First Draft

What A President Does When An American City Floods

What John McCain did:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain issued a statement expressing sympathy for the flood victims.

Don't throw your back out or anything. Damn.

Though I suppose we should be grateful he didn't offer to bake them something.

It's easy to forget in the midst of all the nonsense about flag pins and "whitey" and who eats what on his sandwich that we do in fact elect these people to do stuff. I had drinks with commenter TJ the other night and one of the things we talked about was the way people's eyes opened up, after Katrina, to the fact that all the bullshit they'd been fed for months was, in fact, shit that came out of a bull. That there IS a difference between the parties, that we DO need government, that we ARE one country and not a collection of various taxonomies of assholes, that there are times you need angels to come down from the heavens with righteousness in their wings and say to you, "Sit down, it's okay, I've got it from here." This campaign isn't a joke and it isn't a circus and it sure as hell isn't entertainment. It's a job interview, and the job's pretty critical, so the candidates better be able to prove they can pick up shovels and fill sandbags, and not just serve cake.

A.

ps. By the way, our CURRENT president? Was in Paris, but he's really bummed, man, he's like right there with you, so that should make you feel better.

Man.....

.....I am so sick of this crap.

(adding...the ferrets are acting up. I didn't realize this post went through. Want to add the above link was via Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans)

"Unprecedented"

(PHOTO: Andy Manis - Wisconsin State Journal, CAPTION: Flood waters inundated Interstate 90-94 at State Road 33 west of Portage Friday, June 13, 2008.)

My sister was telling me tonight that my neice had seen  National Guard troops standing guard at the Interstate ramps because it is closed. At first I thought she meant something she'd seen on TV about Iowa but realized she meant here in Madison. (which hasn't flooded)   Apparently it is closed from Madison to about 45 miles north.  I can't recall such a thing happening. Indeed the Wisconsin State Journal reports the many road closures in WI is unprecedented:

With some schools letting out and a weekend of summer travel ahead for many, the unprecedented closings of major roads across southern Wisconsin Friday snarled traffic and created huge headaches for motorists and authorities. And no one can say for sure when the roads will reopen.

As of 9 p.m. Friday, more than 40 state highways, including Interstates, and hundreds of county and local roads had some kind of closures, said state officials, who called the road flooding the worst in memory. Stretches as long as 50 miles of major highways were closed, including heavily travelled parts of Interstates 94, 90-94, and 39.

State Patrol Superintendent David Collins said that the road flooding in southern Wisconsin, stretching from "the Mississippi to Lake Michigan," was unlike anything he had seen in 30 years.

"It's just unheard of," Collins said. "I have never seen water standing on the (Interstates) like this."

That is one aspect of the flooding here and it will affect the tourism industry.  Another effect is crop losses which are expected to be in the tens of millions. One estimate is a loss of $20 million in crops for Dane County alone.

But of course there is the terrible damage and loss of homes.

(Photo: John Maniaci - Wisconsin State Journal, Rock Springs WI 6/11/2008)

Many homeowners did not have and will not be able to retroactively get flood insurance. There had been some talk of communities retroactively enrolling in the National Flood Insurance Program which didn't sound possible to me. And it is not. From the Capital Times:

The 50 Wisconsin communities that opted out of the federal flood insurance program may still be eligible for some Federal Emergency Management Agency aid, Gov. Jim Doyle said at a press conference Friday afternoon.

Communities have up to six months to re-enter the insurance program, but Doyle advised re-entering as soon as possible. The flood insurance benefits would not be retroactive, he said, but basic FEMA services would be available for the communities hit hard by recent storms and flooding, including "grants and funds for rebuilding.

"If you don't have insurance, you can't go back under FEMA or any private insurer and say, 'Well I didn't buy the insurance, but now that this has happened to me, I want to go back and buy the insurance. You can't do that," Doyle said.

The Capital Times reports individual familes could receive up to $28,000 and FEMA assessors are now in 5 counties and expected to go to 25 more counties. Also Bush has yet to make a disaster declaration for any part of WI though Gov Doyle has spoken with him and Doyle "will seek a declaration by Saturday" according to the Cap Times article above.

And then of course there is the "Unprecedented" flooding in Iowa (Link to DKos diary with photos of flooding in Cedar Rapids)

 

Saturday Blogwhoring Thread

A.

A Hard Rain: Galactica Thread

Jacob:

Maybe for a moment you can see it all, and the way it goes around and around. This is certainly more than we've ever talked about it. But it's a miracle: like any miracle, we take it for granted. You could grow to hate it, simply for stubbornly continuing to exist. And like any miracle, we forget it when it's done. Most of the time.

Spoilers within. And I mean it, spoilers within. Do NOT. Restrain yourself. You need to go into it blind.

Tim Russert dead of heart attack

That is breaking news at the top of the NYT

Update: Tom Brokaw now reporting the news on NBC.

Update: From MSNBC:

WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.

Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.

