Losing New Orleans -- It was in the Plan

Losing New Orleans to a major hurricane wasn't a disaster -- it was the plan, says Jonathan Rauch.

Interesting observations, research and analysis -- worth reading.

The inadequacy of the New Orleans levee system has actually been known since 1927, but for close to 80 years no one did anything about it.

Judi is out of the Joint!

NY Times reporter Judith Miller got sprung from the slammer yesterday, CNN reports

She was held for 12 weeks on a contempt citation for withholding the identity of government officials she may have spoken with about the role Valerie Plame played in getting hubby Joe Wilson sent to Africa to look for Iraq nuke connections.

Miller agreed to speak to a grand jury afrer being released from a vow confidentiality by VP Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Previously, Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper avoided jail after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove released him from a similar confidentiality agreement.

The flap arose after columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson had been picked for the Africa mission by Plame, a CIA analyst -- not the vice president and the CIA director, as Wilson had implied. Plame was apparently operating undercover, and revealing intentionally revealing her identity could be a crime.

It gets confusing, because Plame apparently had multiple identities and it's not clear who knew which one she was using when or that she was undercover.

I'm going to point out the obvious now -- although, apparently it's not obvious to everyone because I have seen no major news organization report it.

If Libby or Rove had actually revealed Plame's undercover status to Cooper and Miller:

1) The reporters would have written stories saying so, which they did not;

2) Libby and Rove would not have released the reporters from their confidentiality agreements.

Blanco gets big wet kiss from Congress

One day after former FEMA Director Michael Brown was subjected to what can only be described as a beating by Congress' Finance Committee, that same committee gave Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco a free pass.

No puncturing remarks, no pointed questions, no personal insults like Brown was subjected to -- although they did offer Ms. Blanco an "opportunity" to respond Brown's accusations that state and local authorities were slow to act in the face of the storm.

''We are looking forward, not backward," she replied.

In the PR game, our technical term for a response like that is "a sack of monkey crap."

Why are Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin getting away with this?

Smells like...politics.

Some of the questions the committee COULD have asked, but didn't:

-- Why did Blanco and Nagin leave 100,000 people stranded in the city?

-- Why was the sheriff of neighboring town Gretna allowed to block a bridge with shotgun-toting deputies, refusing to allow city residents to leave?

-- Why was Blanco slow in activating the National Guard to respond to the disaster and why did she impede the National Guard and the Red Cross from entering the city to provide assistance to the stranded?

-- Why did Blanco refuse to cooperate with federal agencies, including FEMA, in coordinating assistance?

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., -- who subjected Brown to some of the most brutal and personal remarks during Tuesday's hearing -- said on Wednesday that while Brown made mistakes, so did others.

"He can't be the scapegoat. First responders are local and state, and the governor and mayor did a pathetic job of preparing their people for this horrific storm," Shays said on NBC's "Today" show."

Too bad he didn't say something like that to Blanco and ask her why she failed in her responsibilities.

Dennis in the Hopper for E-Ring?

Okay, I'm just not sure this is gonna work. They've got Dennis Hopper playing a military officer in this new show about the Pentagon -- E-Ring.

I mean, I know he's been a Republican since, like, 1980, but I just can't erase the memory of Hopper as the hippie-biker in Easy Rider from my mind.

I dunno, maybe he can do it.

It's a new Bruckheimer series, and all his stuff seems to turn to gold lately.

Act Now, Don't Delay

Congressman Tom Delay has been indicted in an illicit campaign financial scheme.

Let's be clear: he deserves his day in court. If found guilty, he should be punished.

But if he's accusers are really truthful, let's not stop here -- let's have a thorough housecleaning of all campaign finance practices in Congress.

How about we go with, say, Barbara Boxer, who's been known to pad the payroll with relatives, something else Delay has been accused of.

The charges against Delay stem from a scheme to funnel campaign money to other Republican candidates. Back in May, Bloomberg reported that Delay was one of the most generous Congressional donors to other GOP candidates, writing checks for roughly $3.5 million over the last decade. In the #2 slot behind him is Democrat Nancy Pelosi, at $2.74 million in donations.

Shall we have a peek at how Big Nancy moves HER money around? Might be interesting.

