Have you seen the devestation in Mississippi & Louisiana from Katrina? Whole towns wiped out. The numbers of dead when they are finally confirmed will be enormous. There will be a widespread health crisis & there is already a staggering number of homeless.

The president has not put in an appearance. No statement of a national crisis. No mobilization of resources. Not even "I feel your pain." He was there at 9/11. He was in Florida for the hurricanes, but for this . . .? Ahh, he's not running for re-election. Aren't politicians just grand?

A couple governors (one Dem, one Rep) were both heard to say something to the effect of "I'd like him to come, but..."

For the protection required for a physical visit, who can spare the bodies right now? I'm unnerved by the number of "Old Southern Boy" sheriffs and politicians and the like literally reduced to tears right now.

Communications are minimal (governments are probably relying on CNN right now... memo to Fox: we give more of a rip about the human toll than about how far inland the Biloxi casinos migrated), access is extremely limited, and it's kind of hard to render aid to New Orleans when you know you're about to deal with MORE water, not less.

That doesn't mean Bush is off the hook for possible lack of preparedness, or perhaps a relatively heavy rotation of Guard troops in Iraq, or for perhaps being such a party to the process of gutting government that there won't be anywhere near the rapid response there should be... but you generally have to know what to fix in order to bring the right tools.

Bush released oil from the national reserve Tuesday night, and returned to DC to assess the situation and begin the distribution of aid. He has been on national TV with the proper voice on the situation and is preparing to go to that area as soon as the proper security can be arranged in a totally dessimated infratucture.

Pounder, a good point about the process of gutting government and having all the necessary resources in place for rapid response. All this may be a major political discussion for much time to come. This will be coupled with enhanced concern pertaining to the rapid rise in fuel costs.
Of course, just observed one of Murdoch's FOX NEWS ALERTS showing an Air Force One Flyover. That photo-opt alone, probably held up some choppers and related rescue activities.

Speaking of unnerving...

Yesterday evening, on the vanpool going home from work, I'm trying to work out a possible "game attendance" schedule for the fall in and around weekends I have my daughter, her soccer schedule, a planned soccer trip to Dallas, the weekend where I promised to be as far from civilization as I could drive when I turn 40... the usual. This morning, I hear AAA speculating on $3/gallon by Thursday and $4/gallon in two weeks (the cheaper stations in Boise were about $2.50/gallon yesterday). Crash. Burn.

Bad enough that I'm all but shut out of tickets in Eugene this year...

I'm glad to see that the president has stepped up & addressed the nation & that mobilization of resources has begun. Leadership, reassurance to the people, & communication are critical at this time.

Texas, Tennessee, & New Jersey - of all places - have stepped up as well. Texas opening its doors to refugees and Tennesse & New Jersey opening university doors to displaced students, offering immediate acceptance.

George Stenbrenner stepped up with a million dollar check & encouraged all Americans to support those in crisis at this time of need.

Tim McGraw, Winton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., & Leonardo DiCaprio have all stepped up to organize a relief effort. Dave Matthews has scheduled an extra concert to raise money.

New Orleans has long been one of my favorite cities on the planet. It is devestating to lose one of the country's most unique cities & to see its residents undergo so much hardship. Same for the good citizens of the surrounding area , Kississippi, & all others affected.

They say that the city will not be habitable again for at least 2 months & that reconstruction will not begin until next year. Many of the residents will take their insurance money & leave, never to return. Meanwhile, toxic waste & other pollutants are spread throughout the waters, They expect an increase in the number of poisonous snakes & wild dogs. The bodies of dead animals as well as dead humans will take 10 years to decompose in the waters of the Gulf. Oil rigs are destroyed & refineries crippled. The engineers can't figure out a way to rebuild the levees.

All of this shows how fragile our civilization is. They are predicting more big hurricanes & severe weather this winter. The normal notherly winds are not blowing from the Pacific Northwest down to California for the first time in recorded history, meaning that the normal upsurge from deep ocean waters hasn't occurred to feed the plankton, affecting the ocean food chain. Pacific coastal birds have stopped laying eggs this year due to lack of their normal food supply. Meanwhile there are reports of gas prices over $6 per gallon at some Atlanta outlets, accompanied by charges of price gouging.

And the drums of war keep beating.

It's a very strange time.

But I just read the sports pages, so life goes on.

Joker ain't never been in...[it]. He thinks "The Bad Bush" is between old mama-san's legs.

I have to retract something I said here earlier... it's quite evident that neither the President nor FEMA were doing ANY monitoring of CNN. Given how many military bases use "CNN access" as a justification for having cable TV in waiting areas and the like, I find this pervertedly funny. Yes, I can be a sick puppy, like how I've had trouble getting "When The Levee Breaks" out of my head.

No, I don't think Fox errrr Faux News is an improvement, much less even news.

Heard an NPR discussion this morning... we're not getting more hurricanes (generally... this year, we're already to Ophelia on the alphabetic count)... but we're finding more Category 4 and 5 storms. The waters are warmer. At the same time (in case you want to plunge into a global warming debate), it's not necessarily this causing more damage, but us building more stuff in places where it can get damaged. You know, Bob Straub was once Governor of Oregon, and saw fit to buy up all (or almost all) the beachfront property in Oregon for public access and restraint of sprawl, and now I see how visionary that thought is in many more ways than one. (Yes, I know, you're not getting hurricanes in Oregon... but there is a tsunami threat)

So I'm torn. I've been to New Orleans once. Really liked it. I want to see it rebuilt, and I do want to see the cultural vibrancy it had before this... but I think a little more human scale and a little less exposure to danger is in order. Some thought of the bigger picture on barrier islands, d**es, beachfronts, and maybe even the course of the Mississippi need to be assessed.

Isn't it Mama Bush's side of the house that had the deeper, international big oil connections? Mama Bush had an explicative for Geraldine Ferraro at an earlier time. "W" 's her favorite and really, enough of the sweet, ole' adorable "Grams" nonsense.

It's there...

http://www.yeeguy.com/freefall/

Hey, look, puppet President, no strings, and a very satisfying scenario for blue-staters!

BTW, there's more in this extremely demented message board (where you will find a couple Bush shots, and many other disturbing things, if you're willing to wade through 12 pages of it)... http://www.soccercityusa.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1128050673