Love this

Shakesville has the story

Flooding

To any of our readers in Iowa I just want to say we're thinking of you.

When I was a junior in high school my best friend moved to Cedar Rapids. Over the next few years I spent many a weekend traveling to and from CR. I spent one college summer  living and working there. I really enjoyed my time there and the wonderful people of the city. It is sad to watch the water rising and rising, knowing what that will mean in losses for the people there. It leaves me at a loss of words other than we're thinking of you. Hang tough Iowa...and the many other places here in the Midwest dealing with this

David Simon pays tribute to Ashley

Via Suspect Device is Maureen Ryan's Chicago Tribune column on how the creator of "The Wire" will pay tribute to NOLA blogger Ashley Morris this weekend:

Simon, the creator of “The Wire,” will be in the Chicago area Sunday to receive an honorary degree and to deliver the commencement address for DePaul University. Simon’s appearance at the ceremony, which will take place at Rosemont’s Allstate Arena, sprang from his desire to pay tribute to Ashley Morris, a DePaul assistant professor and “Wire” fan. Morris recently passed away at the age of 44.

For the rest 
Thank you Mr. Simon

Pony Time!

New Diageo/Hotline poll.

Bush Job Approval
Approve:  28% (all-time low)
Disapprove:  67%

Country On The Right Track/Wrong Track
Right Track:  12%
Wrong Track:  76%

Bush Favorability
Strongly Favorable:  12%
Somewhat Favorable:  19%
Somewhat Unfoavorable:  17%
Strongly Unfavorable:  49%

Today on Athenae's Obsession with the Freepi: Hop on Pop

I'm still waiting for them to unite behind McCain. Today they watch him on Fox, weigh and measure him, and find him wanting:

Well, I see he is continuing to ignore my advice to suspend his campaign until Labor Day. He’s determined to keep conservatives a P’ed off as possible.

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Can we replace this dud before the convention?

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Short of General Tommy Franks trotting in on his noble steed with Duncan Hunter in tow ("sorry we're late, we stopped for breakfast") we're stuck with a choice between pink and red.

( ... Steed?)

Drill Now John! No more slavery in the US!

---

’I will reach across the aisle to get things done’

Why not reach across the aisle and Strangle a few of them left wing nut jobs!

Remember, they're not a hate site, you filthy, nasty whores! Die!

I long for the days when a pro-McCain poster on FR was called a troll.

Now pro-McCain posters are called Republicans.

SCREW YOU MCCAIN!

---

It’s so much easier knowing that we’ve already lost.

---

I’ve held firm that I don’t vote for people who don’t earn my vote.

And so far, Mcloon has done everything short of personally spitting in my face to show he has no interest in earning it.

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist:

A.

Your President Speaks! Again!

Yesterday, in Rome, during a presser with Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.

The Return of the Have-Gots

The United States is committed to convincing those of us that have got economic development and produce greenhouse gases to agree to a long-term goal.

Mental Massh-Up

And therefore Vladimir Putin went and said -- and he believes that -- and he said, we'll provide the fuel for you, and we'll not only provide the fuel, we'll gather the spent fuel -- so you don't need to enrich.

Is-Is Strikes Again

But what they need to hear is, is that we are firm in our resolve to prevent them from having the capacity to make a nuclear weapon.

Your President Speaks!

Yesterday, in Rome.

Brainwreck

I'm real proud of the fact that my fellow citizens have contributed to the restorations building -- it turns out someone from the great state of Texas, notably Mercedes Bass*.

One Of The Best Diplomacy

I want to thank you all for sponsoring these exchanges. Madam Mayor, I'm particularly pleased that you're here. You know, one of the best diplomacy -- the best diplomacy for America, particularly among young folks, is to welcome you to our country.

Rebellion In The Cerebellum

You get to see first hand the truth about America -- like a lot of images.

Contributing To The Society

We love it when somebody has a dream, and then is -- works hard to achieve the dream, thereby contributing to the society and creating jobs for people, so they can realize their aspirations as well.

*Mercedes Bass, wife of billionaire Bush-donor Sid Bass.

It's Almost Friday Ferretblogging: Insomnia Edition

The beasties have a new tube to play with. Good times.

A.

Got No Excuse

Is that all right with you?

WASHINGTON - In a stinging rebuke to President Bush's anti-terror policies, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges.

[snip]

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the 5-4 high court majority, acknowledged the terrorism threat the U.S. faces — the administration's justification for the detentions — but he declared, "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."

Of course they were, Justice Kennedy, may you live a thousand years. Of course they were. This isn't supposed to be easy. We aren't supposed to get a free pass to act like assholes. Our laws were not designed to protect the pure, the innocent, the perfect, the good. They were designed to protect us all, and no matter how many anecdotes you tell me about somebody somewhere what got off on a technicality, no matter how many times you tell me I only believe this because I've never been victimized, no matter how many "Oh YEAH, well what about THIS" tales you pull out of your ass, you won't come up with something to equal the beauty of the law that says to us all, you come to this table all of you the same.