One thing that's pretty clear: there's no lack of wheeling and dealing on either side of the aisle, and some of it comes up to and even crosses the line.

FEMA's Brown Testifies that the locals failed

He's right, of course. But no one wants to hear it from him.

Brown and the Feds have some culpability in this, no doubt. But the primary failure was at the state and local level -- ask the locals and they'll tell you.

But no one cares what Brown has to say -- I'm surprised he was called before Congress.

Air America Loots Children's Charity

The Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club of the Bronx has been booted from the national organization for illicitly diverting $875,000 for use as start-up money for the liberal radio network Air America, the NY Post reports.

In addition, the club has lost nearly $10 million in city funding as a result of the investigation.

The New York Sun reports that according to court depositions the money was moved by Gary Cohen, development director for the club and a co-founder of Air America. A shell corporation was created to hide the transaction, said the deposition given by David Goodfriend, a former Clinton administration official and top official at Air America, who was a college buddy of Cohen.

Not nice. I didn't think Liberals did stuff like this. Couldn't they just hold a bake sale or something?

Al Jazeera Reporter Jailed as Terrorist

Spain has jailed an Al Jazeera reporter who interviewed Osama Bin Laden for funneling money to Al Quaida, the BBC reports.

I mean honestly -- is anyone really surprised?

Blown speaker - UGH!

Blew the speaker in my D115XLT last night. Ugh. Was using it with my WT550 and my D210XST, which kept chugging along just fine.

Not sure why it blew-- I wasn't pushing it that hard. Master volume was at about 10 o'clock and the preamp volume was at about 2 o'clock. EQ was essentially set flat (slight bump in the lows, slight decrease in the highs), enhance knob at about 1 o'clock.

From the minute I started playing it was buzzing and rattling -- sounded like someone russling torn paper.

In almost 30 years of playing I don't think I've ever blown a speaker, so I'm probably due.

The cab is only six months old though, so it's under warranty. My guess is that it was simply a defective speaker.

Have to admit, I'm not looking forward to dealing with customer service -- last time I had an equipment problem, with another manufacturer, it was one long continuous headache. I'm hoping Eden will be better.

What I'm really hoping is that they'll ship me a new speaker pronto -- I have to play again in two weeks and I need that cab.

Antiwar Protest: Who scheduled this thing?

If the antiwar nuts scheduled a protest in Washington, and there was no one there to hear it, would it matter any less?

Just another example of how out-of-touch and clueless the antiwar boneheads are.

They're having their great, big protest in Washington D.C. this weekend.

Not sure who is supposed to hear their message though -- the president is out of town, as are most members of Congress, which is in recess.

Dopes.

Since there's no one there to hear their protest anyway, maybe the could do something constructive. Do you think if we set them all to typing for a million years, one of them would produce a script for "Hamlet"?

Who is A.N.S.W.E.R.? That's the Question

This weekend major antiwar demonstrations are planned for Washington, sponsored largely by an organization called A.N.S.W.E.R.

Who are they? They are, in fact, a front group for the Communist organization Workers World Party, reports David Corn in LA Weekly.

How do they feel about the terrorists fighting against the U.S. and the legitimate government of Iraq? Well, by golly, they're heroes darn it, praised and cheered around the world for their armed resistance.

Lessee, people who blow up carbombs in open markets filled with women, children and old people -- not military targets -- are to be praised and cheered.

Well, then I guess that means rapists are actually sex therapists of some kind.

As Glenn Reynolds notes over at Instapundit, these folks aren't really opposed to the war -- they're just on the other side.

Even commies are entitled to their opinions here in the U.S., but there is such a thing as truth in advertising.

Lessee, that's two double cones of Infidel Fudge Ripple...that'll be $4,862.48

Wasn't this a Cheech and Chong movie about 20 years ago, but without the terrorists?

A Yemeni man has been convicted of funneling more than $21 million to terrorists through a Brooklyn ice cream shop, the Associated Press reports.

Abad Elfgeeh could get up to 15 years in prison for assisting a Yemeni cleric in sending the money to Al Qaida and Hamas in the scheme. The cleric was previously convicted for funding terror.

