Robert: God is on a roof in New Orleans, waiting to be plucked off. God is in the streets of New Orleans, trying to keep order as a lone policeman in a mob of looters. God is in the Superdome, hot and sweaty in a fetid atmosphere. And God is the National Guardsman trying to help people there. God is the woman with all her possessions in two plastic bags in Slidell. God is the woman stranded in Mississippi, unable to buy gas from a pump that can’t pump, unable to go forward, unable to go backward. “Lord, when did … Continue reading Where Is God?

Has there ever been an ombud so whiny, so defensive, so overwhelmed by the job of reading e-mails from the public, as Jeffrey Dvorkin? Witness his characterization of people who dare to read a blog post (the nerve!) and then send him an e-mail (damn plebes don’t know their place anymore!): I sensed a spewing of cornflakes across the breakfast tables of America shortly after NPR’s Scott Simon began asking Mr. Goldberg about the week in politics. But no, it was not a grassroots eruption but, largely, a blog-induced emetic that caused listeners such as Reed Tibbetts to protest: Heard … Continue reading Dvorkin: NPR Hearts Goldberg

From Holden: In today’s gaggle the press wouldn’t stop needling Little Scottie about Chimpy’s record-breaking five-week vacation. Q Would you say the President goes back to Washington well rested? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as you all know, this has been, as usual, a fairly busy month. There are a lot of important priorities going on, and we — here in Crawford, we have the Western White House. I mean, the White House just picks up and moves with the President. And he has kept a pretty busy schedule this month, and he has also remained focused on a number of important … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Byron York? That Byron York?!?! There is a proper time for a president to leave Washington, but five weeks is just too much. Et tu, Poddy? BUSH’S VACATION [JPod] One thing is for sure, Byron: No president, not this one and not any president who follows him, will ever again take a five-week vacation. Posted at 02:28 PM Methinks young Poddy dost overestimate Dear Leader. Continue reading Dast Thee Criticize Dear Leader?

Even if the preznit fiddled, Americans didn’t. The Red Cross said it had so far raised $21 million, a figure comparable to the response for tsunami victims following the devastation in Asia earlier this year. Nearly $15 million of that has come from individual donations through its Web site, with the rest representing corporate contributions. “The outpouring of support has been amazing,” said Kara Bunte, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which has set up hundreds of shelters for hurricane victims. “People are now starting to see the images on TV and want to help,” she said. Catholic Charities USA, … Continue reading Hang In There, New Orleans, Amerca’s On It

From Holden: Flailing about desperately to defend his repeated clowning about Hurricane Katrina Jonah Goldberg tries to shift the spotlight to his old nemises Juan Cole: PERCHANCE [Jonah Goldberg ] Those carping on my levity the other day might take a moment to notice Juan Cole’s gloating that only those nasty, rural Christian zealots were suffering from Katrina while the fun-loving urbanites of Bourbon street were spared. Later, realizing that some folks who visit The Corner have attained a reading comprehension level above grade two, the Doughy Pantload adds an update: Update Rereading his post, my initial reading might be … Continue reading Ass with a Capital A

A hero. Remember this picture whenever Incredi-Boy makes it back to DC or actually goes out to NOLA and suits up in a costume and pretends to give a shit. Remember the people who were actually on the job while the preznit played guitar. They’re the ones who deserve our admiration. They’re the ones who deserve Congress’ standing ovation and the pundits’ slobbering fealty. A. Continue reading Support The Troops Edition

From Holden: Number of words devoted to Hurricane Katrina during George Bush’s only public address so far regarding the catastrophe (Aug. 28): 203. Number of words devoted to the Iraqi constitution in that very same address: 819. Continue reading Word Count

From Holden: I suppose it’s official now. President Bush on Tuesday answered growing anti-war protests with a fresh reason for American troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country’s vast oil fields that he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists. [snip] Bush said the Iraqi oil industry, already suffering from sabotage and lost revenues, must not fall under the control of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida forces in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. “If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks,” … Continue reading War for Oil

