The President has now made it clear that neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds… oh wait. Neither massive category five hurricanes, nor outrageously expensive discretionary wars, nor massive deficits, nor anything else… will stop the inexorable flow of irresponsible tax cuts for the super-rich; certainly, the President has declared that it would be unthinkable if the 12-digit pork-barrel spending now envisioned for the Gulf (of Mexico… maybe we can call this “Gulf War III?”) were be funded by actual taxes. Once in a while I’m reminded that...

The President, in one of his spontaneously totally stage-managed appearances amidst his usual fortress of solitude, in this case, Jackson Square in New Orelans’ somewhat depopulated French Quarter, announced a massive, massive infusion of federal aid into the “Gulf Opportunity Zone”. For good measure, the President noted the history of racial discrimination associated with poverty in the region (and, frankly, the rest of the nation). One might be tempted to say “fool me once, shame on you…” But that would be incorrect. The President promised a massive federal infusion, and we will see a massive infusion of federal cash. In...

And so here we are: four years after 9-11, to the day. I occasionally let loose on the subject, and my current thoughts are in this post over at The American Street. I do, as I periodically do, want to take a moment to remember a particular hero of that horrible morning: Richard Pearlman, a volunteer medic, who, unlike the other rescuer-heroes of that date, wasn’t paid to risk his life. It wasn’t his job: it was his love. He was a volunteer medic with an ambulance company in Queens, and he was (literally) an Eagle Scout. On that morning,...

Bye, bye, Brownie. The President pocket-vetoed Mike “Brownie” Brown’s continued service as coordinator of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, by recalling Brown, a man who managed to stand out as an incompetent among an otherwise universally incompetent administration, to Washington. For the moment, a Coast Guard Vice-Admiral, who presumably knows what the hell he’s doing, will be in charge of federal recovery efforts in the Gulf region. The people have spoken: there apparently is a limit to cronyism and the attendant incompetence thereof. Poll numbers for approval of Bush’s Katrina [mis]handling have approached the stratospherically low numbers for Bush’s [mis]handling of...

Impeach Bush. Sure, this guy would take over. But if trouble were brewing, at least he might show up; of course, our current President has a long history of being AWOL.

That would seem to be what the White House Budget Office would need right now according to this analysis of Katrina-related economic impact from the Grey Lady. Estimates range that Katrina may cost the nation around 400,000 jobs, and around 1% of all economic activity, while the colossal mess in the Gulf Coast is cleaned up and remedied. The part I won’t abide is the suggestion that Katrina and the appearance of crassness and cruelty caused by simultaneous enactments of massive windfall tax breaks to the super-rich at the time the social safety net is being shredded for the most...

Unbeknownst to many, Familia Talking Dog spent the previous fortnight in an undisclosed location, a fortnight which comes crashing to an end (for Mr. TD) tomorrow (and for Mrs. TD Tuesday) as the affairs of state draw me back to a most unwelcome Labor Day at… labor. One of the select few aware of the FTD’s undisclosed location, Julia, has one of the most monumental and comprehensive link dumps on any subject I have ever seen, in this case, her link dump on Hurricane Katrina and its horrifying aftermath. Interestingly, when the Bush Administration took office, its supposed three “worst...

Nothing much to say about the horrors affecting New Orleans and the nearby Gulf Coast region, devastated beyond belief by Hurricane Katrina, and now, by its own citizens who are taking pit-shots at rescuers (because, it has been suggested to me, that they are pissed that help has been so long in coming). For those who believe in prayers, this would be a good time for them. It might also be a good time to consider giving to the Red Cross. For some updates, you might want to try the New Orleans Met Blog (via dog run member and New...

In a politics before science or health everytime move, and in a surprise to exactly no one (except seemingly Senators Clinton and Murray, who, perhaps, are running for something…) FDA overrode its own advisory board and voted to delay the “Plan B” contraceptive, a/k/a “the morning after pill” for over the counter sales. Seven states already allow over the counter sales of the drug, which, as a practical matter, would make it available to the 16 and under crowd. While Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton (you heard it hear first!) knows that the key component of the Democratic Party consortium...

It was only a matter of time before the Pentagon’s base closing commission decided to… close some bases, and this Wapo piece gives us some of the unpleasant details, whereby GOP Congress members from Maine to Connecticut to Virginia desperately manage to save some bases from the axe… Compare and contrast our trimming a massive amount of military infrastructure at the same time our President steps up the rhetoric about the yada yada yada unprecedented threats we face and the yada yada yada supreme effort and sacrifices needed to win the war on terror… all of which digby brilliantly summarizes...