans seek to minimize the... |
Juan Cole: No Constitution Yet — Waters of Battle recede in Tal Afar The final text of the Iraqi constitution has still not been... John Hawkins: Daily News For September 12, 2005 — Foreign "Blair Assassination Plot" "American Al Qaeda Operative Threatens New... |
9/11 -- and Counting By / WaPo — Permalink On Dec. 9, 1941, two days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the American people in a fireside chat. In tone and manner, FDR's words were not very different from the rhetoric of George W. Bush three generations later, when Bush... | |
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Brendan Nyhan: And then today Alterman lashed out at me on his blog: The sad fact is that the Bush administration has done little about... Matthew Yglesias: The Op-Ed You Actually Need To Read: Michael Hirsch on four years later. |
Paul @PowerLine: A case in point is this shockingly bad article by Newsweek's Michael Hirsh that appeared in today's Washington Post. |
A Journalist and Blogger Tries Teaching By / NYT — Permalink For some old-school journalists, blogging is the worst thing to hit the print medium since, well, journalism school. They may want to avert their eyes today, when Stephen B. Shepard, dean of the new Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, is to name Jeff Jarvis director of the new-media program and associate professor. | |
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Jeff Jarvis: There's a brief story about this in The Times here with a good punch line for a lead: For some old-school journalists,... |
Atrios: New Media and its Evangelists — Oh Jeebus help us. |
Roberts Spotlight Falls on Senators, Too By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 - When Judge John G. Roberts Jr. arrives in the historic Russell Caucus Room on Monday for hearings that will determine whether he becomes the 17th chief justice of the United States, he will face a panel of senators whose questions will... | |
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Avedon Carol: According to The New York Times, Senators on the Judiciary Committee are "keenly aware that they too will be judged" for... Armando @DailyKos: Justice Thomas Gets One Right — From tomorrow's New York Times: "Yet while it may appear at the outset that the... |
Betsy Newmark: Roberts is not the only one who has prepped for these hearing. [snipped quote] So, stay tuned to see how much the practice helped him. |
News media are heeding a 'call to arms' USA Today — Permalink Americans, usually critical of the media, have given the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina a thumbs up, and major outlets are pledging to stay on the story to find out what went wrong with the response to the disaster. | |
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Brian Stelter: Aftermath: "We Might As Well Open Up A Full-Time Bureau In New Orleans" — ABC News is talking the talk: "Katrina has... |
Jim Romenesko: "60M" producer: People don't want to leave the Katrina story — USA Today "They want to stay, even though covering... |
Bush Supporters Question Iraq War Tactics By / Fox News — Permalink WASHINGTON — When President Bush (search) meets with his Iraqi counterpart at the White House on Tuesday, the administration and its supporters are sure to extol the virtues and the wisdom of the American role in rebuilding Iraq. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: QUOTE OF THE DAY: [snipped quote] - John McCain, telling it like it is. Jim Henley: Obscure Rats Desert Ship — Aside from William Kristol, who runs the country's most prominent right-wing opinion mag and... |
Andrew Olmsted: President Bush's sales job on Iraq appears to be falling short, as even many of his supporters are raising questions about the conduct of the war. |
Battle Eases in Sweep for Iraq Insurgents By / AP — Permalink TAL AFAR, Iraq (AP) - Fighting eased Sunday, the second day of a U.S. and Iraqi sweep through the militant stronghold of Tal Afar near the Syrian border, as insurgents melted into the countryside, many escaping through a tunnel network dug under an ancient northern city. | |
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Juan Cole: The latest US/Iraqi offensive in Tal Afar petered out on Sunday, as the invaders discovered that the guerrillas in the city had used tunnels to escape. |
Andrew Olmsted: The fighting in Tal Afar itself seems to have slowed, however. |