From Holden: US forces in Iraq commit another war crime, violating Article 19 of the Geneva Conventions by bombing a field clinic near the Syrian border. Doctors for Iraq has received reports from medical staff in Al Qaim hospital, western Iraq that a field clinic in Al Karablaa village situated on the borders of Al Qaim has been bombed. Two medical staff have been injured in the attack on the field clinic. Hospital staff and eyewitnesses report of many casualties from the military operation on Al Qaim city. Reports are coming in of at least fifty dead including some women … Continue reading Another War Crime

From Holden: Somebody gets it. Q This is more — this is more symbolic. Cutting short his vacation is more symbolic because he can do all this from the ranch, right? MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think — no, I disagree. Like I said, this is one of the most devastating storms in our nation’s history, and the President, after receiving a further update this morning, made the decision that he wanted to get back to D.C. and oversee the response efforts from there. This is going to — there are many agencies involved in this — in this response effort, … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: The daily cost of Chimpy’s Vanity War has now surpassed the daily cost of the Vietnam War. The U.S. war in Iraq now costs more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report issued on Wednesday. The report, entitled “The Iraq Quagmire” from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus, both liberal, anti-war organizations, put the cost of current operations in Iraq at $5.6 billion per month. This breaks down to almost $186 million a day. “By comparison, the average cost of … Continue reading More Expensive than Vietnam

From Holden: Steve Gilliard also noticed Jonah’s assinine post and commented on it. Take a second to read what Steve says. I did not make the racist connection, but I may not be as aware of the subtext as Gilliard. My view is that Goldberg is completely insensitive to the suffering of others, and when you combine that with an inferiority complex that rival’s only his fleshy ass in size what you get are these sophomoric movie references instead of empathy for the unfortunates caught in the teeth of the worst natural disaster in American history. Continue reading Steve Chimes In On The Pantload

From Holden: Chimpy’s job approval rating in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll dropped three points to 45%, while his dissapproval number added two points to reach 53%. Continue reading Not Quite a Pony

From Holden: Today’s lead editorial in the NYTimes. As the levees of Lake Pontchartrain gave way, flooding New Orleans, it seemed pretty clear that in this case, government did not live up to the job. But this seems like the wrong moment to dwell on fault-finding, or even to point out that it took what may become the worst natural disaster in American history to pry President Bush out of his vacation. Continue reading A Subtle Poke from the Times

From Holden: I was thinking of Jonah Goldberg’s abhorent post making light of the people traped in the New Orleans Superdome and his subsequent appology in which he soulfully stated: My thoughts and prayers to those affected and my apologies to those offended for my making light of it. It’d be nice if the Huffington Post types could understand that I did not make jokes after the death toll and damage were known, but before — when the media seemed to be making the usual spectacle of itself. [emphasis in the original] That got to eating at me so I … Continue reading Apology My Ass

has good links for agencies taking donations. This keeps getting worse by the hour. A. Continue reading Kos Diary

when Trent Lott has his eye on the ball and the president doesn’t: 6:39 P.M. – JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Senator Trent Lott is urging President Bush to visit Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, telling the president — quote — “the people of Mississippi are flat on their backs. They’re going to need your help.” Look, for all the bullshitting around that we do, for all the joking about the president and his people and the stunts they pull, there’s a reason we get so damn angry. It’s that we need our leaders to lead. We need people, … Continue reading It’s a sad day

From Holden: Looks like he’s been taking some heat from the “Huffington Post types”. Still, there’s no excuse for making unfeeling jokes about hurricane victims while the hurricane is actually hitting them. His “I did not make jokes after the death toll and damage were known, but before” excuse is bullshit, since Scientists at LSU were predicting a 50-50 chance that New Orelans would be virtually destroyed a full 12 hours before the storm hit. It’s just not funny. Continue reading Jonah Appologizes

From Holden: In San Diego, today: We mourn the lose of every life. That’s the official White House transcript you read. Was it a typo? Continue reading Your President Speaks

From Holden: Jonah Goldberg thinks that the suffering of his fellow Americans is hillarious! ATTN: SUPERDOME RESIDENTS [Jonah Goldberg] I think it’s time to face facts. That place is going to be a Mad Max/thunderdome Waterworld/Lord of the Flies horror show within the next few hours. My advice is to prepare yourself now. Hoard weapons, grow gills and learn to communicate with serpents. While you’re working on that, find the biggest guy you can and when he’s not expecting it beat him senseless. Gather young fighters around you and tell the womenfolk you will feed and protect any female who … Continue reading Demand an Apology