The hope of innocent people everywhere -- and don't even, Feepers, I can hear the gerbil starting its reluctant course around the wheel, just put that shit to bed -- is that somewhere, sometime, a judge will hear their case against their accusers. It's a poor resort, really, given how often we find the innocent locked up anyway, but at least you have that. In the end, at the very bottom of everything, you have that. You can say, "I have rights" and someone will hear you.

It is hard to overstate what a terrible miscarriage of justice the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was; it is hard to be hyperbolic about a law which enshrined in our national conduct the idea that the powerless have no right to challenge the great. That an accusation is enough to finish you. That you are nothing. That you have nothing to say that could change anything. It's hard to overstate that. It's hard to make too much of it.

And for the life of me I fail to understand why those who wax poetic about the land of the free and the home of the brave are willing to grant that we are neither. Are willing to put on the line absolutely no possibility of being wrong, of being taken, of being incorrect. Are willing to take no risk at all, that at a trial the evidence you present will not bear out your case. It's funny, almost, the constant "you hate America" diatribe: I look around me and I see, on a day so hot your feet cook on the asphalt and the ice cream truck trills down the street, I see a country that can withstand so much more than the meager estimation the Republican party gives it. I see a place that has rebuilt from disaster after disaster, that has gotten back up from the unimaginable time after time, and yet they want me to believe that this, this right now, what we're going through, will break us, and do not see their words as the most staggering statement of cowardice. It astonishes me. It really does.

(I used to give these people the benefit of the doubt. I used to think, way back when, they must have something, because I cannot fathom a world in which we just do this. Then the last half-decade happened, and the benefit of my doubt has hit its maximum deductible.)

Our president has said he will obey the law, which is a relief, which is kind of really fucking unbelievably sick, actually, that that has to be SAID, but trust me, they'll find some way around doing the right thing in the next 222 days. They'll find some way to shove something in sideways and one can only hope that the upcoming election will make our Democratic Congress less cowardly. Because the best argument they've got is the one their faithful servant Scalia made:

In a blistering dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia said the decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."

To which I would like to add which war, and Jesus fuck is that all they've got, and I can't believe this guy's a Supreme Court justice, but also this: The point was never to make the war easy on us. That isn't the law. That's not what it's for.

A.

Huh?

Via Pandagon is an editorial from the WSJ which claims.....

Democrats are going to have to grow up. The oil-rich areas they want to leave untouched are accessible with minimal environmental disturbance, thanks to modern technology. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita flattened terminals across the Gulf of Mexico but didn't cause a single oil spill. (my emphasis)

I'm not sure what they are referring to because.....

More than 500 specialists are working to clean up 44 oil spills ranging from several hundred gallons to nearly 4 million gallons, the U.S. Coast Guard said in an assessment that goes far beyond initial reports of just two significant spills.

The report comes nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and reflects the fact that the Coast Guard and other agencies are able to only now tackle environmental problems since the search and rescue effort is winding down.

The Coast Guard estimates more than 7 million gallons of oil were spilled from industrial plants, storage depots and other facilities around southeast Louisiana.

Go here for Many photos of oil spills, damaged or dislodged oil tanks and other oil facility damage.

UPDATE: I think WSJ must be referring to off shore rigs in the Gulf but fail to mention the damage incurred on or near land to facilities, "most of them along the Mississippi River south of New Orleans."

UPDATE: Via comments, Oyster informs us  of post he wrote back in May on the misleading talking point of no major oil spills after Katrina. Here is part of that post though I highly recommend reading all of it:

What troubles me is that, with sky high gas prices angering motorists, I keep hearing echoes of these same hacktacular talking points. For example, Newsweek's Robert Samuelson recently wrote:

There were 4,000 platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit. Despite extensive damage, there were no major spills, says Robbie Diamond of Securing America's Future Energy, an advocacy group.

This is misleading. Eight million gallons of oil spilled out from Louisiana facilities after the storm. (The Exxon Valdez spill totaled 11 million.) And while there weren't any "major" oil spills in the Gulf-- the Coast Guard defines a major spill as 100,000+ gallons-- according to this summary of the May 2006 offshore damage assessment from the U.S. Minerals Management Service :

113 platforms were totally destroyed, and - more importantly - 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10" or larger diameter. At least 741,000 gallons were spilled from 124 reported sources...

But all we hear now is that there were no "major" oil spills after Katrina. No one mentions that 124 "minor" post-Katrina spills added up to the equivalent of 7 MAJOR spills.

