Headline says it all:
“White House Shifts Blame.” Frontpage story in Sunday’s Washington Post.
Major combat operations begin
… in New Orleans. “This place is going to look like Little Somalia,” Brig. Gen. Gary Jones, commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s Joint Task Force said. “This will be a combat operation to get this city under control.”
Help for the Victims of Katrina — “Finally”
Did the Bush administration’s response to Katrina come far too late?
Fom Kansas to Kentucky, California to Florida, one word says it all: Read more
House Speaker Skipped Katrina Relief Vote to Attend Congressional Fundraiser
On Wednesday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert opposed calling Congress back into session to pass a relief package for Katrina victims:
[Hastert spokesman Ron] Bonjean said calling Members back to town this week is not the best course of action.
One day later, as Carpetbagger pointed out, he was suddenly trying to take credit for the whole idea:
Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), said [Hastert] is committed to helping the victims in the Gulf region.
“We’ve approached the Minority Leader [Pelosi] with a proposal to bring the House back into emergency session to pass emergency funding for Hurricane Katrina victims,” Bonjean said.
Today, the Washington Post reports that Hastert skipped out on the vote to attend a fundraiser and an antique car auction:
[After the vote, Hastert] issued a statement saying, “Our prayers and sympathies continue to be with the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In times like these, it is more important than ever for Americans to stand united in helping our fellow citizens.”
But there was one problem: Hastert was not in Washington, and his top lieutenants had to oversee the vote. He was in Indiana attending a colleague’s fundraiser, staff members said, and he later attended an antique car auction.
“The Anti-9/11″:
David Brooks: “This is the anti-9/11, just in terms of public confidence, when 9/11 happened Giuliani was right there and just as a public presence, forceful — no public presence like that now… Now we’ve been hit again in a different way; people feel lousy; people feel ashamed. … In part that is because of the failure of Bush to understand immediately the shame people felt.”
Good news from Louisiana.
Gov. Blanco has appointed Clinton-era FEMA director James Lee Witt as her special advisor. Unlike the current FEMA chief Michael Brown, Witt actually came to the job with experience in emergency management.
Fox Anchor: NBC Should Have Bleeped Out West
On this morning’s “Fox & Friends,” after showing a clip of Kanye West’s remarks from last night’s NBC relief special — which one Fox host described as a “tirade” — they continued:
JULIET HUDDY: A lot of folks are saying it was an inappropriate place to make those remarks, when you are asking people to help donate. It was not the time to do it regardless of whether or not you agree with his comments.
JULIAN PHILLIPS: I think you are right. It certainly wasn’t the time to do it. The focus was on trying to get money for people, but unfortunately, for better or worse, it underscores the, I guess, the animation that people have about this whole issue and race will probably be something that will be addressed down the line.
STEVE DOOCY: It understores the fact that NBC should have had a producer with a finger on the button and as soon as someone goes off the copy to go ahead and delete it.
Apparently criticism of President Bush should now be treated as an obscenity.
The “Poor and Black Have Been Left Behind” Meme
Jonah Goldberg on the liberal media:
The “poor and black have been left behind” meme is now in full swing on CNN and MSNBC.
At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line “” much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.
“How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?” exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.
Meanwhile, from one victim stuck in the Convention Center…
The people are so desperate that they’re doing anything they can think of to impress the authorities enough to bring some buses. These things include standing in single file lines with the eldery in front, women and children next; sweeping up the area and cleaning the windows and anything else that would show the people [they] are not barbarians.
