meme orandum
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Brown pushed from last job: Horse group: FEMA chief had to be 'asked to resign' By / Boston Herald — Permalink The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows. And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position. | |
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Skippy: as reality base tells us: the bush junta's cronyism resulted in gop activist mike brown's appointment to head fema,... Norbizness: Bad (via Talking Points Memo): The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows. Brad DeLong: I see a Medal of Honor in Mike Brown's future... The Boston Herald is a newspaper: BostonHerald.com - Business News:... |
Joe Gandelman: FEMA Head Forced Out Of Last Job — When you read this Boston Herald piece you have to think: "Gee, it's so nice to know... Ted @CrookedTimber: And the Boston Herald is backing it up (via Josh Marshall): Brown was forced out of the position after a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures. Josh Marshall: The lede from this morning's piece by Brett Arends ... "The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans... |
| Also: Donald Sensing, Taegan Goddard, Harry Shearer, Kevin Drum, Gary Farber | |
Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans By / Army Times — Permalink NEW ORLEANS — Combat operations are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "This place is going to look like Little Somalia," Brig. | |
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Michael Froomkin: Meanwhile, at least some elements of our military see the victims of the disaster as some sort of enemy to be pacified... Arthur Silber: STILL CLOSER TO THE EDGE OF HELL — Via Patrick Nielsen Hayden, we have the following—from, you will please note, the... Jeralyn Merritt: From the Army Times: [quote] Combat operations are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[end quote] |
Cernig: You have to read this to believe it, from the Army Times: "This place is going to look like Little Somalia," Brig. Larisa Alexandrovna: Link NEW ORLEANS — Combat operations are underway on the streets "to take this city back" in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Donald Sensing: James Joyner cites an Army Times article: [snipped quote] Ditto James's closer: "In more ways than one." |
| Also: James Joyner, Gary Farber, Nico @ThinkProgress | |
Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid Chicago Sun Times — Permalink A visibly angry Mayor Daley said the city had offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government as early as Sunday to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday, the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck. | |
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Steve Soto: FEMA Blew Off Chicago's Offer Of Help - Since Last Sunday — While Denny Hastert questioned why New Orleans should be... James Joyner: Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid (Chicago Sun-Times) [snipped quote] While there is probably a rationale for this that... Laura Rozen: It is beyond baffling. American leaders "shocked" as feds reject other offers of aid. |
Riggsveda @Corrente: That would be because in his prideful, control-freak way, he has been rejecting or deflecting aid offers left and right,... Gary Farber: DALEY, OBAMA SHOCKED at Chicago aid being turned down. [snipped quote] There's more in the story about what else Chicago is doing, and what you can do to help if you're in Chicago. Julian Sanchez: No, Really, We've Got It Under Control — Via Majikthise, the mind boggles at stuff like this: "A visibly angry Mayor... |
National Guard Delay Likely to Be Examined By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress. | |
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Harry Shearer: But Blanco apparently was stymied by the same Federal bureaucracy that the Bush administration pledged to streamline. Attaturk: COMPETENCY, and/or lack thereof of the Bush Administration, EXHIBIT 1,434 "Several states ready and willing to send... Josh Marshall: But the paperwork from Washington, allowing the troops to deploy, didn't come until Thursday. |
Steve Soto: In fact, some states were doing so on Governor Blanco's request Sunday, but other states weren't able to do so until... Echidne: The Unrescue Effort — A harsh title, but it is deserved for those who have kept the aid agencies out of New Orleans,... Laura Rozen: Why did the Bush administration take days to approve other states' offers of National Guard troops? [snipped quote] It is beyond baffling. |
| Also: Atrios | |
Leader of Federal Effort Feels the Heat NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - On Thursday night, Michael D. Brown, the federal government's point man for managing the response to Hurricane Katrina, made a remarkable confession on live television. | |
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Brad DeLong: Here's what New York Times reporters Eric Lipton and Scott Shane say about the background of FEMA Director Michael... Josh Marshall: Today's Times devotes a whole article to the criticism of FEMA chief Michael Brown. Kevin Drum: CRONYISM...I've known for several days that FEMA head Michael Brown had no previous disaster management experience when... |
Laura Rozen: The NYT profiles him here. Even I am staggered — Brown was the lawyer for the horse association not back in the 1980s... Rich Lowry: From the Times: "Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida, said FEMA should be separated from the Department of Homeland Security. |
Guardsmen Halt Evacuation at Superdome By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS - National Guard members halted the evacuation of the Superdome early Saturday after buses transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina stopped rolling. About 2,000 people remained in the stadium and could be there until Sunday, according to the Texas Air National Guard. | |
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Michael Froomkin: We're in a state A British commentator says, "Lots of things about the US become easier to understand if you consider it... Norbizness: Bad: He estimated Saturday morning that between 2,000 and 5,000 people were left at the Superdome. Atrios: America — Link: At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700... |
Riggsveda @Corrente: We We Only Kidding, Folks tantalus1-3124 Dangle an apple in front of a starving man, and then snatch it away: [quote] "Buses...[end quote] Attaturk: More class-based outrage...MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING! Billmon: "The New York Times Conditions in New Orleans Still Dire September 3, 2005" flood2005.jpg Update 9/3 2:01 pm ET:... |
| Also: Gary Farber, Laura Rozen, Chris @AmericaBlog, Matt Welch | |
Chertoff: Katrina scenario did not exist CNN — Permalink What Is This? Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur. | |
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Kieran Healy: DHS selling Bulls**t; CNN not Buying CNN reports, in uncharacteristically blunt terms on Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff's efforts to exonerate his agency. |
Kevin Drum: I'm almost worn out with anger reading about the decimation of FEMA under Bush's watch; the pathetic lack of response to... |
Guard Troops Descend on New Orleans WaPo — Permalink At the Louisiana Superdome, still a vast bowl of filth and stench, those remaining ringed the outside perimeter and endured through another day of heat, hunger and exhaustion. | |
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Michael Froomkin: But they were waiting on a request from FEMA. (See also Washington Post). Attaturk: COMPETENCY, and/or lack thereof of the Bush Administration, Exhibit 1,435 — "I cannot act on this, I've got 10... Josh Marshall: An article in the Post suggests the US military was ready to begin emergency food drops into New Orleans much earlier in the week. |
Steve Soto: (Hat tip to Talk Left) Our military has been ready to drop food packages into the stricken area, but hasn't been able to because FEMA has yet to ask for it. Atrios: FEMA — Michael Brown, America's next Medal of Freedom winner: As reports continued of famished and dehydrated people... |