Nazi Scourge Wiesenthal Dies

A life well spent. Famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesthentahl died today at age 96, reports the AP.

A former concentration camp detainee who cheated death by the Nazis more than once, Wiesenthal was credited with tracking down more than 1,000 Nazi war criminals after the war.

Among them was Adolf Eichmann, architect of the "Final Solution" to exterminate all Jews in Europe. Based on information from Wiesenthal, Israeli agents kidnapped Eichmann in Argentina in 1960 and brought him to Israel for trial.

It was Weisenthal's vow that the Holacaust would never be forgotten.

Afghan Elections: Success Despite "Low" Turnout

Afghans again braved the threat of terrorist attacks to participate in the second democratic elections held in the country, the Associated Press reports.

The story is full of the typical caveats about continuing violence, opium trade, blah, blah, blah, and most notably the "low" voter turnout.

Turnout was actually about 50 percent registered voters -- lower than the last election, but still higher that we do here in the U.S.

I think this comment from the U.S. ambassador sums it up:

"For the millions of Afghans who turned out to vote, this was a significant . . . advance on the road to democracy," U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann said in Kabul. "Four years ago, the Taliban were here and women were being stoned to death . . . and now you have women running polling centers and women voting."

Freedom's march countinues in the Middle East.

N. Korea: No More Nukes

North Korea has agreed to give up its nuclear (that's pronounced nu-cu-ler) weapons programs, Reuters reports this a.m.

While not a definitive agreement, it's a major step that resulted from the multi-party talks the Bush administration has favored with North Korea and which detractors said wouldn't work.

In fact, it appears that offers of aid including everything from food to energy from China, Russia and South Korea are what turned the tide.

Also, the U.S. has promised not to attack North Korea.

Looks like the old carrot-and-stick approach does work.

This may also increase pressure on Iran to disarm as well.

Lousy day to be a liberal, I suppose.

Update 9/20: Uh-oh, L.A. Times reporting that N. Korea is trying to change the deal already. Goes to show, you just can't trust a commie.

The light-water reactor condition was already on the table though, so it may not derail this after all.

Weasels on the run!

Chris Christner has the Axis of Weasels scorecard posted over on his blog.

Not looking so good for the Weasels right now.

Call it love conquering hate, I guess.

Update 9/19: Not so fast on the German election -- looks like the results are in contention at this point, says Reuters.

ABC Post-Katrina Speech Interviews: Transcript

To preserve it and make sure it's easy to find later, I'm posting the entire transcript of the ABC interviews with New Orleans evacuees following the President's speech Thursday night.

This was compiled by Brent Baker over at Newsbusters:

Reynolds elicited reaction from the group sitting in chairs: “I'd like to get the reaction of Connie London who spent several horrible hours at the Superdome. You heard the President say retpeaedly that you are not alone, that the country stands beside you. Do you believe him?”

Connie London: “Yeah, I believe him, because here in Texas, they have truly been good to us. I mean-”

Reynolds: “Did you get a sense of hope that you could return to your home one day in New Orleans?”

London: “Yes, I did. I did.”

Reynolds: “Did you harbor any anger toward the President because of the slow federal response?”

London: “No, none whatsoever, because I feel like our city and our state government should have been there before the federal government was called in. They should have been on their jobs.”

Reynolds: “And they weren't?”

London: “No, no, no, no. Lord, they wasn't. I mean, they had RTA buses, Greyhound buses, school buses, that was just sitting there going under water when they could have been evacuating people.”

Reynolds: “Now, Mary, you were rescued from your house which was basically submerged in your neighborhood. Did you hear something in the President's words that you could glean some hope from?”

Mary: “Yes. He said we're coming back, and I believe we're coming back. He's going to build the city up. I believe that.”

Reynolds: “You believe you'll be able to return to your home?”

Mary: “Yes, I do.”

Reynolds: “Why?”

Mary: “Because I really believe what he said. I believe. I got faith.”

Reynolds: “Back here in the corner, we've got Brenda Marshall, right?”

Brenda Marshall: “Yes.”

Reynolds: “Now, Brenda, you were, spent, what, several days at the Superdome, correct?”

Marshall: “Yes, I did.”