From Holden: Two juicy tid-bits from today’s Froomkin column: “Hundreds of protesters lined his motorcade routes in Arizona and California, holding up signs such as ‘Bush the Lying Turd’ and ‘Chicken George,’ a reference to his refusal to meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who set up camp near his Texas ranch demanding an audience. And later… Several readers e-mailed me to express their surprise about an item in yesterday’s column . I noted that Julie Mason had written in the Houston Chronicle that at “Bush, who gave up drinking years ago, drank … Continue reading Dan Froomkin’s Greatest Hits

From Holden: According to the latest Washington Post poll: The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll. Continue reading America Agrees With Cindy

From Holden: With the federal grand jury term expiring in October, Patrick Fitzgerald must drop the case, empanel a new grand jury and go back to square one, or indict. My pony sez indict. August 30, 2005 — There are indications that Rovegate Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald will be wrapping up his two-year probe of the CIA/Valerie Plame Wilson leak sometime between the end of the Labor Day Congressional recess and the end of September. Informed rumor has it that there will be indictments of at least two senior-level Bush administration officials. [Holden Note: Scooter and Karl] Continue reading September Will Be The Month of Plame

From Holden: The Poverty Rate rose for the fourth straight year under President George W. Buttmunch. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population last year, the fourth consecutive annual increase, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. The percentage of people without health insurance did not change. Overall, there were 37 million people living in poverty, up 1.1 million people from 2003. And the rest of us ain’t gettin’ any richer. The real median income in 2004 totaled $44,389, unchanged from 2003. Continue reading Have You Seen My Bush Boom?

From Holden: Yesterday, at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in Arizona. I want to thank Walmart. That’s called corporate responsibility — is to help people understand what’s available. Continue reading Your President on Corporate Responsibility

From Holden: It’s hard to imagine that Iraq’s draft constitution can be successful without the backing of the Arab League. In an interview with the BBC, the secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said, “I do not believe in this division between Shiite and Sunni and Muslims and Christians and Arabs and Kurds. … I don’t buy this and I find in this a true recipe for chaos and perhaps a catastrophe in Iraq and around it.” The only non-Iraqi’s who have voiced support for the draft constitution other than Chimpy are the Iranians. Are we setting up a … Continue reading No Support in the Region

From Holden: The good folks at Buzzflash have formulated a petition urging that the Bush Brigade be pressed into service: “I demand that George W. Bush’s daughters, and his eligible nieces and nephews, serve in Iraq to prove their support of Bush’s ‘noble war for a noble cause.’ If the Bush family does not believe in ‘sacrificing’ for the war and is not willing to put their lives on the line, then Bush must bring the troops of middle class and poor Americans home now.” Sign the petition here. And, if you need a reminder, here is my photo lineup … Continue reading Buzzflash Petition: Call Up the Bush Brigade!

From Holden: Katrina leaves 55 dead and counting and an estimated $26 billion in damages but it’s all one big joke to the B-movie obsessed Doughy Pantload. ATTN: SUPERDOME RESIDENTS [Jonah Goldberg] I think it’s time to face facts. That place is going to be a Mad Max/thunderdome Waterworld/Lord of the Flies horror show within the next few hours. My advice is to prepare yourself now. Hoard weapons, grow gills and learn to communicate with serpents. While you’re working on that, find the biggest guy you can and when he’s not expecting it beat him senseless. Gather young fighters around … Continue reading Ass

From Holden: Discriminating against people of faith by denying them the right to convert the heathens. The Air Force issued new religion guidelines to its commanders yesterday that caution against promoting any particular faith – or even “the idea of religion over nonreligion” – in official communications or functions like meetings, sports events and ceremonies. The guidelines discourage public prayers at official Air Force events or meetings other than worship services, one of the most contentious issues for many commanders. But they allow for “a brief nonsectarian prayer” at special ceremonies like those honoring promotions, or in “extraordinary circumstances” like … Continue reading Damn Anti-Christian Air Force