An Embattled Bush Says 'Results Are Not Acceptable' By / WaPo — Permalink Amid a surge of denunciations from political leaders in both parties, President Bush agreed yesterday that the results of his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina have been "not acceptable" and flew to the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast for a day-long tour of the devastation. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: 'All the president's visit did was tie up New Orleans for a couple of hours,' he said." [link] — I understand that the... Mark Kilmer: The Ongoing Fraud — Continuing a media lie first noted here Friday, the Washington Post has reported: Amid a surge of... Todd Zywicki: Another Vote for Rudy: From today's Washington Post: [snipped quote] I think that it is a good thing to have Newt agree... |
Tim Shey: President George Bush, comforting two sisters he encountered in Biloxi, who had lost everything. "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Gene @HarrysPlace: When someone as allergic to self-criticism, accountability and second-guessing as President Bush calls the federal... |
POLITICS AFTER KATRINA Online NewsHour — Permalink New York Times columnist David Brooks, Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant and NewsHour essayist and Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page talk about the horrific events following Hurricane Katrina, including the possible political ramifications of the disaster. | |
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Ezra Klein: He said on "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer": I think it is a huge reaction we are about to see. Laura Rozen: Three guesses? David Brooks, yesterday, on the Newshour. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Political Ramifications of Katrina — Here's a transcript of conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks, Boston... |
Evacuation Efforts Begin at Convention Center By / WaPo — Permalink Evacuation efforts began at the New Orleans convention center, where 25,000 refugees waited days for food and water after Hurricane Katrina struck, and officials estimated that the task can be completed in 24 to 36 hours, Gen. Mark Graham announced today. | |
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Laura Rozen: Five days after the 17th Street Canal levee broke, evacuation of the New Orleans Convention Center is finally underway. Gary Farber: WELL, NOW, THAT DIDN'T TAKE TOO LONG, did it? |
Judith Weiss: Many evacuated from New Orleans are being sent to Austin. If you live in the Austin area and want to help, many resources are listed in the extended entry. |
Looking for... MSNBC — Permalink Are you trying to find loved ones who were displaced by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina? Let us know who you're looking for and leave instructions or a message for them. Fill out the form below with information on the people you are seeking . | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Yahoo's boards * MSNBC's * National Next of Kin Registry * The Red Cross * Earthlink * Katrina Help * Gulf Coast News... |
Rex Hammock: "MSNBC Message Boards: Safe; Looking National Next Of Kin Registry NOLA.com: Missing; I'm OK New Orleans Refugees ..." |
Hastert Tries Damage Control After Remarks Hit a Nerve By / WaPo — Permalink House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert began his day yesterday explaining that he really does not want to see New Orleans bulldozed, and he ended it defending his absence from the Capitol when Congress approved a $10.5 billion hurricane aid package. | |
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Steve Soto: For his part, Denny Fats questioned whether New Orleans should be rebuilt hours after Bush said it would be, and then... Laura Rozen: This information was available for all to see for a while now, but for those living under rocks, Dennis Hastert is a jerk. |
Nico @ThinkProgress: Today, the Washington Post reports that Hastert skipped out on the vote to attend a fundraiser and an antique car... Gary Farber: HASTERT UNDERGOS FOOT REMOVAL OPERATION from his mouth. |
Hitchhiking From Squalor to Anywhere Else By / WaPo — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 2 — The woman and child walked toward the interstate exit ramp. She held his hand and he held a box of Scooby-Doo cereal. "Granny," he said, "where are we going?" Adrienne Picou didn't know the answer. | |
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Tim Shey: USDA employee and New Orleans resident Adrienne Picou, 46, hitchhiking to escape the Superdome with only her 6-year-old grandson, $7, and three bottles of water. Gary Farber: TRYING TO GET OUT OF DODGE ON YOUR OWN is hard. [snipped quote] Jeezus. Where are they now? Some people "refused to leave"; right. |
Michelle Malkin: Hitchhiking From Squalor to Anywhere Else Countless still missing and in need at NOLA.com and NowPublic.com. |
New Orleans Left to the Dead and Dying By / AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Thousands more bedraggled refugees were bused and airlifted to salvation Saturday, leaving the heart of New Orleans to the dead and dying, the elderly and frail stranded too many days without food, water or medical care. | |
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Arthur Silber: UPDATE: All that's left is an empty, sodden tomb: "Thousands more bedraggled refugees were bused and airlifted to... |
Jeralyn Merritt: [Source: the Guardian] New Orleans has been left to the dead and dying. |
Lawmakers of Both Parties Criticize U.S. Response By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - Members of Congress from both parties acknowledged on Friday that the federal response to Hurricane Katrina had fallen far short and promised hearings into what had gone wrong. Mayor C. Ray Nagin's radio interview with WWL-AM. | |
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Joe Gandelman: For instance, the New York Times reports: "Members of Congress from both parties acknowledged on Friday that the... McQ: Katrina's aftermath blogging — Short and to the point. |
Captain Ed: Congress Takes Five Days To Act, Criticizes 'Bureaucracy' — In what would be seen as irony under less-deadly... Gary Farber: Not good enough. And you say Bush was off-key? Partisan! You're as bad as the damn Congress. The oil spill continues. |
Left Behind WaPo — Permalink THE LACK OF National Guard troops because of the war in Iraq; the Bush administration's failure to protect coastal wetlands; the reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency: All have been blamed, somewhat arbitrarily, for the stunning scenes of... | |
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Cernig: The Washington Post hangs it out there for everyone to think about. if blame is to be laid and lessons are to be drawn,... Rich Lowry: LEFT BEHIND — A very responsible—of course—Washington Post edit on the question of why the evacuation prior to Katrina didn't reach more people in NO. |
Captain Ed: Today's editorial in the Washington Post not only reminds its readers that local authorities provide the first line of... |
Criticism of Bush mounts as more than 10,000 feared dead Guardian — Permalink George Bush arrived last night in the ravaged Gulf coast region amid mounting criticism of his handling of the crisis and a prediction by one senator that the death toll in Louisiana alone could top 10,000 people. | |
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Rogers Cadenhead: Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans in Metairie, said that he warned for years God would... |
Laura Rozen: AP photo from the New Orleans convention center: [snipped quote] (Credits: Melissa Phillip/AP) |
Rapes, killings hit Katrina refugees in New Orleans By / Reuters — Permalink NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - People left homeless by Hurricane Katrina told horrific stories of rape, murder and trigger happy guards in two New Orleans centers that were set up as shelters but became places of violence and terror. | |
