Katrina Stuff

Some of the rumors of rape and child-murder are looking like urban legends.

Smells like teen insurgents: A Wisconsin paper has banned the use of the word "looting," deciding the nonjudgmental "taking" is appropriate in all cases... even when it obviously is looting.

Apparently Govenor Blanco doesn't have any juice with the CIA. Mayor Nagin just began pointing fingers at her:

NOLA Mayor Nagin interview w/Soledad O'Brien in which he says Gov. Blanco told the President she needed 24 hours to make a decision for Federal aid.

NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."

He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.

S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?

NAGIN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?

NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.

S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no.

NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died.

Nice takedown at Human Events Online:

First out of the gate were the Holy Men of the Cult of Global Warming, who couldn’t wait for the first dead to wash up before they declared the Hurricane irrefutable proof of Global Warming and a direct responsibility of George W. Bush.

Next up were the racial ambulance chasers, always looking for another grievous injury to add to their political caseload. Looking at the Sea of Black faces abandoned without transportation, food, water or protection, they somehow managed to look past the City’s Black Mayor, Black Police Chief, Black City Council members and all the other Black office holders that run the 67% Black city, and found that the whole thing was: white folks’ fault. Yet another example of racism at its worst.

This opened up a torrent of Bush-bashing, since he was the closest Republican that had any responsibility for the City. The Democratic Governor of Louisiana -- though white -- was merely a victim of the whole thing it seems, just like the Mayor of New Orleans. Nobody has any power in this world other than George Bush. Nobody has any responsibility. George Bush is now the navel of the world for his enemies. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Central Park, it’s George Bush’s fault. And the butterfly is racist. And it was blown there by Global Warming.

David Frum on the dispiriting eruption of vicious racial politics, yet again.

Stating the obvious, but well: FEMA is not a first-responder. That's on the local police and government (duh!).

I would note that Rudi Giuliani and George Pataki didn't wait for George Bush before sending rescuers into the Towers (and then the rubble of the Towers).

Drudge picks up on New Orleans' message to its citizens: "You'll be on your own." It has just become incrementally harder for the LLMSM to ignore this story.

And Iran picks up the storyline from the LLMSM: Katrina response proves Bush racist.

posted by Ace at 11:44 AM

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