BRAVO: ONE COURAGEOUS DEMOCRAT PARTISAN APPLAUDS BUSH'S PROGRAM FOR THE GULF COAST

SHE WAS GORE'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER. SHE WROTE AN OP-ED FOR THE WASHINGTON POST: I Will Rebuild With You, Mr. President

By Donna Brazile

... On Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush -- in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But on Thursday night, after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast. ... I know, maybe better than anyone, that there are times when it seems that our nation is too divided ever to heal. There are times when we feel so different from each other that we can hardly believe that we are all part of the same family. But we are one nation. We are a family. And this is what we do. When the president asked us to pitch in Thursday night, he wasn't really asking us to do anything spectacular. He was asking us to be Americans, and to do what Americans always do. The president has set a national goal and defined a national purpose. This is something I believe with all my heart: When we are united, nothing can stop us. We will not waver, we will not tire, and we will not stop until the streets are clean, every last brick has been replaced and every last family has its home back. Bush talked about how we bury our family and friends. We grieve and mourn. We march to a solemn song and then we rejoice and step out and form the second line. That line is now open to every American to join us in rebuilding a great region of this country. New Orleans will rise again. My hometown is down but not out, and with the help of every American, it will be back on its feet, bigger and brighter than ever. ... Mr. President, I am ready for duty. I am ready to stir those old pots again. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Too bad there are not more like her in the Democrat Party - on this front, and on the GWOT. The fact that she is a rarity in today's Democrat Party is the reason they are doing so badly.

Welcome DAILY PUNDIT READERS!

VOLUN-TOURISM FOR THE GULF COAST!

THE NUMBER ONE INDUSTRY ON THE GULF COAST - FROM NEW ORLEANS TO BILOXI - WAS TOURISM.

It will take some time to rebuild the hotels and restaurants and nightclubs and casinos, (and ALL the secondary services industries which support those enterprises). Since neither the primary or support businesses that cater to tourism are operating, it seems logical to conclude that tourism on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans is "dead" for the time being.

BUT MAYBE THERE'S A WAY WE CAN JUMP-START IT RIGHT NOW!?

Let's start a new form of tourism: VOLUN-TOURISM. What we can do is get the feds to set up some trailers and tents all over the region for VOLUNTEERS, who will:

(a) pay their own way to the Gulf Coast and

(b) pay for their room and board while doing UNPAID VOLUNTEER work on a reclaimation project - like helping to build a home with Habitat for Humanity, or or helping to clean a school, or well - just about anything.

"Voluntourists" - instead of taking an entirely hedonistic vacation - would get to see the ravaged Gulf Coast and the heroic people of the region up-close while directly helping some people there make a new and better life - and they'd also be indirectly helping the whole nation because they'd be SPENDING money in the region.

I got the idea when a fellow alum from Tulane emailed me that she was going to set up a college reunion for this Spring in New Orleans - so we could paper the city with our money while nostalgically recounting and reliving our glory days in the city we all love.

How 'bout it? How about spreading the word? Maybe we can make this happen for ALL the alumni from all the colleges down there, and for everyone else who loves the Gulf Coast and wants to participate in the rebirth of the region - and speed it along as much as possible.

EMERGENCY IN ASTRODOME: not enough NYTIMES!

The invaluable and brilliant Lorie of POLIPUNDIT saw ABC NEWS coverage of the response to Bush's speech in the ASTRODOME. Then, she hunted down a link to what she saw. GO WATCH IT!

It shows that the poor black people who were rescued from the horrifying chaos of Superdome and the N.O. Convention Center and who were brought to Houston DO NOT BLAME BUSH, BUT BLAME BLANCO AND NAGIN.

Here's what Lorie posted:

All of those interviewed at the Astrodome were black. They were all evacuees from New Orleans. When the first person was asked if she believed the President she said “yes.” She said that what the President said lifted her up and gave her hope. When the reporter questioned her about the slow response of the federal government, she said they did a good job once they got there and that she blamed the local and state officials, who had not done their jobs. She said they were the ones there when the storm hit and they did not do what they needed to do. Then she got on a rant about the buses that were not used. She later said she blamed Mayor Nagin personally. The others interviewed also spoke very favorably about the President.