Katrina Leads a Lobbyist to Reevaluate His Priorities By / WaPo — Permalink Frederick L. Webber, a longtime denizen of Washington's lobbying corridor, showed up at work one day last week and found on his desk a dozen fundraising requests from members of Congress. He threw them all in the trash. | |
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Atrios: I read this Washington Post article last night and had the same question - how does something like this become "news"? |
Josh Marshall: Question of the day: How did this piece in Monday's Post get published? Looks like a job for Jack Shafer. |
Thousands Gather at Pentagon for Freedom March WaPo — Permalink On a Sept. 11 as sunny and warm as that earth-shattering date four years ago, thousands of people remembered the terrorist attacks by walking outdoors in the nation's capital today. | |
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Michael Froomkin: And what's a "freedom march" without tight control, coerced participation, and roughing up dissidents while the police... Steve Clemons: "Freedom Walk" Not So Free — John Smith, an employee of the U.S. Department of Commerce, arrived at work last week, and... |
Mary @LeftCoaster: The Washington Post, who earlier had backed out of financially sponsoring the "Freedom March", reported that some 4000 people joined the march. Attaturk: Washington, D.C. [snipped quote] The sun on the meadow is summery warm. The stag in the forest runs free. |
For those who lost loved ones to terrorism Chicago Tribune — Permalink Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is scheduled to deliver these remarks Sunday during a wreath-laying ceremony in observance of Sept. 11, 2001, at Arlington National Cemetery. Chaplain James May. Families and friends of those we are here to honor. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Donald Rumsfeld found a nice historical echo in his speech at Arlington Cemetery to commemorate September 11. |
John Hawkins: [quote]"— Donald Rumsfeld [end quote] |
Cheney backed removing FEMA boss from Katrina duty Reuters — Permalink AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday said he supported the decision to remove Michael Brown as head of the federal relief effort in the stricken Gulf Coast but refused to say if Brown would eventually be dismissed. | |
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Norbizness: Frylock: Shake... (4) Cheney said the evacuees he spoke to in Texas did not raise concerns about the FEMA shake-up but detailed their stories of escaping the devastation. Judd @ThinkProgress: Cheney Calls Katrina an "Exercise." |
Bob Cesca: Sure, there's a separation of powers issue, but if we can't get an impeachment for Bush's criminal negligence in the... |
Jack Kelly: No shame Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Permalink It is settled wisdom among journalists that the federal response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina was unconscionably slow. "Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever during a dire national emergency," wrote New York Times columnist Bob Herbert in a somewhat more strident expression of the conventional wisdom. | |
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ArchPundit: Strange Column on How "good" the response was — Jack Kelly writes a column about how the Hurricane Response was the... Gateway Pundit: Unlike the portrayals in the media, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina has been monumental and historic (via... Ace: Must read Jack Kelly piece: [snipped quote] The only government response that was anywhere near competent was the federal one. |
Edward B. Colby: Meanwhile, some conservative bloggers, armed with an op-ed by Jack Kelly in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, are... Hugh Hewitt: First, Jack Kelly takes an objective the enormity of the federal government's successes over the past two weeks. Cliff May: A "MONUMENTAL AND SUCCESSFUL RELIEF OPERATION" — Former Green Beret Jack Kelly thinks the media has it wrong on the US... |
| Also: TheAnchoress, John Hawkins, Atrios, Dean Esmay, Paul @PowerLine, Yehudit, Captain Ed, Jan Haugland, Betsy Newmark, Jeff Goldstein, Marc @USSNeverdock, Michelle Malkin, Alexander K. McClure | |
How Bush Blew It By / MSNBC — Permalink Sept. 19, 2005 issue - It's a standing joke among the president's top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States, or, as he is known in West Wing jargon, POTUS. | |