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Arthur Silber: GET RID OF THE MURDERING BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOW — This is one more story of this kind than any of us needed: "NEW... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Survivors Detail Rapes and Killings Inside Convention Center — Simply Chilling. [quote] "They killed a man here last night," Steve Banka, 28, told Reuters.[end quote] |
Kanye West's Torrent of Criticism, Live on NBC By / WaPo — Permalink Why We Love Live Television, Reason No. 137: NBC's levee broke and Kanye West flooded through with a tear about the federal response in New Orleans during the network's live concert fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina last night. | |
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Tom Biro: The WaPo's Lisa de Moraes described West as looking "nervous" prior to saying what he said on-air, which was pretty much... Pudentilla: yes, virginia, the msm can be that dumb — [snipped quote] of course mr. west's unscripted comments (video available at... |
John Cole: Kanye Who? So someone claimed Bush "doesn't care about black people." Gary Farber: GENUINE EMOTION, OPINIONS, INVADE TV SHOW; IMMEDIATELY EVACUATED last night. |
Met by Despair, Not Violence By / LAT — Permalink NEW ORLEANS — Forty-four troops pressed together in their truck, swaying as one at every bump and turn like reeds in a river. As they plunged into the dark water engulfing the business district of New Orleans, their wake pushed the body of a woman onto the steps of the Superdome. | |
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Matt Welch: On a perhaps related note, the L.A. Times ran an interesting ride-along story today documenting the National Guard... Gary Farber: TROOPS FIND LOST DIGNITY, NOT LOOTERS as the National Guard rolled in. [snipped quote] It's hard to read some of this stuff without becoming emotional. |
Kevin Drum: Here's what happened to Cory Williams when he tried to escape from the rising waters on Tuesday: [snipped quote] Sounds more like redemption to me. |
New Orleans crisis shames Americans By / BBC — Permalink At the end of an unforgettable week, one broadcaster on Friday bitterly encapsulated the sense of burning shame and anger that many American citizens are feeling. The only difference between the chaos of New Orleans and a Third World disaster operation, he said, was that a foreign dictator would have responded better. | |
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Michael Froomkin: Other international reactions, via the BBC. See also BBC, New Orleans Crisis Shames Americans. |
Chris Nolan: It's a privilege thing. Living your entire life unable to see past the end of your own nose is the ultimate luxury. |
Pentagon Investigator Resigning By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top investigator has resigned amid accusations that he stonewalled inquiries into senior Bush administration officials suspected of wrongdoing. | |
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Charlie Cray: That would hardly be more than another eye-brow-raising revolving-door story, except that the LA Times reports that he... Pudentilla: we're shocked, just shocked to find there's a criminal conspiracy in the pentagon — [snipped quote] fortunately,... |
Laura Rozen: Pentagon inspector general resigning amid accusations of blocking investigations of senior Bush officials. |
President Addresses Nation, Discusses Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts White House — Permalink THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Yesterday I saw the aftermath of one of the largest natural disasters ever to strike America. A vast coastline of towns and communities are flattened; one of our great cities is submerged. The human costs are incalculable. | |
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Mark Kilmer: The President's Weekly Radio Address (& Dem response) The President discussed Hurricane Katrina and the relief efforts in his Weekly Radio Address this morning [text]. |
Magpie @PacificViews: From Dubya's Saturday radio address about the Katrina disaster: "In America, we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need." |
A Day of Contradictions By / WaPo — Permalink "I'm looking forward to my trip down there," President Bush said in the White House driveway yesterday morning before leaving to tour the storm wreckage. Something must have happened in flight, because when he arrived in Mobile, Ala., two hours later, he reported: "I'm not looking forward to this trip." | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Accountability — While there are people still waiting to be rescued it may be inappropriate to look for silver linings (like Trent Lott's new, improved house). |
Laura Rozen: Dana Milbank is no less scathing on Bush's photo opportunities yesterday: "...From there, Bush went to tour a Biloxi,... |
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food By / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Permalink As the National Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday, American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management authorities would not allow them to do the same. | |
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Mary @LeftCoaster: Why did DNS decide that the Red Cross could not help the desperate people of New Orleans? |
Jon Mandle: Turns out, the Red Cross is not allowed into New Orleans (tip to Atrios): "As the National Guard delivered food to the... |
Ben Franklin Had the Right Idea for New Orleans By / NYT — Permalink Why is New Orleans in so much worse shape today than New York City was after the attacks on Sept. 11? The short answer is that New York was attacked by fire, not water. But then why are urbanites so much better prepared to cope with fire than with flooding? | |
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Norbizness: The moral, my boy, is to never try anything." [now making an appearance in the editorial pages of the New York Times]. Roger Ailes: The Tierney of The Moronity — Watch as John Tierney one again tries to cram every conceivable facet of human existence... Attaturk: Dopes everywhere... Someday perhaps John Tierney will have it explained to him the different physics of fire versus a large mass of water. |
Radley Balko: Government Failure — John Tierney stakes out a hard line on the failures of the federal government: "Why is New... Tbogg: And, as usual, John Tierney's column is a waste of paper, ink, formatting, press-time, bandwidth, electricity, and the seconds it takes to read it. |
Countries Pledge Hurricane Aid to U.S. By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - In an accelerating drive, more than 50 countries have pledged money or other assistance to help Americans recover from Hurricane Katrina. Cuba and Venezuela have offered to help despite differences with Washington. | |
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Jim Henley: Numerous foreign countries have offered hurricane-relief aid of various kinds in the last several days, and your official response has been to turn them down. |
James Joyner: Katrina: 50 Plus Countries Pledge Hurricane Aid to U.S. The devastation from Hurricane Katrina has promped more than 50... |
In First Response to Crisis, Bush Strikes Off-Key Notes By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - From the moment he walked out of the Oval Office toward his helicopter on Friday morning until he left New Orleans at the end of the day, President Bush's task was to erase the hardening impression that his administration had failed to act with sufficient urgency to address the suffering of tens of thousands of people. | |
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Glenn Smith: Even the New York Times speculates that the Guard entry may have been delayed to help Bush's image. |
Gary Farber: ENDLESS EXCUSES FOR THE DELAYS here. Not good enough. And you say Bush was off-key? Partisan! You're as bad as the damn Congress. |
Music industry in disarray after the storm By / Reuters — Permalink NEW YORK (Billboard) - As flood waters rose in the days after Hurricane Katrina's August 29 rampage through New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, so too did concern for the myriad musicians, business associates, friends and family in the region. | |
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Cookie Jill: "- reuters" we also have a talented musical foodie new olreans blogger, chuck taggert of the gumbo pages, who has his... |