 

And as Oyster points out in comments below---Here are photos of giant oil slicks in the Gulf after Katrina. (Adding--- the narrative at that link discusses oil leaking from offshore platforms)

Last UPDATE: Oyster has a new post up on this which tackles it all far better. Go Read...especially last line

Column: Thank You, Democratic Candidates

Link:

I'm on record publicly as having thought the long Democratic primary was a fine and useful thing, turning out Democratic voters in droves and giving Democrats essentially unfettered press coverage for our ideas and our values while Republicans were relegated to the background. Night after night, the candidates were speaking in town halls and train stations about how best to give sick people health care, how best to end the war. They were arguing with each other not about how little to give but how much, and in the face of that conversation, the Republican argument that we shouldn't give a single inch much less two vs. four feet just faded in comparison.

Never was that more clear than on last Tuesday's news shows: MSNBC cut away from Republican nominee John McCain's lackluster speech attacking Obama to talk about the latest news from Obama and Clinton.

(An aside about that speech: Do not put people in front of green backgrounds on live TV and expect a generation weaned on computer generated images to refrain from laughter.

The whole time McCain was talking, I kept expecting Jar Jar Binks to walk up to him and say, "Yousa gonna be president?" McCain looked at best like a weatherman whose Super Power Doppler had failed.)

Perhaps the most important aspect of the drawn-out primary season, though, was the way it illustrated so perfectly just how neglected many people feel in America today. How they've longed for someone to represent their issues, their lives, their worlds, from Appalachia to Andersonville. The massive turnout among women for Clinton, among blacks for Obama, among the young and old for both candidates, showed a hunger to be heard that surprised even me.

A.

Happy Michelle Obama Photo

Michelle Obama could KICK YOUR ASS:

Obama works out like “a gladiator,” a friend has said. When people—they’re almost always shorter—ask her to pose for pictures, instead of bending her knees she leans at the waist, like the Tin Man. Her winningly chipmunk-cheeked smile is doled out sparingly, a privilege to be earned, rather than an icebreaker or an entreaty. Obama, who graduated from Princeton, earned a law degree from Harvard, and became, first, a corporate lawyer and, more recently, the vice-president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals, spent all but the first year of her childhood in a four-room bungalow on Chicago’s South Side. Having traversed vast landscapes of race and class, often as a solo traveller, she evinces the discipline and, occasionally, the detachment of an Army brat.

A.

CNN: FEMA Gave Away $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims

It's just incredible we're still finding out crap like this happened:

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found.

The material, from basic kitchen goods to sleeping necessities, sat in warehouses for two years before the Federal Emergency Management Agency's giveaway to federal and state agencies this year.

James McIntyre, FEMA's acting press secretary, said that FEMA was spending more than $1 million a year to store the material and that another agency wanted the warehouses torn down, so "we needed to vacate them."

SNIP

FEMA said some of the items were donations from companies after Katrina, but most were purchased in the field as "starter kits" for people living in trailers provided by the agency. And even though the stocks were offered to state agencies after FEMA decided to get rid of them, one of the states that passed was Louisiana.

Martha Kegel, the head of a New Orleans nonprofit agency that helps find homes for those still displaced by the storm, said she was shocked to learn about the existence of the goods and the government giveaway.

SNIP

Kegel said FEMA was told in regular meetings that Unity was desperate for household supplies and that the group has been forced to beg for donations. But she said FEMA never told Unity and other community groups that it had tens of millions of dollars worth of brand-new items meant for storm victims.

She said she learned of it from CNN, which found that those items never made it to people such as Debra Reed.

"An honest person like me didn't get nothing," said Reed, 54, who recently moved from a tent beneath a New Orleans bridge to a home with the help of Kegel's group. "I'm gonna turn, 'cause I'm gonna cry. I didn't get nothing. I fought to get my money, but they wouldn't give it to me. So I ended up going under the bridge."

FEMA confirmed that it had kept the merchandise in storage for the past two years and then gave it away to cities, schools, fire departments and nonprofit agencies such as food banks. In all, General Services Administration records show, FEMA gave away 121 truckloads of material.

SNIP

Pallets at the Fort Worth warehouse were piled high with boxes of buckets, boots, cleansers, mops and brooms. There were stacks of tents, lanterns and camp stoves for people still displaced, as well as clothing, bedding, plates and utensils.

Meanwhile, Kegel said, Unity's clients can take only "one fork, one spoon, one knife; they can only take one plate. We don't have enough to go around."

But FEMA said the items were no longer needed in the stricken region. So it declared them "federal surplus" and gave them away.

SNIP

These items also were offered to all states -- yet Louisiana, where most of the people displaced by the storm live, passed on taking any of them.

John Medica, director of the Louisiana Federal Property Assistance Agency in Baton Rouge, said he was unaware that Katrina victims still had a need for the household supplies.

"We didn't have anybody out there who told us they wanted it," Medica said.

Instead, 16 other states took the free items.

Kegel said she could not understand how Medica could not be aware of the need in the New Orleans area.

I know given everything I shouldn't be surprised but Damn

Guys? GUYS?!

Jesus H. Susan Lucci Christ:

Being an International Superstar and The World's Most Photographed Squirrel, Sugar Bush loves to dress up, and has over 2,000 outfits with matching hats and accessories. Sugar Bush Squirrel has her own, posh studio with an elaborate stage and thousands of stage props, and has posed for over 5,000 photos since her modeling career began.

