Did you see President Bush on TV, saying that no one anticipated the New Orleans levees breaking in a hurricane? Of course it is hard to blame him for his ignorance. He missed the coverage in places like the National Geographic, or the New Orleans Times-Picayune (support this fine old paper) because, and he makes no bones about it, he doesn't read the paper. We know that, it shouldn't surprise us. And he missed the FEMA report from early 2001 citing the top-3 potential disasters the US might face: a terrorist attack in New York City, a hurricane and flood in New Orleans, and an earthquake in San Francisco. Because we know he doesn't read presidential briefings either. (If, God forbid, an earthquake hits San Francisco, I fully expect him to say, "Well, no one anticipated a devastating earthquake in San Francisco.")


But Brownie-- Michael Brown, the colossally incompetent Bush crony who heads FEMA-- had the gall to tell CNN last Thursday that he did not know that there were refugees in the New Orleans Convention Center until that day (this, after CNN had been reporting same for maybe 36 hours.) Really, you need to see this for yourself. If you are inclined to be an apologist for the federal administration's handling of the New Orleans disaster, watch this footage, and then look yourself in the mirror and see if you can still do it with a straight face.

I have been trying to decide which is the best organization to contribute to, in order to make my meager donation have some impact on the New Orleans refugees. All of this is by way of me announcing that I have now decided. I am going to make a donation to purchase a cable TV subscription for Michael Brown of FEMA. Who knows how many lives this will save?

Labels: The politics