Katrina Coverage

President Bush visited New Orleans yesterday in what appears to have been a visit designed to bring back tourists and conventioneers. Here's the NYT's first paragraph:
President Bush made his first trip here in three months on Thursday and declared that New Orleans was "a heck of a place to bring your family" and that it […]

Harry Shearer points to two recent NPR reports about New Orleans, both of which were "light" and neither of which mentioned the possibility of the Army Corps of Engineers' design flaws leading to the flooding:
…[the two shows were:] the debate on whether to hold Mardi Gras, and the recording of Elvis Costellos' collaboration with Allen […]

Harry Shearer discusses a piece from Kerry Sanders that appeared on tonight's NBC Nightly News, claiming that he ignored the reports from NOLA and other sources blaming the Army Corps of Engineers for their bad floodwall design:
…Sanders' piece merely let a black man returning to his destroyed Ninth Ward home vent his blame on the […]

The WSJ has a long article on the Orleans Levee Board. To the right you see one of their trademarked line drawings, this time of that board's former head.
To save time, I'll let Harry Shearer summarize the WSJ piece:
concentrates on the fractured responsibility of the levee boards, sewerage and water board, and Port, as well […]

Eric Schmeltzer (who?) calls Harry Shearer on to the carpet for his Ned Flanders-style goody-two-shoes coverage of New Orleans:
…Last night was the kicker. 60 Minutes dared to air a story quoting a scientist that says New Orleans might be so far below water in 90-to-100 year that it might need levees of 100 feet to […]

The HuffPost is on the case, pointing out the supposed similiarities of the EPA's response to both possible afflictions.
Previously: “Katrina Cough” due to mold, dust

The "war" in question involves not giving aid to people who've been convicted of drug crimes:
Federal laws prohibit former drug law offenders from obtaining welfare, food stamps, public housing, financial aid for schools and other benefits for themselves and their families. While it is impossible to know for sure how many hurricane victims will be […]

He monkeys around with some ideas in "The Art of Caring for Souls":
The failure to govern well is a natural and a predictable result of disbelief in government. It is a brief step from disbelief in government to disbelief in governance. With many Democrats in tow, conservatives have demonized government: “Government is not the answer; […]

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says we're in for six months of high gas prices as production levels reduced by both Hurricane Rita and Katrina return to normal:
"We're going to go through a very challenging time the next six months, is my guess," Bodman said. "Most of us have viewed energy availability as a kind of […]

The HuffPost's Jason Leopold offers "An Issue Just as Deadly as Terrorism", about Katrina and the Northeast blackout:
…For years, energy and environmental experts sounded early alarms about the potential for catastrophes like this unless federal lawmakers immediately took the necessary steps to upgrade the country’s aging power grid to stave off widespread power failures.
Whoever Leopold […]