As News Anchor of SNN-The Squirrel News Network, she has turned the catch phrase, 'you've been squirreled' into an overnight success. It is fast becoming her very own, international, household expression.

The squirrel is inspecting Saddam Hussein's gallows. I'm ... it's ... help me, please.

Via OTF Wank.

A.

Oh, The Humanity!

Wacko-wing bloggers are pissed at Chimpy for his expression of remorse over "Bring 'em on!"

Michelle Malkin was one very predictable source of indignation about this, and she played to type. Her post on the comments is titled “Bush Goes Mushy.” In it, she quips, “He’s putting the lame in lame duck.”

Similarly indignant, if more strident, was Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs. Geller called Bush’s interview “pathetic,” wrote, “Memo to Bush: STFU” (her emphasis) and said, “Bush regrets his legacy as a ‘man who wanted war?’ … It was not your legacy, it was al qaeda and company’s legacy. Not aggressively defending ourselves is a moral depravity. Apologizing for defending this great nation is morally bankrupt.” […]

And the bloggers at Powerline, who’ve previously gone a wee bit over the top in their admiration for Bush, were up in arms. The site’s John Hinderaker referenced a comment he says former Sen. Rick Santorum made to him about the Bush administration having “battered President syndrome” and said, “Bush appears to have more or less internalized the criticisms that his enemies have lodged over the years … Bush [repeated] one of the sillier attacks the left has launched on his Presidency.” One of Hinderaker’s co-bloggers, Paul Mirengoff, concurred, writing, “Bush seems determined to drive his approval rating down to roughly zero percent.”

Happy Kerry Photo: New Times' Sake Edition

See, now that the primaries are over, we can get back to doing what we do best here at First Draft.

Which is to say, BOYFRIEND:

Baby, baby, you so fine baby:

On an Obama campaign conference call with reporters just now, prominent Obama supporter John Kerry unleashed blistering criticism of McCain over the comments.

Speaking of military families, Kerry said: "To them it's the most important thing in the world when they come home."

Kerry also cast the comments as proof that McCain is befuddled about the situation our military finds itself in. "Our generals have made it crystal clear that we cannot sustain our forces in Iraq at this level," he said.

"Senator McCain, it is important when they come home," Kerry concluded. "It is important when we can revitalize our military."

With the CHAIR!

A.

Willie B per request

Via Athenae comes word that some FD readers were wondering what Wilie B has been up to.  So here is a minute and a half answer -- with Willie B set to Fred Astaire's "Things Are Looking Up"--though I have no idea what he was up to here....

Happy Obama Photo: Preznit Tuba Edition

A.

Your President Speaks!

Today, during a presser in Meseberg, Germany.

What We Have Got

And that we had a lot of -- we've got a lot of issues that we can talk about.

America or Iran?

They deserve better from having, you know, their government held up as, you know, unsafe and not trustworthy.

The Process We Are Going Forward

So that's the process we're going forward.

Mispelled "Traitor"

You know, it's -- I'm a free trader.

Um, Predicate?

A lot of protectionism in the American political scene these days.

Gets Snippy

I just told you that all options are on the table, and my first choice is to solve this diplomatically.

Thanking The Message

And I want to thank the message that came out of the EU meeting yesterday, which is that if they choose to be -- continue to be obstinate, there will be additional sanctions.

What It Is

First of all, I think we'll end up with a strategic agreement with Iraq. You know, it's all kinds of noise in their system and our system.

There Is All Kinds

There's all kinds of press in the Iraqi scene, of course to the benefit of the Iraqi society.

The Progress

And I'm pleased with the progress. I don't know whether or not it's -- the progress has made it here to Germany or not yet, but the progress in Iraq is substantial, and it's going to help change the Middle East for the better.

The "Is, Is"s

Our position is, is that we ought to enforce the sanctions that are in place, and we ought to work with our allies to levy additional sanctions if they choose -- if the Iranians choose to continue to ignore the demands of the free world.

And one of the lessons of Iraq is, is that in order for a democracy to develop or in order for an economy to develop, there has to be a measure of security, which is now happening.

Article of Impeachment--Katrina

The following is one of the articles of impeachment introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich:

Article XXXI

KATRINA: FAILURE TO PLAN FOR THE PREDICTED DISASTER OF HURRICANE KATRINA, FAILURE TO RESPOND TO A CIVIL EMERGENCY 

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed", has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, failed to take sufficient action to protect life and property prior to and in the face of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, given decades of foreknowledge of the dangers of storms to New Orleans and specific forewarning in the days prior to the storm. The President failed to prepare for predictable and predicted disasters, failed to respond to an immediate need of which he was informed, and has subsequently failed to rebuild the section of our nation that was destroyed.

Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,282 people, with 2 million more displaced. 302,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged by the hurricane, 71% of these were low-income units. More than 500 sewage plants were destroyed, more than 170 point-source leakages of gasoline, oil, or natural gas, more than 2000 gas stations submerged, several chemical plants, 8 oil refineries, and a superfund site was submerged. 8 million gallons of oil were spilled. Toxic materials seeped into floodwaters and spread through much of the city and surrounding areas.

I Always Knew I Failed At Wife

17 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

Via Melissa.

A.

The Highway Is Alive Tonight

A.

Your President Speaks!

Today, during a presser at Brdo Castle, Karnj, Slovenia.

What We Have Got

We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood.

We Have Travel

We talked about how to make sure we have travel in a way that comforts our societies.

To Helping Elevate Folks

The United States looks forward to working with EU nations to helping elevate folks from needless death.

The Global War On Articles Continues

It's interesting, my first visit as U.S. President to Europe included a -- my first stop in Slovenia. My last visit as U.S. President to Europe includes first stop in Slovenia.

There Is Going To Be Problems

Of course there is going to be problems and differences.

Where We Discuss Issues

But somehow they managed to forge a common position on a lot of key issues, and that's where we discuss these issues.

Brainwreck

And the reason why that's important is that they learn to enrich, it means they've learned to -- a key part of developing a nuclear weapon.

Urgencies!

There's a lot of urgencies when it comes to dealing with Iran, and the Israeli political folks -- and if you go to Israel and listen carefully, you'll hear that urgency in their voice, one of many urgencies.

I Had Been The Preznit

Secondly, I articulated a policy that I had been articulating ever since I had been the President.

It's About Time: Catholic Edition

HIT BACK.

The only reason scumbags like Donohue get away with claiming to represent all Catholics, or all "people of faith," or all Christians, is that no one else is out there being accessible and public with a dissenting view. You'd be stunned how many stories of the type we deride as stupid and shallow are the result of simply not being able to get somebody on the phone. Yeah, sometimes it's laziness, sometimes it's willful stupidity, but sometimes it's simply, "WHOASHIT I need to get this filed NOW" and Bill Donohue will always make himself available to fill the slot you need for "Catholic 'authority' commenting on elections."

An ever-wider availability of alternative voices will make it that much harder for the last to be used as a defense, and the more actual grown-ups forcing themselves into the discourse will help edge the likes of Donohue out.

A.

Heh, "Poop Daisy"

Lloyd Dangle's Troubletown.  Check it out.

Bush Boom, Bitches!

Ho boy.

U.S. consumer confidence sank to a record low in June as a surge in gasoline prices to more than $4 a gallon and a jump in the unemployment rate helped torpedo a modest rebound in Americans' outlook seen the previous month, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence said their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index fell to 37.4 in June from 40.3 in May. A reading below 50 indicates pessimism among survey respondents.

[snip]

It was just the second reading ever below 40 in the 89 months since the survey's inception.

June's reading puts the index 28 percent below its lifetime average of 52.1, IBD/TIPP said in a statement.

Happy Obama Photo

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FEMA on Ice: "You don't know how complicated an area this gets to be."

FEMA announcd in April it will no longer provide ice after hurricanes  though word of that decision apparently didn't reach many people until last week and Mississippi officials are not too happy about the decision. From the Sun Herald:

MEMA Director Mike Womack said Monday that his agency is doing all it can to be prepared to supply ice to the public after a hurricane.

But he warned that the state doesn't have the money or the procurement power that the federal government has, so it might have difficulty meeting the demand.

And if MEMA does commit to coming through with ice, he wants it in writing that FEMA will reimburse the state.

"Well, I can tell you first of all that I've been opposed to the change in (FEMA) policy from the beginning," Womack said. "They've been talking about it for a year."

FEMA announced as early as April at the National Hurricane Conference in Miami that it would supply ice post-disaster only for medical emergencies or life-saving circumstances and not to the public in general. Word has trickled back to leaders on the Coast, and it became news to South Mississippians last week, when a county supervisor in Jackson County announced it.

Also on Monday, a regional FEMA spokesman said it's possible that the FEMA policy on ice is not final and could be subject to change. However, calls to FEMA's national headquarters were not returned Monday.

The difficulty in setting policy on such an issue is that "ice can be a necessity if it's hot, " the spokesman said. "But if it's a comfort item, it's outside the realm of what we do. You don't know how complicated an area this gets to be."(my emphasis)

Over the weekend the Sun Herald reported on a watchdog group that is putting heat on FEMA over their ice decision...

Ben Smilowitz, executive director for the Disaster Accountability Project, said Friday ice brought in for the public is a necessity after a hurricane and criticized FEMA's decision to deliver it only for medical emergencies or life-saving reasons.

SNIP

He urged people not to accept FEMA's decision.

SNIP

"And it was completely irresponsible for FEMA to announce the decision to Mississippi after hurricane season has started," he said. "If FEMA cares about preparedness, they'll delay it until next season. You can't just drop this on a state now."