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Kevin Edit This: Filed under: Politics, Culture No comment yet, add yours? » The Bubble Presidency Posted by Kevin Edit This My... Barbara O'Brien: Yesterday I read this first graf of Evan Thomas's Newsweek article, "How Bush Blew It," and for a while I could read no further. John @AmericaBlog: NEWSWEEK: Bush didn't know the Hurricane damage was bad until THURSDAY AFTER IT STRUCK — Newsweek has just published a horrifying story entitled "How Bush Blew It." |
Steve Soto: Newsweek's Story Should Open Eyes Beyond Katrina Towards 9/11 — As Mary noted in the Open Thread, there was a groundbreaking story released yesterday on the Newsweek website. Brian Stelter: Aftermath: Aide Made Bush a DVD of Thursday Newscasts To Demonstrate Horror — The reality of Katrina did not sink in... Norbizness: (Lays down on an antpile) (2) One by one, the lawmakers listed their grievances as Bush listened. |
| Also: Joe Gandelman, Bob Cesca, Michelle Pilecki, Mary @PacificViews, Skippy, Jeff Goldstein, Attaturk, Brad DeLong, Avedon Carol, Scott Shields, Joe @AmericaBlog, Cookie Jill, Betsy Newmark, Lambert @Corrente | |
Living Too Much in the Bubble? By / Time — Permalink President bush was seated in the white house situation Room, watching military and disaster officials beaming in from the Gulf Coast on the giant screen of his secure video- teleconferencing system. | |
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Edward B. Colby: In Time, Mike Allen writes of "the President's increasing isolation. Jesse Taylor: Because his ass-covering Katrina response is simply a vastly condensed version of everything he did from September 12th to mid-2003. Garrett M. Graff: Blind Quotes — ABC's Note leads today with the debut piece of Time's new White House reporter, Mike "No Longer At The... |
Barbara O'Brien: At Time, Mike Allen also says the White House staff shies away from bringing problems to the boss: "A related factor,... Rich Lowry: SPEND, SPEND, SPEND, SPEND — From Mike Allen's piece on the White House in the new Time: [snipped quote] Also, could be... Norbizness: (3) Like a scene out of a Michael Moore mockumentary, he was heading into a long-planned Medicare round table at a local... |
| Also: Joe Gandelman, Yehudit, Brad DeLong, Ezra Klein, Laura Rozen, Avedon Carol, Michelle Malkin, Kevin Drum, Taegan Goddard, Josh Marshall | |
How Bush Blew It By / Newsweek — Permalink Sept. 19, 2005 issue - It's a standing joke among the president's top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States, or, as he is known in West Wing jargon, POTUS. | |
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Edward B. Colby: In Newsweek, Evan Thomas reports that the reality of the storm's consequences "did not really sink in until Thursday night. Matt Singer: Strangely, Newsweek has a different story, which is that senior aides needed to compile a DVD of news clips because... Amanda @ThinkProgress: While the President of the United States may not have wanted to cut short his vacation, Governor Blano, Mayor Nagin, and local officials specifically asked for his involvement. |
Andrew Sullivan: THE BUSH COCOON: This cocky, sequestered president simply didn't know what was going on as Katrina hit: "When Hurricane... Susie Madrak: (Oh, really, Ray? Maybe you should read Newsweek.) But when asked about Blanco, he responds, "I don't know about that one." Skippy: found in this week's issue, it's titled, appropriately, how bush blew it. |
| Also: Laura Rozen, DC Media Girl, Judith Weiss, Taegan Goddard | |
Terror war all but forgotten on home front By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink Sept. 11, 2005 — the fourth anniversary of the start of the war. That is, if you believe it's a ''war'' A lot of people didn't want to, even in those first days. About a week after, one of my local radio stations held a fund-raiser and this is how their trailer for it opened. | |
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Vanderleun: TerrorWar — Right War, Wrong Name SEPTEMBER, 2005: MARK STEYNin Terror war all but forgotten on home front "Four years ago, I thought the "war on terror" was a viable concept. Bruce Sanborn: The political-theological questions remain, just as war does. See Mark's Terror War all but Forgotten on the Home Front. Paul @PowerLine: Their moderation, and ours — Mark Steyn takes stock of the terror four years on. |
Jan Haugland: War on terror: winning abroad, losing at home? Mark Steyn is a pessimist on this day. Judith Weiss: 9-11 : Never forget — East Hell This photo of "Hell at Ground Zero" reminds us that this was an act of war, not a "tragedy." Lorie Byrd: "Remember (photo essay) - Patrick Ruffini Never, Never Forget - Michelle Malkin (2005) Lest We Forget (photo essay) - The..." |