Johnathan Pearce: But as a music-lover and fan of blues and jazz myself, one cannot fail to be moved by this story. |
5,000 U.S. and Iraqi Troops Sweep Into City of Tall Afar By / WaPo — Permalink TALL AFAR, Iraq, Sept. 2 — It was a clear and quiet dusk, with only the call to prayer echoing from minarets across this city, when a roadside bomb blasted an M1-A1 Abrams tank, shaking nearby buildings and filling the indigo sky with a plume of black smoke. | |
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Michelle Pilecki: In the wake of the horrors of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, it's almost easy to forget the devastation wrought by the belief in WMDs. Bill Roggio: Over 5,000 U.S. and Iraq troops strike at the town of Tal Afar, which is located west of Mosul, along the northern ratline from Syria. Armando @DailyKos: The War in Iraq Proceeds — A Major Assault Against an Insurgent Stronghold: [snipped quote] In case we had forgotten. |
Jan Haugland: 'Largest operation since Fallujah' — A significant operation is underway in Iraq to cut off the terrorist supply-line from Syria. Stirling Newberry: Where the Help Was — Largest assault since Fallujah in Iraq. Gary Farber: While not so many people are looking, the biggest operation since Fallujah was launched this morning. |
| Also: Pudentilla | |
Inquiry Reportedly Faults Annan in Oil-for-Food Program Abuses By / LAT — Permalink Investigators tell the U.N. chief that he bears primary responsibility and should have taken action to halt the problems, diplomats say. UNITED NATIONS — Investigators confronted Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday with findings of their probe of... | |
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John Cole: Meanwhile, at the UN: Investigators confronted Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday with findings of their probe... FrancoAlemán: THE DOMINOES are falling, and the clock is ticking... for Annan: [snipped quote] Can't wait. Click here to send me an email |
Roger L. Simon: Even as UN-friendly an outlet as LAT is skeptical. |
18,000 apartments across the state open to evacuees By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink AUSTIN - An estimated 18,000 vacant apartment units statewide opened for hurricane victims Friday when the federal government waived special income requirements, Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday. | |
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Norbizness: Good: An estimated 18,000 vacant apartment units statewide opened for hurricane victims Friday when the federal... |
Gary Farber: Sounds lovely. 18,000 apartments across the state open to evacuees. |
United States of Shame By / NYT — Permalink And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens. America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. | |
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John Cole: Andrew Sullivan appears to be leading the charge, and that is again reiterated by MoDo today in the NY Times: In June... Tbogg: Two columns about incompetence and one column by an incompetent First this from Maureen Dowd: Just last year, Federal... |
Robert Schlesinger: Once again, Maureen Dowd sums up what's gotten under my skin: Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses. Laura Rozen: Maureen Dowd: "...It would be one thing if President Bush and his inner circle - Dick Cheney was vacationing in... |
Specter Likely to Be The Lightning Rod By / WaPo — Permalink Conservatives who have bridled at Arlen Specter's 25-year Senate career figured they finally had the Pennsylvania Republican hemmed in this summer, as he prepared to chair the first Supreme Court confirmation hearing in 11 years. | |
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Armando @DailyKos: Roberts Hearings: Specter The Key — From WaPo: [snipped quote] First, these hearings should be postponed. |
Brendan Nyhan: Charles Babington reads minds — Charles Babington purports to know that John Roberts' demeanor is "deliberately bland"... |
Katrina Elicits Sympathy, Jeers Worldwide LAT — Permalink MEXICO CITY — Around the world, the irony was too deep to ignore. In teeming Mexico City, the newspaper Ovaciones took a break from its daily diet of kidnappings and gore to splash across its front page images of an American city reduced to "starvation, refugees ... and helicopters under fire." | |
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Anne-Marie Slaughter: See a must-read piece in the LA Times by Hector Tobar describing reactions around the world to Katrina and its aftermath. |
Gary Farber: Meanwhile, endless help went unused because no one could tell them where to go. World offers help and astonishment. |
Special Edition: Waveland, Mississippi CNN — Permalink THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: More bodies found here in Waveland, Mississippi. The search and rescue efforts continue, so does the response. A lot of outrage, though, here on the ground in Waveland. | |
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Natasha @PacificViews: The Antoinette Party — I just wanted to throw a brick through my television when I heard Sen. Trent Lott blithering... |
Josh Marshall: According to David Pleasant, the former Senate Majority Leader unloaded on CNN's Anderson Cooper, telling him that the... |
Hamas' Secretive Military Wing Emerges By / AP — Permalink JERUSALEM - Hamas' secretive military wing emerged from hiding Saturday, naming commanders and detailing how they attacked Israelis as part of a competition with the Palestinian Authority over who will get credit for Israel's pullout from Gaza. | |
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Captain Ed: Hamas has started the competition by revealing their once-secretive military wing and claiming credit for a long string... |
Ted Belman: Hamas: Nobody Does Terror Like We Do — Captain's Quarter, a great Canadian blog "The fact that no peaceful-coexistence... |
Across U.S., Outrage at Response By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 - There was anger: David Vitter, Louisiana's freshman Republican senator, gave the federal government an F on Friday for its handling of the whirlwind after the storm. | |
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Michael Bérubé: Condi Rice makes an urgent appeal to all Americans to donate funds to help her buy shoes on Fifth Avenue. (No, that's not quite true. Attaturk: The SHAME of a Nation — That is the theme of this New York Times article on how our Federal Government responded to this disaster. Gary Farber: OUTRAGE tonight: "There was anger: David Vitter, Louisiana's freshman Republican senator, gave the federal government... |
Michael @AmericaBlog: And now Queen Condi has deigned to speak to us per the NYT with her concern that people are injecting race into all of this. Pudentilla: location, location, location — [snipped quote] do ya' think? if florida had been katrina's target, we suspect awol would... |
Lt. Gen. Honore a 'John Wayne dude' CNN — Permalink (CNN) — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls Lt. Gen. Russel Honore a "John Wayne dude" who can "get some stuff done." "He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving," Nagin said in an interview Thursday night with a local radio station. | |
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Michael Froomkin: It looks as if resources are finally being mobilized to begin to help out under the direction of Lt. Gen. Russel Honre,... Laura Rozen: And I believe this Lt. Gen. Russel Honore was credited by Nagin in this interview as the most competent, take-charge... |
Steve Bainbridge: Granting all that, however, it still took 5+ days to start restoring law and order in NOLA. |
Slogging, and Blogging, Through Katrina By / WaPo — Permalink BATON ROUGE, La. — When people prepare for hurricanes, they do many things: top off gas tanks in cars, fill bathtubs with water, buy water, charge up mobile phones and check evacuation routes. I did all these things. And I started a blog. | |
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Gary Farber: Kaye Trammell writes about blogging the storm at her hurricane blog. Rogers Cadenhead: She writes in this morning's Washington Post about the experience: "We on-the-scene citizens don't mean to replace journalism. |