Reynolds: “What did you think of what the President told you tonight?”

Marshall: “Well, I think -- I think the speech was wonderful, you know, him specifying that we will return back and that we will have like mobile homes, you know, rent or whatever. I was listening to that pretty good. But I think it was a well fine speech.”

Reynolds: “Was there any particular part of it that stood out in your mind? I mean, I saw you all nod when he said the Crescent City is going to come back one day.”

Marshall: “Well, I think I was more excited about what he said. That's probably why I nodded.”

Reynolds: “Was there anything that you found hard to believe that he said, that you thought, well, that's nice rhetoric, but, you know, the proof is in the pudding?”

Marshall: “No, I didn't.”

Reynolds: “Good. Well, very little skepticism here. Frederick Gould, did you hear something that you could hang on to tonight from the President?”

Frederick Gould: “Well, I just know, you know, he said good things to me, you know, what he said, you know. I was just trying to listen to everything they were saying, you know.”

Reynolds: “And Cecilia, did you feel that the President was sincere tonight?”

Cecilia: “Yes, he was.”

Reynolds: “Do you think this is a little too late, or do you think he's got a handle on the situation?”

Cecilia: “To me it was a little too late. It was too late, but he should have did something more about it.”

Reynolds: “Now do you all believe that you will one day return to your homes?”
Voices: “Yes” and “I do.”

Reynolds: “I mean, do you all want to return to your homes? We're hearing some people don't even want to go back.”

Mary: “I want to go back.”

Reynolds: “You want to go back.”

Mary: “I want to go back. That's my home. That's all I know.”

Reynolds: “Is it your home for your whole life?”

Mary: “Right. That's my home.”

Reynolds: “And do you expect to go back to the house or a brand new dwelling or what?”

Mary: “I expect to go back to something. I know it ain't my house, because it's gone.”

Reynolds: “What is the one mistake that could have been prevented that would have made your lives much better? Is it simply getting all of you out much sooner or what was it?”

Mary: “I'm going to tell you the truth. I had the opportunity to get out, but I didn't believe it. So I stayed there till it was too late.”

Reynolds: “Did you all have the same feeling? I mean, did you all have the opportunity to get out, but you were skeptical that this was the really bad one?”

Unnamed woman: “No, I got out when they said evacuate. I got out that Sunday and I left before the storm came. But I know they could have did better than what they did because like they said, buses were just sitting there, and they could have came through there and got people out, because they were saying immediate evacuation. Some people didn't believe it. But they should have brung the force of the army through to help these people and make them understand it really was coming.”

London: “And really it wasn't Hurricane Katrina that really tore up the city. It was when they opened the floodgates. It was not the hurricane itself. It was the floodgates, when they opened the floodgates, that's where all the water came.”

Reynolds: “Do you blame anybody for this?”

London: “Yes. I mean, they've been allocated federal funds to fix the levee system, and it never got done. I fault the mayor of our city personally. I really do.”

Reynolds: “All right. Well, thank you all very much. I wish you all the best of luck. I hope you don't have to spend too much more time here in the Reliant Center and you can get back to New Orleans as the President said. Ted, that is the word from the Houston Astrodome. And as I said, when the President said that the Crescent City will rise again, there were nods all around this parking lot.”

News Shocker: Evacuees Don't Blame Bush

Try as he might, ABC news reporter Dean Reynolds couldn't provoke New Orleans evacuees into blaming President Bush for the Katrina disaster.

Reynolds, who went to the Houston Astrodome for reaction to the president's speech last night, got an earful from the six people he interviewed -- they said they were heartened by the president's promise to rebuild New Orleans, thought that federal authorities did a good job despite a slow start, and placed blame for the disaster squarely at the feet of state and local authorities.

"I feel like our city and our state government should have been there long before the federal government was called in," said evacuee Connie London. "They should have been on THEIR jobs."

You can see a clip of Ms. London's interview on Realplayer or Windows Media.

All six interviewees are black -- I hate to inject race into the discussion, but that's already been done by others so it's important note it for the record here.

Ally-ally-all-come-free for Blogs

Okay this is cool -- Google has launched a new search function for Blogs.

I'm playing with it -- found my own stuff.