OBVIOUSLY, this reveals a HUGE GINORMOUS HUMUNGOUS PROBLEM:

FEMA is OBVIOUSLY not providing these evacuees with enough copies of the NYTIMES so that they won;t belive their lying eyesand "learn" - from the likes of Herbert, Krugman, Rich and Dowd - that Bush was really the problem - and Iraq. And Halliburton.

Sarcasm off. MORE HERE AT THE INVALUABLE ATLAS SHRUGS!

THE ORIGIN OF THE "ANTI-FEMA/ANTI-BUSH KATRINA MEME"

INSTAPUNDIT posted an email from a reader who lives in the Mississippi area struck by Katrina and who PRAISED the overall response. It's a MUST READ; go there and RTWT!

One thing in partricular he wrote struck me which I think bears repeating.

He wrote this:

So where did this idea of a slow response originate? I believe it came from fearful local politicians, mostly in Louisiana, eager to deflect blame to anyone else. It was picked up enthusiastically by the media. The Cindy Sheehan story was rapidly fading, so this was simply another attack by the media, beleieving they have finally got Bush. The Plame story, the Rumsfield story, Cindy Sheehan, Abu Graib, etc… etc…

I think the most salient point is his first: Nagin and Blanco REALLY BELIEVED that 10,000 Louisiannes had perished (or would) and they desperately feared that they would be blamed. So they IMMEDIATELY started pointing fingers at the feds. They did this even though they - and Landrieu had PRAISED FEMA on Monday - AFTER Katrina had hit but before the CANAL BROKE! (This was reported in the NTYIMES!)

The FACT that they PRAISED FEMA and "Brownie" before the canal break - (for being there, and for being so very VERY prepared!) - PROVES that their attacks on FEMA and the federal response - from Wednesday on - were merely desperate post facto rationalizations. THEY WERE COVERING THEIR OWN ASSES.

Of course: the anti-GOP anti-Bush MSM was only to happy to carry their water - as they did Kerry's.

Now, the death-toll is apparently much MUCH less than the 10,000 they predicted (and which the MSM mindlessly repeated). And the property damage is more widespread than anyone had thought possible. This reveals that the storm was WORSE than anyone thought, and that the response was better than the MSM have yet admitted.

Thank God for the internet - so that the people (people like Glenn's reader) can set the record straight. [BTW: Paul at WIZBANG - a New Orleanian who survived the "Dome - AGREES! Got here and check it out!]

KATRINA, WHACKO-JACKO, OJ AND KOBE; OR: WHAT'S RACE GOT TO DO WITH IT!?

(CNN) --

White and black Americans view Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in starkly different ways, with more blacks viewing race as a factor in problems with the federal response, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. The poll found that six in 10 blacks interviewed said the federal government was slow in rescuing those stranded in New Orleans after Katrina because many of the people in the Louisiana city were black. But only about one in eight white respondents shared that view. The numbers were similar on whether the rescues were slower because the victims were poor, with 63 percent of blacks blaming poverty and 21 percent of whites doing so. [...] Among blacks, only 15 percent said Bush did a good job in the initial days after Katrina, and 36 percent thought he did a good job in recent days. The number for whites was 49 percent for the initial days and 63 percent more recently.

IOW: 60% of Blacks INITIALLY felt that the feds were slow, and that this slowness was due to racism. Hhile only 12% of Whites felt this way - five times more.

Is this RACIAL DIVIDE Bush's fault? OR IS IT A LONGSTANDING DIVIDE EXPLOITED BY DEMOCRAT DEMAGOGUES (in the case of Katrina and the enduing rescue and recovery effort)?

Let's look at the facts - by comparing the racial divide on Katrina to previous issues which divided America along racial lines:

According to HARRIS POLLS:

(1) DO PEOPLE THINK MICHAEL JACKSON IS GUILTY OR INNOCENT
"The singer Michael Jackson has been charged with child molestation.