| Also: Ted Belman, Glenn Reynolds, Ed Driscoll, Betsy Newmark | |
Ditch Holocaust day, advisers urge Blair Times of London — Permalink ADVISERS appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims. They want to replace it with a Genocide Day that would recognise the mass murder of Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya and Bosnia as well as people of other faiths. | |
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Marc @USSNeverdock: Ditch Holocaust day, Muslim advisers urge Blair "ADVISERS appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are... Cliff May: DITCH THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL — So say advisors to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Why do they want to scrap Holocaust Memorial Day? Harry @HarrysPlace: Offensive — Those clever people appointed by the government to look into how to stop some Muslim youth turning to... |
Michael Stickings: The rise of the Holocaust (Day) deniers — From the (London) Times: [snipped quote] Come on, really? Damian Penny: Screw the Holocaust — The sheer gall of many "moderate" Muslim activists never ceases to amaze me: Advisers appointed... Jan Haugland: Blair urged to ditch Holocaust day to not offend Muslims — Tony Blair's advisers tells him to give in to Islamic anti-Semitism. |
| Also: MarkInMexico, Ted Belman, Gary Farber, Andrew Sullivan, Steve Antler, Dany Belinfante | |
The fetid aroma of hindsight By / LAT — Permalink Recriminations are all the rage today. But really, does anyone ever pay attention to the prophets of doom until it's too late? AS A GOOD AMERICAN, you no doubt have been worried sick for years about the levees around New Orleans. No? You didn't read that report in 2001? | |
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Brian Stelter: Michael Kinsley in today's LA Times: "The TV news networks, which only a few months ago were piously suppressing... Ace: That's from liberal hatchet man Michael Kinsley, writing in the LA Times, so I kinda doubt he's lying to serve his... Patterico: Kinsley on Katrina: Not Bush's Fault Michael Kinsley knocks it out of the park with his op-ed this morning titled The... |
Don: MUST BE ANOTHER "MICHAEL KINSLEY" — All the L. A. Times had to do was to fire Michael Kinsley, and what do you know — he suddenly becomes capable of writing a sensible column. Ken Masugi: 9/11 Lessons: Kinsley on New Orleans UPDATE — LA Times editorial and opinion editor Michael Kinsley deflates the accusatory rhetoric of current days. Spoons: The Feds Did Fine — Don't buy the "there's blame at all levels" bulls**t. |
Tape Released: American al Qaeda Member Warns of Attacks By / ABCNEWS — Permalink Sept. 11, 2005 — In an apparent Sept. 11 communiqué broadcast on ABC News, an al Qaeda operative threatens new attacks against cities in the US and Australia. "Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, God willing. | |
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Michelle Malkin: Please don't forget how to remember. (And how not to...) *** A moment of silence. They still are plotting to kill us. Roger L. Simon: All Quiet, So Far... I just want to report that, so far, at least from my house, the dire predictions by Adam Gadahn of... Steve Bainbridge: Life in a Target Zone — ABC News reports: [snipped quote] Just great. |
Brian Stelter: Al Qaeda Delivers Sept. 11 Communique To ABC News In Pakistan — This story apparently fell in ABC's laps: "American... Susie Madrak: Boo As BushCo's numbers sink further, another terrorist threat was inevitable. The question is, is it real? Kathryn Jean Lopez: AL QAEDA SENDS A WARNING TO — Los Angeles and Melbourne. |
Black-and-blue Brown By / Rocky Mountain News — Permalink WASHINGTON - As criticism of him grew this week, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Brown sent a candid e-mail to family and friends. "I don't mind the negative press (well, actually, I do, but I try to ignore it) but it is really wearing out the family," Brown wrote. | |
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Kevin Edit This: Poor Little Mike Brown — Somehow, I cannot seem to muster up the required sympathy: [quote] "I don't mind the negative press...[end quote] Judd @ThinkProgress: Thousands have died and a million people have been displaced but Brown complains that he's a victim: [snipped quote] The... Cookie Jill: black and blue brownie... no...wait...."i'm a victim" |
Barbara O'Brien: "I don't mind the negative press (well, actually, I do, but I try to ignore it) but it is really wearing out the... Kevin Drum: MIKE BROWN WATCH...The Rocky Mountain News prints an email that FEMA director Mike Brown recently sent to a few close... |