Rex Hammock: How blogging can help: Kaye Trammel, the LSU professor who began blogging Katrina last Saturday has an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post. |
A Perfect Storm of Lawlessness City Journal — Permalink New Orleans hasn't even been disarmed yet, but the story of those who looted, trashed, and terrorized the city this week is already being re-written. Al Sharpton went on MSNBC Thursday night to say that "looters are people who pay their taxes whose infrastructure caved in on them." | |
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Gateway Pundit: The looters, rapists, and murderers who have terrorized New Orleans since Monday began their post-Katrina reign of... Scott @PowerLine: Down in the flood — City Journal has posted an important column by Nicole Gelinas on events in New Orleans: "A perfect storm of lawlessness." |
John Hawkins: Originally Published On Dec. 1, 2001" "Nicole Gelinas: A Perfect Storm Of Lawlessness" "The Interdictor" "The Irish... |
Grim Triage for Ailing and Dying at a Makeshift Airport Hospital By / NYT — Permalink KENNER, La., Sept. 2 - Some were being given water by soldiers. Some had small spasms as they lay on their stretchers. Some psychiatric patients chewed their lower lips or babbled quietly. Some tried to wander out the doors where buses dropped off more patients. | |
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Gary Farber: BOTTLENECKED AT THE AIRPORT is a story both major national papers cover: "Hundreds of sick and stranded patients who... |
Jeralyn Merritt: The airport has been converted into a triage center. The New York Times has some of the dispiriting details. |
Tales of horrors and heroes permeate New Orleans center By / Dallas Morning News — Permalink NEW ORLEANS - After five days with little food and water, thousands of people in the overcrowded waste-reeking Morial Convention Center lined up at the Riverwalk on Friday for meals ready to eat and bottled water provided by the National Guard. | |
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Rogers Cadenhead: Until late night Thursday, when food and water was brought for the first time since the storm, no one else could manage it. Gary Farber: THE AFTERNOON BARBECUE AT THE CONVENTION CENTER. The tide seems to have begun to turn this afternoon. |
Laura Rozen: These reports are just insane. Secondly, why on earth are they repeatedly putting several thousand people in large stadiums? |
Newsview: Rhetoric Not Matching Reality By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iraqi insurgency is in its last throes. The economy is booming. Anybody who leaks a CIA agent's identity will be fired. Add another piece of White House rhetoric that doesn't match the public's view of reality: Help is on the way, Gulf Coast. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Ron Fornier of the AP is even willing to generalize: The Iraqi insurgency is in its last throes. The economy is booming. Joe @AmericaBlog: AP nails Bush; Rhetoric doesn't match Reality — AP puts it in terms of rhetoric and reality. |
Greg Ransom: And take a look at these two images: pre-flood UPDATE III: See also Ron Fournier, "Politicians Failed Storm Victims" Kathryn Jean Lopez: RON FOURNIER wraps up Iraq, Katrina, and Valerie Plame in an AP "news analysis" bow. |
The big disconnect on New Orleans CNN — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — Diverging views of a crumbling New Orleans emerged Thursday. The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets. | |
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Michael Froomkin: CNN - yes CNN - truth squads official statements on the pace of disaster relief. Homeland Security Secretary (and future scapegoat?) The Farmer: Meanwhile; lifelike talking "news" appliance Neal Cavuto creates his own FoxNoise saleable reality despite disturbing... RCox: This from CNN.com where CNN published an article entitled The big disconnect on New Orleans (The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version). |
Skippy: cnn (link via ampoljo) gives us the "big disconnect" between what brown says is happening, and what the reality actually... Ted @CrookedTimber: I don't think that there's anyone in America (besides, maybe, the President) who's satisfied with FEMA head Michael Brown right now. Andrew Sullivan: THE DISCONNECT: CNN - which has just had one of its finest hours - puts together a string of quotes from officials compared with what their own reporting showed at the time. |
| Also: Tbogg, Felix @MemeFirst, Gateway Pundit, Tom Tomorrow, John @AmericaBlog, Brian Stelter, Cookie Jill, Shawn @LiquidList, Echidne, Kos @DailyKos, Mark Kleiman, Ross @TheTalentShow, Gary Farber, Jesse Walker | |
The Rebellion of the Talking Heads By / Slate — Permalink A former deputy chief of FEMA told Knight Ridder Newspapers yesterday (Sept. 1) that there "are two kinds of levees—the ones that breached and the ones that will be breached." A similar aphorism applies to broadcasters: They come in two varieties, the ones that have gone stark, raving mad on air and the ones who will. | |
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Tom Maguire: MORE: Possible Rep push-back point - from this Jack Shafer column I find Joe Scarborough praising the Bush-FEMA-Bush effort in Florida last year. Barbara O'Brien: Politicians of both parties are outraged. Even the blow-dried brigades of television news are outraged. Jack Grant: For example, a recent interchange during an interview has gained much attention, as commented upon by Jack Shafer in... |
Mark Kleiman: Jack Shafer, Slate's media critic, reports that the phenomenon is widespread among television reporters. Chris Nolan: But the A href="reminders are coming fast and furious these past few days. Avedon Carol: Media media — NPR and Slate both have pieces on what Jack Shafer calls "The Rebellion of the Talking Heads" as more and... |
| Also: Todd Gitlin, Arianna Huffington, McQ, Felix @MemeFirst, Brendan Nyhan, Matt Welch, Gary Farber, Andrew Sullivan | |
AROUND THE REGION Houston Chronicle — Permalink The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Halliburton subsidiary KBR will also perform damage assessments at other naval installations in New Orleans as soon as it is safe to do so. | |
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Josh Marshall: Yesterday the — Houston Chronicle reported that Halliburton has been hired by the Navy to repair its damaged facilities... Michael Bérubé: The Navy hires Halliburton to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi. Amanda Marcotte: Guess who got the contract to clean up New Orleans? Halliburton. They really do want to destroy the city, don't they? |
Steve Soto: Rest comfortably that Halliburton is already on the job profiting from Katrina by making sure that the Navy is moved to the head of the line for getting its infrastructure fixed. Avedon Carol: The kinky thoughts of Marilyn Monroe Pat Robertson: 'I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist' The... Jason Van Steenwyk: My prediction comes to pass — Yesterday, I said we need to contract with Brown and Root for logistical support. |
| Also: John Cole, Cookie Jill, Susie Madrak, Arthur Silber, Nathan Newman, MarkInMexico, John @AmericaBlog | |
Mandatory evacuation ordered for New Orleans AP — Permalink NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin. Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome. | |
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Patterico: But the Administration certainly has not done much to publicize this; it is a factoid buried in an August 28 AP article, found by a Power Line reader. Captain Ed: Until George Bush called Governor Blanco personally and pleaded with her to make the evacuation order mandatory on... TheAnchoress: Maybe I've always misunderstood, but I've always thought that a Governor of a state is essentially like the President of... |
Donald Sensing: Update: The AP reported on Aug. 28 of Mayor Nagin's evacuation order: "Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor... Jim Treacher: I'll bet Myers wishes Kanye still had his mouth wired shut — On one hand, it's kind of cool that Ol' Lumpy Jaw... Gateway Pundit: And, the Anchoress (Nola.com) reports today that: "Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference,... |