Do you think he is probably guilty or not?" [Base: All Adults]:

PROBABLY GUILTY
White 55%
Black 15%

PROBABLY NOT GUILTY

WHITE 19%

BLACK 59%

(2) DO PEOPLE THINK KOBE BRYANT IS GUILTY OR INNOCENT

"The basketball player Kobe Bryant has been charged with rape. Do you think he is probably guilty or not?" [Base: All Adults]:

PROBABLY GULITY

WHITE 33%

BLACK - 19%

PROBABLY NOT GUILTY

WHITE 25%

BLACK 58%

(3) MSNBC POLL:

Q1: From what you've heard, do you think O. J. Simpson murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman?

WHITE Yes 77% NO 29%
BLACK Yes 22% NO 70%

The divide on these previous matters were all quite pronouced along RACIAL lines. And the racial divide with regard to Katrina is in line with the racial divide on other issues which have NOTHING to do with Bush; in fact; the OJ trial took place during the Clinton years.

THEREFORE: the racial divide is a longstanding issue that has NOTHING to do with Bush or his administration's efforts the last five years - or the federal response to Katrina. Polls reveal that many people are merely responding in knee-jerk ways and using RACE as an excuse, as if the Hurricane did more damage to one race than another race, and as if 1st responders used race to pre-select who'd they rescue. WHICH - TO ANYONE WHO WATCHED THE RESCUES - IS ABSURD AND FALSE.

FURTHERMORE: the politicians who argued and harangued against the federal response and said that it was faulty due to racism are nothing more than mendacious demagogues exploiting and exacerbating a pre-existing racial divide in this country for their own selfish political ends.

THE POLITICIANS WHO MADE THE GROUNDLESS ALLEGATIONS WERE ALL LEFTISTS PLAYING THE "RACE CARD" - AND MAKING THE RACIAL DIVIDE WORSE! They have no shame.

UPDATE: some of my regular moonbat commentors have accused me of being a GOP racist. I responded in the comments but feel it may be necessary to put them here, too:

By your idiotic comments, you Leftie commentors make the best case AGAINST Leftism! You idioitic Leftie guys say i am a racist. Well, that 's pure bullshit, and NOTHING i said was racist. Here are the facts:

(1) My first girlfirend was black
(2) I marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - who is my #1 HERO!
(3) i even supported the BLACK PANTHER PARTY in the 1970's (tho that's something I am ashamed of now!)
(4) AND: I'm a registered DEMOCRAT - and have been since 1974!
(5) If i am a racist then BILL COSBY IS A RACIST because he makes the SAME argument as me: that knee-jerk party affiliation and the welfare state and low expectations WITHIN the black community have contributed to slow economic growth of that community.

Also: my post was about perceptual differences between blacks and whites - about the racial divide. I argued IT EXISTS and that events are often put into that pre-existing "story template," rather than examined according to the actual facts. That's why the polls for OJ/Jacko/Kobe and Katrina are so similar! If people looked at the actual facts - and did not ignore facts which don't fit their story template - then they'd agree more often.

Lookit: OJ was guilty, but blacks who had a story template that said "policemen are racist and try to frame blacks" ignored the facts in the trial - (which made OJ's guilt obvious) - and believed that oj's lawyers had raised reasonable doubt. A similar thing happened with regard to KATRINA: many blacks (and many BDS libs like my Leftie commentors) interpreted events through their story-template.

They ignore facts - that (a) the city of N.O. ignored its own evacuation plan, and that Nagin had the power and means/buses to evacuate EVERYBODY, and that (b) Blanco prevented the resupply of the Superdome and the convention Center, and that (c) FEMA guidelines tell EVERY state and locality to be prepared to handle emergencies ALONE (without FEMA aid) for the first 72-96 HOURS! (and that "a-b-c" list is just for starters!).