Those guys really dominate their domain.

Hurricane Relief: Put The "Experts" On The Job

How to manage the next catastrope? Simple, says Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne: abolish FEMA and put the "experts" in charge.

You know, folks like Jesse Jackson, Ted Koppel and Nancy Pelosi, who know oh so much better than anyone else how this stuff should be done.

"Jackson would run relief logistics, because of his impressive ability to transport himself to any place on planet Earth where a camera is rolling. Newsweek contributing editor and talk-show mouth Eleanor Clift would single-handedly pilot a helicopter on rescue missions. Kicking on the automatic pilot, she'd lower herself in a harness to personally rescue thousands of rooftop survivors and fly them back to a rescue area, which she already had previously prepared with all necessary medical provisions, food, water and a big party. She can do this because she knows everything."

Read every word -- worth the time.

Some vacation!

With all the whining about President Bush's month-long vacation in Texas, Gannett political reporter Richard Benedetto takes a look at the tradition of presidential vacations in a recent column.

Worth reading the whole thing but his two main conclusions are:

-- Lengthy presidential vacations are long-standing tradition and;

-- They're not vacations.

"If there is any lesson here, it is that presidents — all presidents — are never on vacation. We just call them that, and pretend,." writes Benedetto.

Presidents continue to perform all the duties of office during these so-called vacations -- it's virtually impossible to escape those responsibilities.

And contrary to current carping, the longest-vacationing president was not Mr. Bush. It was Lyndon Johnson, who spent 484 days at HIS Texas ranch during his five years in office.

Yet I don't recall anyone shrieking about Johnson's audacity for taking a "vacation" during wartime -- that's right, that was during Vietnam. You know, when Liberals invented the "quaqmire."

"Instead of cutting brush on his ranch, Johnson should grab an M-16 and wade out into a Mekong Delta rice paddy to provide covering fire for a platoon of pinned-down Marines," no one said at the time.

Palestinian Gaza Celebrations All Fired Up.

As the last Israeli troops departed, Palestinians celebrated their triumphant return to the Gaza Strip last night -- by setting fire to four abandoned synagogues, the Associated Press reports.

"Palestinian police stood by helplessly as gunmen raised flags of militant groups in the settlements and crowds smashed what was left in the ruins. Initial plans by Palestinian police to bar the crowds from the settlements for the first few hours quickly disintegrated, illustrating the weakness of Palestinian security forces and concerns about growing chaos after Israel's departure," the AP story says.

Reuters also reports that Palestinians used Gaza to launch a rocket into Israel just hours after the IDF departure -- exactly the type of thing those opposed to the return of Gaza to the Palestinians feared.

Wow, rioting gunmen, helpless police and rocket attacks-- not exactly a recipe for success there.

The return of the Gaza Strip was a major concession by the Israelis and a tremendous opportunity for them and the Palestinians stop the ongoing conflict. I hope the Palestinians don't squander it, but it's not looking good so far.

Why, It's Gun-Totin' Sean To The Rescue!

I was at the barbershop today when I spied this photo on the cover of the NY Post -- that's famous actor and American traitor Sean Penn in New Orleans, helping the locals.

With a shotgun in one hand and a body armor vest in the other.

Not exactly sure how one "helps" people with a shotgun.

And I would have thought Sean would be opposed to personal ownership of firearms and body armor.

His publicist said he didn't actually shoot anyone and had already left New Orleans.

The headline on the right doesn't go with the photo, but the juxtaposition is apt.

To quote of one my favorite philospher-poets, Napoleon Dynamite: "IDIOT!"

Don't lefties know how stupid and hypocritical they look when they're photographed with a gun?

While in the barbershop, the guy in the chair ahead of me was mouthing the usual "They didn't do anything fast enough" blather, when I asked him "Have you ever been in a disaster area? I have."

I then filled him in on how things work -- or rather, don't work -- in a disaster.

But I was nice about it, and he thanked me for my perspective.

Mexican Army Invades Texas!

Actually, this is pretty cool.

The Mexican Army has dispatched a convoy carrying cooks, mobile kitchens and food to San Antonio to provide meals for people displaced from the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, says an AP story in the Houston Chronicle.