There is much more at the Disaster Accountability Project's blog including this:

Either way, FEMA’s newly announced “ice plans” are a stark departure from the newly minted National Response Framework.

For previous FD post on FEMA ice decision

Book Reading in New York July 23

And the book tour continues on to the East Coast!

On July 23 I'll be reading/signing at an event with the Big Apple Badgers in Manhattan. Come out and say hello. Bring your book. Bring friends! Details:

When: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 7 p.m.

Where: Mad River Grille
1442 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10028
Second Floor Party Room

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ZOMG...Terrorists!

Good thing the Repubs didn't nominate a terrorist....

In January, Joe Lieberman was campaigning for John McCain in Florida. Looks innocent enough...

But Then.....

Lieberman photos from Aventura - Courant.com (in right hand sidebar)

Won't Someone Think Of The Gay Ferrets?

They think of you. Naked:

Now the Beastmaster actually stands up pretty well, as far as bad 80’s movies goes. Its cheesy as all hell, but its still fun in pretty much the same way that Xena was. But I did notice a small issue with the ferrets.

You see, I saw this movie when I was a child, and it convinced me that I wanted a pet ferret. This same movie convinced my parents that no such thing was going to happen. In fact, due to a variety of reasons I had been unable to get a pet ferret until about four years ago. And last week was the first time that I have seen this movie since acquiring a set of the furry little kleptomaniacs.

For those of you unfamiliar with this movie, the main character, a young man named Dar, fights against the forces of evil with the help of his animal companions. He communicates with them telepathically and they help him in a wide variety of ways during his adventures.

Amongst his animal companions are two ferrets named Podo and Kodo. These critters are portrayed as a couple from their first scene. In fact by the end of the movie they are shown to have children together.

The only problem is that they are both boy ferrets.

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Hitchens & Feith: Like A Law Firm That Gets Sued A Lot

Hitchens wonders why:

As I write this on the first day of June, about a book that was published in the first week of April, the books pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe have not seen fit to give Feith a review.

I don't know, Chris, maybe because he is at best a complete ignoramus and at worst a complete fucking liar? Yeah, that's right, I'm uncivil. Civility wasn't doing me any good and my blood pressure kept going up, so fuck it. From the day he arrived in Washington Douglas Feith has been involved in promoting the absolute worst possible foreign policy anyone could come up with. I mean if you tried, if you and a team of experts from the University of Chicago sat down and TRIED with a whiteboard and a blender full of margaritas to come up with a foreign policy more batshit than this, you couldn't, and for that this guy has done nothing but rise in the halls of power. Last I checked he wasn't suffering unduly, and not for nothing but maybe the reason the NYT, Post, LAT and the Globe haven't reviewed him is because "Asshole's Assistant Publishes Book Even Paul Bremer Thinks Is Dumb" is a little too much even for our increasingly coarse public discourse.

Schmuck.

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Your President Speaks! Again!

Friday, during an interview by Gianni Riotta of RAI TV, Italy

The Global War On Plurals Continues

But the truth of the matter is, one reason why food price is so high is because energy prices are high.

Driving A Tractor Is An Energy

I mean, when you think about it, farming is a pretty energy-intensive business -- fertilizer is an energy; driving a tractor is an energy; crops to markets require energy.

What We Got

Look, we got a lot of common areas: Afghanistan -- and I will thank the Italian people for their sacrifices to help this young democracy.

It Was What It Was Not?

And it was -- we're all disappointed the intelligence wasn't what it was.

What's Called Sellout University

Start a freedom institute at what's called Southern Methodist University in Dallas, to talk about the universal values of freedom abroad and at home.

Your President Speaks!

Friday, during an interview by Natasa Briski of POP TV, Slovenia.

What Slovenia Has Got

And my impressions of Slovenia -- I've told this to a lot of people -- first of all, it's a beautiful country; probably somewhat undiscovered in America, but my fellow citizens ought to go and explore Slovenia because it's not only -- it's got -- you can ski, you can play golf

The United States And Europe Has Had Its Differences

And the United States and Europe has had its differences on certain issues, and -- but we've always had the same common values.

A Different Type Of Arrangements

A lot of countries had come from a different style of government, a different type of security arrangements, to one in which free nations were bound together.

Brainwreck

Hopefully, in terms of trade, that we'll fight off protectionism and keep trade open.

There Is Some Disputes

I know there's some trade disputes going on, but that shouldn't prevent us from being active in terms of perpetuating free and fair trade.

Holy Crap!™

Yes, Iran -- kind of the common threats will be on the agenda. For me -- as you know, I'm a big believer in freedom.

What We Got To Do

And we got to, in my judgment, extend that same concept to the Middle East from which a lot of violence comes.

The Know-How As To Know...   How?

And obviously one of the problems that we face is preventing Iran from developing the know-how as to how to make a nuclear weapon.