ALSO: blacks in Nawlins and elsewhere reflexively vote Democrat even tho' Dems have OVER AND OVER AGAIN let them down - Dems like Nagin and Blanco. Dems and Blacks have run Nawlins for 35 years - during which time THEY IGNORED THE POOR BLACKS AND POOR BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS IN THEIR OWN CITY! The poorest neighborhoods in Nalwins DON'T EVEN GET PATROLLED BY THE N.O.P.D.! And the NOPD is run by BLACKS! One reason that the poor balck people in Nawlins are so VICTIMIZED by crime is because the NOPD - run by blacks - and the city gov't - run by black DEMS - have been able to ignore them because the poor blacks vote with the MACHINE.

MANY MANY MANY political analysyts and BLACK LEADERS have argued that blacks would have MORE POLITICAL POWER - and get better and more effective GOVERNMENT RESULTS - (like better schools and more police in their neighborhoods) - if they DID NOT all vote Dem all the time - BECAUSE THEN BOTH PARTIES WOULD HAVE TO VIE/COMPETE FOR THEIR VOTE AND THEY WOULD GET MORE. Then, instead of getting a black mayor like Nagin (and Morial and Barthelemy and Morial before that - who have each done SHIT for them - they'd get a responve accountable government - WHICH THEY - like all Aericans - deserve! It was NAGIN - a BLACK MAYOR - who IGNORED the desperate people in the Superdome and allowed them to stay in HIS SH--TY, INSECURE, IMPROPERLY SUPPLIED SHELTERS!

BOTTOM-LINE: NOTHING - that's n-o-t-h-i-n-g I have said is RACIST. I want EMPOWERMENT for ALL PEOPLE - INCLUDING BLACK. I am arguing that blacks have been ILL-SERVED by the "welfare state" and the likes of Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and Nagin and Blanco. I am arguing that blacks have been ill-served by their own reflexive connection the Democrats and to "story templates" which prevent them from coming up with effective policies - because NO effective policy can come from a faulty analysis of a problem, and "story templates" prevent good analysis. "Story templates" only reinforce pre-extisting stereotypes.

UPDATE: HERE'S LIFT FROM LORIE AT POLIPUNDIT -

Katrina – “To Cleanse”

This post by Greg Hanke at Impacted Wisdom Truth was inspired by Black Con’s comment here last night which was also the subject of a post here. Hanke writes:

Well now, it becomes clear even to slow-wits like me. The bitter accusations against the Bush administration were a preemptive strike against Bush, and the inroads Republicans have made in the African-American community. I think what the lefties fear is, African-Americans will see that this Republican administration did a better job helping them than the local and state governments, which would cause the wrath of the electorate to fall onto the Democrat party.

So the Democrats had to resort to the lowest of tactics to keep their African-American voters in line by inoculating them with inflamed accusations of racism. Of course, this only works so well. The people blitzed by Katrina know full well that their local governmental authorities let them down. Only time will tell what effect that will have on elections, if any. But the intent of all the vitriol is clear: keep victims, mostly African-American, from viewing Republicans in a positive light by blaring shrill accusations that the “slow” Federal response to Katrina was the fault of a Republican administration full of racists…“Katrina” comes from the Greek word that means “pure” or “to cleanse.” Another word that emerges from that root is “catharsis.” Katrina may indeed help cleanse the state of Louisiana, and trigger a larger catharsis that removes some Democrat influence in the nation at large.

Update: Just to make it clear, the “cleansing” I think he is referring to, and which I agree with, is not of Democrats from Louisiana, at least not in reference to Democrats leaving the state. Instead I believe we may be seeing a cleansing of Democrat group think and of misconceptions that many in Louisiana may have about the Democrat and Republican parties, the roles and functions of local, state and federal government, the welfare entitlement mentality (with the ownership society incentives proposed by the President) and about the President, Governor and Mayor personally. At least I hope that is the case. This “cleansing” will have to come from the observations of the people themselves as the recovery and rebuilding takes place. If they rely on the media, it will never happen. -- Lorie Byrd Posted at 11:08 am Link to this post Comments (11)