| Also: Will Collier, Marc @USSNeverdock, John @PowerLine, Kathryn Jean Lopez, MarkInMexico | |
President Arrives in Alabama, Briefed on Hurricane Katrina White House — Permalink THE PRESIDENT: Well, first I want to say a few things. I am incredibly proud of our Coast Guard. We have got courageous people risking their lives to save life. And I want to thank the commanders and I want to thank the troops over there for representing the best of America. | |
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Joe Gandelman: It's hard to see how you can read these comments by President George Bush during his tour of the death and destruction... Josh Marshall: Of course, Sen. Lott got a personal, on-air guarantee from the president that his house would be rebuilt. Tom Burka: "This umbrella is perhaps one of the finest umbrellas this country has ever had," said Bush, "and I stand firmly behind it." |
Marty Lederman: At the very moment when the President seemed as oblivious to the needs of the American people as he has ever been, and... Taegan Goddard: President Bush, complimenting FEMA chief Mike Brown yesterday on his agency's response to Hurricane Katrina. Ezra Klein: Is This Impeachable? Via Jeff Dubner, what the F**K is wrong with our President? |
| Also: Andrew Sullivan, Jeffrey Dubner, Patrick, Radley Balko, Atrios | |
Where are the Guardsmen? NRO — Permalink Right where they ought to be. So is the war in Iraq causing troop shortfalls for hurricane relief in New Orleans? In a word, no. | |
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Meteor Blades: After all, he notes, only a third of Louisiana's NG is in Iraq, and they'll be home soon. Paul @PowerLine: A bit of perspective — James Robbins at NRO debunks the notion that New Orleans suffered because of the deployment of National Guard units in Iraq. Pejman Yousefzadeh: Katrina, Iraq And Troop Levels — James Robbins makes the point anew that contrary to popular rumor, we don't lack for troops to be able to go in and restore order in New Orleans. |
John Hawkins: James S. Robbins has more: [quote] "The New York Times has called the military response "a costly game of catch up.[end quote] Blackfive: And, where are all the soldiers? Contrary to some opinions being vented in the MSM, they are mostly in the US. Greg Ransom: (And don't miss Bainbridge's link to this important article on the Posse Comitatus law). UPDATE: But see also this. |
| Also: Andrew Sullivan, Jason Van Steenwyk | |
Republicans urge Bush to ask Giuliani to guide relief effort By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., urged President Bush to appoint former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani or two former military officials to run the ground response in the Gulf Coast, saying local authorities are not up to the task. | |
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Tom Maguire: Per the AP, Republicans are calling on Bush to anoint Rudy Giuliani as Federal Relief Czar. Josh Marshall: TPM Reader — JS checks in ... [snipped quote] JS must be responding to Newt Gingrich's call to put Rudy Giuliani in charge of reconstruction. Taegan Goddard: Gingrich Criticizes Bush, Homeland Security — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) "criticized the Bush... |
Joe Gandelman: Newsday reports: "One prominent Republican, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, criticized the Bush administration for... Gary Farber: Republicans urge Bush to ask Giuliani to guide relief effort. Kaye Trammell writes about blogging the storm at her hurricane blog. Rex Hammock: Two words: Rudy Giuliani. |
Bush: 'Results are not acceptable' CNN — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — President Bush told reporters on Friday that millions of tons of food and water are on the way to the people stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina — but he said the results of the relief effort "are not acceptable." | |
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Orin Kerr: UPDATE: As of 1:23pm, CNN.com is now posting what I hope is an important development: "A convoy of military vehicles... McQ: At the federal level: "Before leaving Washington, Bush told reporters that millions of tons of food and water were on... Glenn Reynolds: MORE PROGRESS? "A convoy of military vehicles plowed through the flooded streets of New Orleans on Friday bringing... |
Damian Penny: Caught napping — Tim Naftali, in Slate, savages the Bush Administration for its painfully inadequate response to Katrina: The president's statement this afternoon set the tone. John Cole: The Results Are Not Acceptable This seems to be the consensus view: President Bush told reporters on Friday that... Clayton Cramer: Things Are Much Worse In New Orleans Than I Thought — This CNN account is shocking: "Overnight, police snipers were... |
| Also: Donald Sensing, Gene @HarrysPlace, Wind Rider, Ann Althouse, Andrew Sullivan, Gary Farber, Laura Rozen | |
The Coming Battle Over New Orleans NRO — Permalink Toxic and unhealthy. It is getting ugly. Not just in New Orleans, but in the debate over it. Take our poisonous partisan divide, add the finger-pointing that takes place after any calamity, then mix in noxious racial politics, and you have the formula for the coming Battle over New Orleans. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: But this Rich Lowry column (via Ross Douthat) is a great example of why, at the end of the day, I think you can do more... Jeff Goldstein: Rich Lowry sees the writing on the wall and is wary of what he presumes will be the "toxic and unhealthy" "post-catastrophe debate." Kathryn Jean Lopez: SPEAKING OF REV. JESSE — Here's Rich on the race battle to come. |
John Cole: Jesse Jackson, the Congressional Black Caucus, and our friends on the left will see to that: If the federal response... Ed Driscoll: Coloring Katrina — James Taranto and Rich Lowry have some thoughts on race and the news coverage of Katrina, and what... |
Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses' CNN — Permalink (CNN) — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the slow pace of federal and state relief efforts in an expletive-laced interview with local radio station WWL-AM. The following is a transcript of WWL correspondent Garland Robinette's interview with Nagin on Thursday night. | |
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Gateway Pundit: The city was (is) filling up with water like a tub and what did Mayor Nagin do? What? Ross @TheTalentShow: The reasons why he's not being heralded as the new "America's Mayor" will remain a mysterious mystery that will never be... Gary Farber: Transcript of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on WWL: "You know the reason why the looters got out of control? |
McQ: The mayor of New Orleans: "And I am telling you right now: They're showing all these reports of people looting and... Charles Kuffner: It's scary how accurate it is. UPDATE: Here's a transcript of the Nagin interview - thanks, Karin! Magpie @PacificViews: You can listen to the interview if you go here. [MP3 player required] Nagin minces no words. Via MetaFilter. |
| Also: Chris @AmericaBlog, Jeralyn Merritt | |
Contributions Near $100 Million By / WaPo — Permalink Less than a week after Hurricane Katrina, American giving to help storm victims has surged past the level raised for South Asia tsunami relief in the same period, nearing the $100 million mark, according to charities and experts. | |
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John Cole: Keep Donating I have calmed down a touch, and this is good news: Less than a week after Hurricane Katrina, American... Scared Monkeys: Contributions are nearing $100,000,000.00 has been raised by charitable organizations in the wake of this tragedy. Gary Farber: His point has some validity, but there's a time and place for things. Donations have reached nearly $100 million. |
Nico @ThinkProgress: What a stark contrast to the outpouring of generosity being shown by the American people in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. James Joyner: Contributions Near $100 Million (WaPo, A12) "Less than a week after Hurricane Katrina, American giving to help storm... |