Places Where the System Broke Down Time — Permalink Ten days after Hurricane Katrina trashed the Gulf Coast, a radio talk-show host in Los Angeles asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice if it was true that President Bush does not care about black people. (She said no.) A man standing in the ruins in Gulfport, Miss., told the Vice President, "Go f___ yourself." | |
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Susie Madrak: 'Help Is On The Way' Time magazine, via Kevin: The day the storm hit, [Blanco] asked President Bush for "everything you've got." Kevin Drum: PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AT THE TONE...Time magazine does a decent job of explaining what went wrong at all levels in the... |
Digby: Dusting Off The Manual — Kevin reports that Time magazine says the Republicans have a three point plan for a comeback... |
Lack of plan hurt Katrina-hit states' response By / AP — Permalink UPDATED: 3:50 p.m. September 10, 2005 TALLAHASSEE — One thing Florida knows is hurricanes. Florida emergency planners criticized and even rebuked their counterparts — or what passes for emergency planners — in those states for their handling of Hurricane Katrina. | |
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ArchPundit: The Trib does a decent article, and certainly better than this Florida article. Captain Ed: The verdict of Florida's emergency response officials is that not only did Louisiana fail to properly plan and train for... |
Betsy Newmark: The Palm Beach paper has an article about how much better prepared Florida is for hurricanes because they have had to become so. |
Katrina Darkens the Outlook for Incumbents By / WaPo — Permalink Hurricane Katrina has the potential to foment change in Washington like the terrorist strikes did four years ago, altering the government's priorities for the foreseeable future and darkening the mood of an electorate that was already anxious before the storm hit shore, according to lawmakers, pollsters and strategists from both parties. | |
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Jeff Goldstein: "Say, here's an idea: What's say we Blame this whole mess on Bush? Eric Boehlert: Eric Boehlert: The Washington Post Plays Dumb — New polls indicate Republicans are facing political peril in the wake... Judith Weiss: Republican activists keep insisting he can't win because of his personal life and views on social issues, meanwhile a... |
Avedon Carol: Still huddled in their play-pen, they can look at the public's astonishingly poor opinion of Republicans (only 38% of... Paul @Wizbang: More Government of Course This is simply amazing... In the wake of one of the most horrific examples of governmental... |
Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy NYT — Permalink The governor of Louisiana was "blistering mad." It was the third night after Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans, and Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco needed buses to rescue thousands of people from the fetid Superdome and convention center. | |
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Matt Welch: A New York Times post-op (which, among other things, contains a harrowing section about violence in the Convention... Norbizness: (1) The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents FEMA employees, wrote to Congress in June 2004,... Randall Parker: The Louisiana National Guard was as dumb with its vehicles as the New Orleans government with their 255 flooded buses. |
Jon Henke: Blame FEMA — As a counterpoint to McQ's post below, let me point to this post at Washington Monthly, where Kevin Drum has compiled "a tentative collection of FEMA's failures". Skippy: overview of a tragedy the nytimes has a fine piece, covering all the bases: fema appears to have underestimated the... Felix @MemeFirst: TV gives way to print — Today's magnificent round-up in the NYT of exactly how the New Orleans f**kup happened, at all... |
| Also: Kevin Drum, Josh Marshall, Daniel Drezner, Attaturk, Gary Farber | |
The Steady Buildup to a City's Chaos WaPo — Permalink Walter Maestri had dreaded this call for a decade, ever since he took over emergency management for Jefferson Parish, a marshy collection of suburbs around New Orleans. It was Friday night, Aug. 26, and his friend Max Mayfield was on the line. | |