Synaptic Strike

But, you know, I also want to emphasize that -- but the United States -- I personally feel very strongly about helping people realize the blessings of life by freeing them from HIV/AIDS, or malaria, or hunger.

What We Got

But the truth of the matter is, when you really look at -- like, for example, our relations in the Far East, we got great relations with Japan, China and Korea -- South Korea; or India, for example -- we got new relations with India that no administration has ever -- South America and Central America.

So Many People Wanting To Be Come

Otherwise, why would so many people wanting to be -- come here, for example, which we welcome?

The Bubble

And so I don't -- I hear stuff like that, I just -- I dismiss it as kind of like what happens when there's kind of gossip and rumors and -- because the truth of the matter is, America, just like many nations in Europe, stands for what's right, which is decency, and freedom of speech, and freedom to worship.

I'm For Me!

I mean, they say, "We want change." Of course -- and I tell people every time I ran for politics I said, "We want change," unless, of course, I was the incumbent, in which case I was not for change, I was for myself.

You're Fired, Amen!

More classiness from the Chimpster.

If you’re going to fire someone, you want to make sure you do it in a place where the now-unemployed can’t make a scene.

You know…a place like, say, a church.

That, according to a new book – “Machiavelli’s Shadow” – by former Time magazine reporter Paul Alexander, is where President George W. Bush informed trusted advisor Karl Rove in 2007 that his services would no longer be needed at the White House.

“On a Sunday in midsummer, George W. Bush accompanied Karl Rove to the Episcopalian Church Rove sometimes attended,” writes Alexander. “They made their way to the front of the congregation. Then, during their time in the church, Bush gave Rove some stunning news. ‘Karl,’ Bush said, ‘there’s too much heat on you. It’s time for you to go.’”

Other tasty bits...

"Machiavelli's Shadow" doesn't portray Rove in a favorable light and Alexander includes plenty of interviews with GOP notables unsatisfied with Rove's influence during the Bush administration.

"Every Republican I know looks at the Bush administration as a total failure," said Matt Towery, chairman of Newt Gingrich's political organization.

“To do what he did politically to us is unforgivable," Rep. Tom Tancredo told Alexander. "It will take generations to recover. I don't know how long; maybe never."

"I think the legacy is that Karl Rove will be a name that'll be used for a long, long time as an example of how not to do it," said long-time GOP strategist Ed Rollins.

Today on Athenae's Obsession with the Freepi: Snubbing!

Back in January, I said that the minute the primaries were over, John McCain would assemble, with Jesus and Zombie Reagan, into a giant battle robot behind which the Freepi would fall in line to beat the Democratic nominee.

I was so, so wrong.

They still hate his ass, as evidenced by this post in which they rip on him for refusing to meet with Rev. Billy Graham.

What a mess we’re in. Another not to vote for McCain.

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This is a character problem with McCain, he seems to be a man who is unable to listen to what anyone has to say. HE knows all, and is the AUTHORITY.

Troublesome personality McCain is. I just do not like him.

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He runs just like a man trying to lose. I really think he is working for the other side - his job is to throw the race & let the dems win this time. Everything he does seems to be calculated toward that goal. Incredible!

But, but, but wait!

This is a garbage story, whipped up into something more than it is by NEWSMAX, which has to get web hits. No different than McClellan trying to sell books.

Just so we're clear, when it's a story about Michelle Obama having a lesbian three-way with Hillary and her assistant, Newsmax is still an unimpeachable source.

They're not too thrilled with McCain's potential Cabinet, either:

McCain isn’t going to need a cabinet, except the one to hide his strawberries in at the old geezer’s rest home come November.

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can see no better position for Obama than presidential speech writer. No one can deny that Obama's speeches have been masterful.

Instead of speech writer, make him the Speech Giver, like a pinch hitter in baseball, cuz McCain sucks.

Verbal communication certainly isn't the Republican leadership strong points. The current president can't put coherent thoughts in a sentence form and either makes up words or mangles existing ones while the candidate gives speeches that sound like he's talking to himself................

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Get your head out of McCains butt and smell freedom, because it is slipping away and McCain and his cult followers of fellow Socialists are in the pack.

Smell the freedom. SMELL IT!!!!

All is not lost, though. McCain will be president because GOD LOVES US.

America is the most blessed country and God will never forsake America the greatest and most benevolent nation in history of mankind.

John McCain will be the next President of the United States.

Well, maybe:

Senator McCain I didn’t know you posted here

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Happy Obama Photo: First Family Edition

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Your President Speaks!

This morning, at the White House.

What We Got, Part I

We've got strong relations in Europe, and this trip will help solidify those relations. And we got a lot to talk about.

What we Got, Part II

First, I'm looking forward to talking about the freedom agenda with the European nations. Got a lot of work to do in Afghanistan.

What Laura Saw

She saw progress, but she also saw there needs to be a lot of work to be done -- there's a lot of work to be done.

It's Not Gonna Be Uncle Fluffy

Let's talk debates.

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