Jackson Blasts Bush Over Katrina Aid By / AP — Permalink BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Racism is partly to blame for the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, calling President Bush's response to the disaster ''incompetent.'' | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: This in turn led Rev Jesse Jackson, fresh from dialogue with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, to call for affirmative action in... Gateway Pundit: Just when you thought that Jesse could stoop no lower, he parades into flooded New Orleans to blast George W. Bush |
Acidman: You just can't SAY the obvious in this country anymore. Now I read this s**t and I wish I had let the post stand. |
The foretelling of a deadly disaster in New Orleans By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink New Orleans is sinking. And its main buffer from a hurricane, the protective Mississippi River delta, is quickly eroding away, leaving the historic city perilously close to disaster. | |
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Judith Weiss: [ UPDATE: More predictions from years past about NOLA flooding, that eventually came to pass. Greg Ransom: UPDATE I: The Houston Chronicle gave a good account of the likely fate of New Orleans in 2001. John Hawkins: "The Baseball Crank" "Conservative Outpost" "The Foretelling Of A Deadly Disaster In New Orleans. |
David Sirota: Four years ago, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report argued that the odds of a catastrophic New Orleans... Joe Gandelman: As evidence of this, just read this amazing article in the Houston Chronicle ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN DEC. 2001 but republished today. Charles Kuffner: If you haven't already, read this piece by Eric Berger from 2001 about what we've seen this week was going to look like. |
Bush Tours Katrina Damage Amid Criticism By / AP — Permalink MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Facing sharp criticism, President Bush toured the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast on Friday and vowed the government will restore order in lawless New Orleans. He said the $10.5 billion approved by Congress was just a small downpayment for disaster relief. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Establishing Law and Order — President Bush called the government's response to Katrina "not acceptable." Joe @AmericaBlog: Newt slams Bush — Gingrich makes sense. That's scary: [snipped quote] Damn it, Newt, you have to understand, the President was on vacation. |
Avedon Carol: "Even Republicans were criticizing Bush and his administration for the sluggish relief effort. " John @AmericaBlog: Fanny Dooley says... AP [quote] Asked later how the richest country on Earth could not meet the needs of its people, Bush said "I am satisfied with the response.[end quote] |
The disaster response: 'Magnificent' or 'embarrassment'? CNN — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — When it comes to assessing the effectiveness of the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, two divergent — and incongruous — views have emerged over more than three long days of misery. | |
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MarkInMexico: He is probably getting 2 hours sleep in 24 trying to rescue every living breathing human being possible while his... Barbara O'Brien: The CNN anchor, Daryn Kagan, wondered why he couldn't have been briefed in Washington. Coming to Mobile seemed like just a political move, she said. Laura Rozen: DHS Secretary Chertoff: FEMA doing a "magnificent job." |
McQ: Because: "New Orleans police officers told CNN that they needed the manpower earlier in the week to prevent the looting and violence now prevalent in the city. Tbogg: Meanwhile the members of the Bush Summer 2005 Incompetency Tour are going, "We rock, man!", all evidence to the... Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Rampant Cluelessness 11:28 AM Edition...more to come in next 30 seconds, I imagine. |
Democrats and Others Criticize White House's Response to Disaster By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 - A political furor intensified on Thursday over President Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina as Democrats, local officials and members of an increasingly bewildered public accused the president of a slow response to the flood that has plunged New Orleans into chaos. | |
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Judith Weiss: The disaster continues ... 54.jpg 3.jpg (photos from excellent Houston Chronicle site) Whoever was in the White House... Josh Marshall: In her piece today Bumiller sets the record straight ... [snipped quote] This is good stuff. Gateway Pundit: This is after the president already declared a state of emergency in Louisiana before the storm hit. (via DJ Drummond at... |
MarkInMexico: The slobbering attacks and the knee-jerk defenses and the finger pointing to the left, right, up, down, north, south, east and west all makes me sick to my stomach. Joe Gandelman: UPDATE II: In a New York Time's piece about Democrats going after Bush on this issue, it quotes a Democrat who... Taegan Goddard: Democrats Pound Bush Over Hurricane Response — "A political furor intensified over President Bush's handling of... |
| Also: Kos @DailyKos, Joe @AmericaBlog, Lambert @Corrente | |
Government Saw Flood Risk but Not Levee Failure NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 - When Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, returned in January from a tour of the tsunami devastation in Asia, he urgently gathered his aides to prepare for a similar catastrophe at home. | |
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Mary @LeftCoaster: Brown was one of the people "who never knew the levees could fail." Perhaps that is where Bush got his remarkable idea? Kevin Drum: Mike Brown, Director of FEMA, referring to people who were stuck in New Orleans largely because they were too poor to... Matthew Yglesias: Today's New York Times offers a good rundown and last night on CNN Aaron Brown was asking some smart questions and raising many of the relevant points. |
Lindsay Beyerstein: "[NYT]" FEMA should have been planning for massive flooding in New Orleans back when everyone was predicting a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. Jeff Goldstein: And from the New York Times: "Disaster experts acknowledged that the impact of Hurricane Katrina posed unprecedented difficulties. Michael Bérubé: Not your father's GOP — Even the usually mild-mannered Kevin Drum is outraged: [snipped quote] Well, Kevin, I'm going... |
| Also: John Cole, Jeffrey Dubner, Josh Marshall, Rich Lowry, Brendan Nyhan | |
The Doomed Cities NRO — Permalink The heart of New Orleans. As we mourn New Orleans, let us also celebrate it, as New Orleanians famously celebrate their own dead. The city has long been admired for its literary creativity, its exceptional food, and its wonderful music, and deplored — albeit also frequented — because of its legendary corruption and degradation. | |
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Gal Beckerman: Michael Leeden, at National Review, sees Naples in New Orleans. Dan Darling: Dr. Ledeen wrote up an impressive tribute to New Orleans over on National Review in which he compares the city to... Ed Driscoll: Cities Living On Borrowed Time — Micheal Ledeen compares New Orleans with Venice and Naples: [snipped quote] Read the rest. |
TheAnchoress: Michael Ledeen has a very provocative piece up at NRO: As we mourn New Orleans, let us also celebrate it, as New Orleanians famously celebrate their own dead. Roger L. Simon: Why didn't they fix the place, I wondered? Brother Ledeen, wearing his historian hat, responds. |
Foreign governments line up to help after Katrina By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 20 countries, from allies Germany and Japan to prickly Venezuela and poor Honduras, have offered to help the United States cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Astrodome not turning away evacuees — Via Greg comes this message from Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. McQ: I have to admit, these very thoughts have been running through my head. The rest of the world? Kos @DailyKos: But here's the reality: "The State Department said offers so far had come from Belgium, Canada, Russia, Japan, France,... |