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Damian Penny: The Bush Administration is probably guilty of dithering and indecisiveness in the face of a massive natural disaster -... Kevin Drum: Here they are: New York Times: "Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy" Washington Post: "The Steady Buildup... Laura Rozen: This Washington Post big picture chronology of government preparation and response to Katrina and its aftermath... |
Harry Shearer: A one-paragraph answer in a million-paragraph Washington Post takeout, but an answer nonetheless: Army Corps officials... Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post has a tick-tock article about what went on from the time that the storm started heading towards the Gulf Coast through Friday of last week. DC Media Girl: As is today's WaPo cover story, "The Steady Buildup to a City's Chaos". |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds | |
Lost at Tora Bora By / NYT — Permalink Well past midnight one morning in early December 2001, according to American intelligence officials, Osama bin Laden sat with a group of top aides - including members of his elite international 055 Brigade - in the mountainous redoubt of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan. | |
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Kevin Edit This: Filed under: General, Legal Issues, Culture, Privacy No comment yet, add yours? » Dead Or Alive — Within Reason... Venkat @BeggingToDiffer: It seems odd for the NYT to run this dredging up of the goings on at Tora Bora-post 9-11 on the fourth anniversary of 9-11, but it's nevertheless worth reading. Atrios: Dead or Alive — F**kers: Now, as the last major battle of the war in Afghanistan began, hidden from view inside the... |
Montag: The entire article is a quite interesting read. New York Times: Lost at Tora Bora Jack Cluth: 9/11: Four years later, the nation is hobbled by debt and ill-prepared to handle disaster Taking stock of the forever... |
Taking Stock of the Forever War By / NYT — Permalink I. Seldom has an image so clearly marked the turning of the world. One of man's mightiest structures collapses into an immense white blossom of churning, roiling dust, metamorphosing in 14 seconds from hundred-story giant of the earth into towering white plume reaching to heaven. | |
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David Schraub: Warring Stories — This NY Times Magazine article inspired a very thoughtful post by Tom Strong of The Yellow Line on... Kevin Drum: FOUR YEARS LATER...I don't know that I agree with everything Mark Danner writes today in the New York Times Magazine,... |
Laura Rozen: Mark Danner: [quote] ...Four years after we watched the towers fall, Americans have not succeeded in "ridding the world of evil."[end quote] Praktike: Must-read — Apropos of recent blogospheric discussions about national greatness, neoconservatism, and the Iraq War... |
Iraqi-U.S. Units Battle to Clear a Rebel Area By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 10 - Thousands of Iraqi and American troops, backed by airstrikes, swept through the northern city of Tal Afar on Saturday, carrying out house-to-house searches and battling insurgent holdouts in the largest military operation in Iraq in months. | |
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Bill Roggio: The Iraqi government outlines the plan to secure Tal Afar when the assault is completed: "The offensive was led by the... Matthew Yglesias: The account really ought to be read to get a sense of things |
Ivo Daalder: Plans are to station an Iraqi police force of 1700 officers, including 1000 locals, once the military forces leave. |
Nation Remembers Victims of 9/11 Attacks By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK - America grieved the victims of Sept. 11 on Sunday as the brothers and sisters of the dead recited their loved ones' names and tearful messages of remembrance to a weeping crowd gathered at the site where the World Trade Center once stood. | |
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Cernig: In Memoriam — Today America and indeed the World remembers the victims of the 9/11 attacks - as indeed we should. Jan Haugland: Four years since the world changed — Four minutes of silence and a solemn ceremony of remembrance of the victims marks... |
Scared Monkeys: Having gone to school and lived in the NYC area and presently living near Boston and Portland ME, we were affected... |
Blame Aplenty By / US News — Permalink A team of Indiana firefighters, volunteering to help rescue victims of Katrina, went to Atlanta, where Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers told them that their job was to hand out fliers and that their first task was to attend a multi-hour course on sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity. | |