The story reports that the invading force will be able to feed up to 21,000 people a day.

Wow. Awesome.

The story notes that this is the first time the Mexican Army has been on U.S. soil in 159 years. Needless to say, this is a much more welcome visit than the last time they came to San Antonio.

Three cheers to our good neighbors to the south. Nice to know that even though we don't see eye to eye on everything, they're there for us in time of need.

Gilligan finally gets off the island: Bob Denver RIP

Bob Denver, star of the eternal sitcom Gilligan's Island, passed away due to complications from cancer treatments on Friday.

One of the longest-running and most beloved of 1960s television shows, in a sense Gilligan's Island was the perfect sitcom. I mean, think about it. It's the same plot EVERY WEEK -- the castaways contrive to get off the island and ALMOST make it, but at the last minute Gilligan screws it up.

In a sense, it's a miracle it didn't turn in to Lord of the Flies.

Probably one of the most surreal TV experiences I ever had was watching Gilligan's Island in French during a trip to Europe.

"Gilligan! Voulez-vous avec les coconuts. *KLUNK* Ow!"

"Oooh, Gin-geair...ooh, la, la..."

Or something like that.

Trippy.

Hurricane Katrina: Blame Bush!

Well, that didn't take long.

Eighty-percent of the city of New Orleans remains under water, yet the partisans are already out in force blaming President Bush for the "slow" response to Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Blogger Austin Bay -- who has worked in disaster areas before (as have I) -- commented that the response has actually been quite swift, compared to the relief efforts in the Darfur Genocide and the South Asian Tsunami.

Within days, National Guard troops and relief workers were streaming into New Orleans despite the fact that -- as I already mentioned -- the city remains 80 percent under water.

That's one of the major challenges of working in a disaster area -- it's a disaster area. Communications and electricity are cut off, roads are impassable, areas remain unsafe. What would normally take minutes can take days, weeks or months.

Yet, within four days relief had arrived.

While some partisans say the "slow"public response is the result of racism, interesting to note that more than $350 million in private funds was raised within five days of the disaster. Cities and towns around the U.S. are accepting refugees and people are opening up their homes to the displaced.

Interesting to note also that none of the blame for the disaster seems to be sticking to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco -- both Democrats -- the two public officials closest to the disaster, who failed to evacuate the city prior to the flooding and only issued a mandatory evacuation order afterward at the insistence of President Bush.

Nagin and Blanco -- having fled the city for the relative safety of Baton Rouge -- content themselves to rail at the Feds for the "slow" response.

Smells like...politics. No surprise there.

Update 9 a.m.: WCBS News now reporting that the Army Corps of Engineers has repaired the broken levees in New Orleans -- less than one week after the disaster.

New Orleans Take Heart: The Celebrities Have Arrived!

I was watching ongoing coverage of the Hurricane diaster this a.m. and saw singers Harry Connick Jr. and Faith Hill interviewed on the Today Show.

Wow, we can all breathe a sigh of relief now -- the celebrities have taken notice!

Now, I have no doubt that both Mr. Connick and Ms. Hill -- both of whom have strong ties to the storm area -- are sincere in their expressions of sympathy for the storm victims and geniune anguish over the situation.

But to be honest, neither of them had anything particularly constructive to add to the dialog other than "gosh, it's just really, really awful and I wish we could help these people more and faster."

I mean, as we've watched the news footage of this human tragedy over the past four days, is there anyone among us who doesn't already get this?

"Wow, I knew it was bad, but I didn't realize how bad until I heard Harry say it's really, really bad..." Come on -- no one is saying that.

Perhaps they have something to share that will benefit the relief effort -- I believe Mr. Connick is performing in a benefit concert tonight -- but public commentary is not it.

I don't really blame them -- I blame the Today Show for pimping the disaster with celebrity interviews.

New Orleans: From Bad to Worse

Events like those happening in New Orleans always bring out the best and the worst in people.

But CNN is now reporting that a gunman shot at a convoy of ambulances and military vehicles returning to a hospital after evacuating some sick people.

Earlier in the day, someone took a shot at a military helicopter doing the same thing.

Dude, that is just so beyond messed up.

Don't really have much else to add. Donate to the Red Cross.