Aziz Poonawalla: accountability for the unnatural disaster by Aziz Poonawalla Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of NOLA were... Scott Shields: Here are the actual facts from Reuters AlertNet: "The United Nations offered to help coordinate international relief efforts for the United States. Donald Sensing: Foreign aid offered — Let it be known that [snipped quote] The offer from Honduras is especially poignant for me. |
| Also: Gary Farber | |
As South drowns, Rice soaks in N.Y. NY Daily News — Permalink Did New Yorkers chase Condoleezza Rice back to Washington yesterday? Like President Bush, the Secretary of State has been on vacation during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, with Rice enjoying her downtime in New York Wednesday and yesterday. | |
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Paul McLeary: Certainly there are rescue workers, soldiers, police officers, firefighters and citizens performing much more immediate,... Joe Gandelman: Our UPDATE on this item now includes the fact that in addition to Halstert clarifiying his comments that it might be... |
Skippy: the new york daily news tells us: like president bush, the secretary of state has been on vacation during the hurricane... Zoe Kentucky: Thanks to the people of New York for helping Condi Rice get a clue. |
New Orleans mayor lashes out at feds CNN — Permalink NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) — As his city skidded deeper into chaos, New Orleans' embattled mayor accused federal officials of dragging their feet while people are dying in deplorable conditions. | |
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James Panero: "(More here and here.)" Steve Antler: You count them... Mayor Ray Nagin's voice cracks "with anger and anguish" as he "lashes out at the feds." |
Ogged @Unfogged: Here's one to start us off. — The mayor of NO says, "They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are... Jeralyn Merritt: NOLA Mayor to Feds: Get Off Your As*es — Here's the audio of yesterday's radio interview with an extremely angry New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. |
La. governor warns troops will "shoot and kill" Reuters — Permalink BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco warned rioters and looters in New Orleans on Thursday that National Guard troops are under her orders to "shoot and kill" to end the rampant violence in the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. | |
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Dr. Steven Taylor: On Shooting Looters — James Joyner has as excellent post in response to Governor Blanco's order that National Guard troops "shoot to kill" looters and rioters in New Orleans. Jan Haugland: The governor is warning looters that battle-hardened National Guard troops are now moving in, and they will shoot to kill. MarkInMexico: I don't consider that to be looting at all. It's survival. But looting TV's, jewelry, guns and ammo is quite another. |
La Shawn Barber: Billions we spend, and all we have to show for it are four-day-old corpses on the side of the road, starving and injured... James Joyner: La. governor warns troops will "shoot and kill" "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco warned rioters and looters in New... |
'To Me, It Just Seems Like Black People Are Marked' By / WaPo — Permalink BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 1 — It seemed a desperate echo of a bygone era, a mass of desperate-looking black folk on the run in the Deep South. Some without shoes. It was high noon Thursday at a rest stop on the edge of Baton Rouge when several buses pulled in, fresh from the calamity of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. | |
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MarkInMexico: The inner city residents who ghettoized themselves deserved this. Ogged @Unfogged: Bush says the efforts so far are "not acceptable." — Farber again has a bunch of links. — via Amy Sullivan,... Jeff A. Taylor: "And the state troopers were talking about making arrests" — That is most jarring of several memorable quotes to be found in this dispatch from New Orleans. |
Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post has an unbelievable headline and story on their front page. Apparently, this natural disaster and human tragedy is all about race. Amy Sullivan: A Washington Post reporter shares this account of one family's ordeal leaving New Orleans this week that made me initially frustrated and then just profoundly sad. Steve Antler: What's being said... Thomas, the philosopher, waved his bandaged hand. He had a theory: "God's angry with New Orleans. |
Storm disaster fuels doubts over US terror plans By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans — and the delay helping stranded people get out or even get water and food — is raising doubts that U.S. cities may be ill-prepared to cope with a potentially worse disaster: a major attack. | |
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Steve Soto: What is behind Mr. Bush's concerns may be the possibility that voters will start asking how well has Bush really... Atrios: The Punchline — Four years of hearing that "9/11 changed everything" as a justification for literally everything, we... |
McQ: A taste of the future? |
Masques of Death By / American Spectator — Permalink New Orleans has one of the highest murder rates in the country. By mid-August of this year, 192 murders had been committed in New Orleans, "nearly 10 times the national average," reported the Associated Press. | |
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Max Blumenthal: The conservative American Spectator's executive editor George Neumayr practically plagiarized the Turner Diaries when he... Patrick Carver: George Neumayr at The American Spectator has a rather hard-hitting piece on the situation in New Orleans: "New Orleans was ripe for collapse. |
MarkInMexico: The citizens of New Orleans who elected these officials - who basked in the limelight but can now only cry and whimper - and then buried their heads in the sand deserved this. |
Budget Hit Looms as Senate OKs $10.5 Billion in Immediate Aid LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders conveyed a bipartisan sense of urgency Thursday amid mounting criticism over relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, announcing they were cutting short their summer recess to act on a Bush administration request for $10.5 billion to cover immediate needs. | |
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Brad Plumer: 3) I, for one, can't wait until Congress gets back in session and starts debating the estate tax, Medicaid cuts, and taking the knife to heating assistance for the poor. Matthew Yglesias: But compare that to Pete Domenici who worries that with all this death and destruction it'll be hard to eliminate health care for poor people: [snipped quote] Poor baby. |
Gary Farber: But don't worry: Congress is looking out for us. |
A National Disgrace NRO — Permalink Government in catastrophe. The disaster of New Orleans, unspooling minute by minute on our TV screens, has been wrenching — in one particular way even more gut-twisting than Sept. 11. | |
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Jeffrey Dubner: Martial law was declared by local officials; curfews have been in effect since Saturday; and the 1,500 police officers... |
Rich Lowry: NOT A NATIONAL DISGRACE — A dissent from this column I wrote yesterday: "It is not. |
'Scarborough Country' for September 1 MSNBC — Permalink JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: We are here tonight live again in Biloxi. But the big news today out of New Orleans, the city that America has seemingly forgotten and its politicians have let down in its greatest hour of need. | |
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Felix @MemeFirst: I'm very glad that the news organisations - even the right-wingers - are speaking truth to power. But it's nowhere near enough. |
Gary Farber: Landrieu kept her cool, probably because she's in Baton Rouge, while the stink of corpses caused Cooper to tremble in... |