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Dean Esmay: Government will never be perfect, but fortunately America is more than just government." Read the rest right here. Ramesh Ponnuru: BARONE ON KATRINA — He writes that "President George W. Bush ... might well have made a mistake in appointing Michael... |
Glenn Reynolds: MICHAEL BARONE says there's "blame aplenty" and points out people who are at fault, but also cautions: "But we should... |
Thousands walk in D.C. to remember 9/11, honor troops Stars & Stripes — Permalink WASHINGTON — Thousands of marchers, led by families of victims killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, navigated a tightly secured route into Washington on Sunday to commemorate that tragedy and show support for troops overseas. | |
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Norbizness: Happy Birthday, New America — Here's one way to celebrate our rebirth as a s**ttier nation. |
Thad: Stars and Stripes manage to report on the Freedom Walk without once mentioning that they were among the event's sponsors. |
Pentagon Studies Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strikes By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 - The Pentagon is preparing new guidelines governing the use of nuclear weapons that foresee possible pre-emptive strikes against terrorist groups or nations planning to use unconventional weapons against the United States. | |
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Natasha @PacificViews: We Found The WMDs — Funny thing, though, they're here. |
TChris: Pentagon Contemplates Using Pre-Emptive Nukes — Encouraged by the astonishing success of the pre-emptive war against... |
Man Makes Threats Against L.A., Australia AP — Permalink NEW YORK - A tape delivered to ABC News in Pakistan this weekend features a masked man making terrorist threats against Los Angeles and Australia. ABC News reported that the man is believed to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American from California purported to be an al-Qaida member and wanted by the FBI. | |
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Jan Haugland: Al-Qaeda threats against Los Angeles and Melbourne — The terrorists got perfect timing for a threatening video handed... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Tape Delivered to ABC Threatens Attack on L.A. A video tape threatening a terror attack on Los Angeles has been delivered to ABC News in Pakistan. |
U.S. Troops Sweep Into Empty Insurgent Haven in Iraq By / WaPo — Permalink TALL AFAR, Iraq, Sept. 10 — The moment the Iraqi troops launched their attack just after 7 a.m. Saturday, the bullets began to fly. Gunfire echoed off centuries-old stone buildings in the insurgent-controlled neighborhood of Sarai: machine-gun bursts, booming tank rounds and an incessant crackle of AK-47s that lasted for most of an hour. | |
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Brad Plumer: I Don't See Any Method At All, Sir — It would be hard not to notice that the latest Tal Afar campaign in Iraq—the... |
Ivo Daalder: And like the earlier operations, US and Iraqi forces entered a city that was largely deserted — the insurgents, along with the people, had left town. |
Revising 9/11 NYT — Permalink On the first three anniversaries of Sept. 11, 2001, the nation had the grim luxury of uncluttered memory. We looked back on that day's events as the most terrible thing that could happen on American soil. Today, we are cursed with an unwanted expansion of that vision. | |
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Ann Althouse: Here is the New York Times version of the seemingly inevitable Katrina-focused 9/11 editorial: "It took a day or two... |
Avedon Carol: Well, what do you know, 9/11 didn't change everything after all. Pity the NYT couldn't have said so four years ago. Idiots. |
Dear New York City... NYT — Permalink Spalding Gray, the actor and monologuist, died in 2004. The following letter, which he wrote in the aftermath of 9/11, will appear in "Life Interrupted," a published version of the monologue he was working on at the time of his death. | |
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Edward _: The New York Times printed this today: [snipped quote] God Bless New York City. God Bless the United States. |
Ann Althouse: So wrote Spalding Gray, the brilliant monologuist, who (so sadly) killed himself last year: "For 34 years I lived with you and came to love you. |