US INCREASES PRESSURE TO ISOLATE IRAN

UK GUARDIAN:

The US administration has embarked on a series of face-to-face meetings with world leaders at the UN summit to try to isolate Iran diplomatically over Iran's push to expand its nuclear programme. In support of Mr Bush's diplomatic drive, US officials have delivered hour-long PowerPoint briefings, entitled A History of Concealment and Deception, to diplomats from at least a dozen countries. The officials making the presentation, which includes satellite photographs of Iran's nuclear installations, admit they cannot say definitively that Tehran is covertly trying to secure a nuclear weapons capability. ... As well as security council members, Mr Bush is targeting the 35 board members of the International Atomic Energy Authority, the UN nuclear watchdog which on Monday will consider referral to the security council. The PowerPoint presentations have been held at the US mission in Vienna, headquarters of the IAEA. ... "This is a subject of grave concern, and it's something that we're spending a lot of time on in this administration. It is very important for the world to understand that Iran with a nuclear weapon will be incredibly destabilising." Nicholas Burns, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, said Iran was probably the most important issue being discussed on the sidelines of the summit.

Autumn may be approaching, but in Turtle Bay (and Vienna) : the HEAT is on! Stay tuned...

BUSH USES RARE UNSC APPEARANCE TO WARN SYRIA AND IRAN

The president spoke to the UN Security Council today. Here's an excerpt:

We have a solemn obligation -- we have a solemn obligation to stop terrorism at its early stages. We have a solemn obligation to defend our citizens against terrorism, to attack terrorist networks and deprive them of any safe haven, to promote an ideology of freedom and tolerance that will refute the dark vision of the terrorists. We must do all we can to disrupt each stage of planning and support for terrorist acts. Each of us must act, consistent with past Security Council resolutions: to freeze terrorists' assets; to deny terrorists freedom of movement by using effective border controls and secure travel documents; to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons, including weapons of mass destruction. Each of us must act to share information to prevent a terrorist attack before they happen. The United States will continue to work with and through the Security Council to help all nations meet these commitments.

This was CLEARLY a message to Syria and Iran (and the Palestinians and the Pakistanis to a lesser extent). They'd ALL better do the above OR ELSE!

And in the ENTIRE speech, Bush never mentioned any naton directly by name; there was no OVERT threat. But the IMPLICATION could not be clearer. That's called "diplomacy." And it ESPECIALLY means that Syria and Iran should be very worried (because their support for terror inside Iraq threatens our soldiers and the emerging democracy in Iraq - the centerpiece of Bush's aggressive pro-democracy efforts). Stay tuned...

MORE BAD OMENS FROM GAZANS - AND EGYPT

BBC:

Hamas militants have destroyed a section of a concrete barrier erected along the Gaza-Egypt border. Palestinian and Egyptian troops have been trying to shore up the barrier to stop Palestinians crossing into Egypt after the withdrawal of Israeli troops. In chaotic scenes, thousands of Palestinians have streamed over the border in the last few days without undergoing official checks. Despite this, Egypt says that its Gaza border is officially closed. ... The mass crossings have raised questions whether Egypt is be able to honour its deal with Israel and maintain security along the border, correspondents say. ... Israel fears militants will exploit the situation to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Egypt's ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Asim Ibrahim, has vowed to maintain law and order. But the diplomat expressed sympathy for Palestinians from Gaza crossing the border.

This is a MAJOR STRATEGIC incitement by HAMAS against Israel. And a CLEVER one: since it involves Egypt's border with Gaza. Israel must lodge an official protest with Egypt and issue an ultimatum: if Egypt FAILS to live up to its OBLIGATIONS to Israel - to maintain a defensible border with Gaza - then Israel shoulkd UNILATERALLY MAINTAIN THE BORDER WITH MILITARY ATTACKS - STRAFING AND/OR BOMBING THE GAZANS WHO ILLEGALLY ENTER EGYPT. They can do this because Egypt PROMISED to prevent what they are now TURNING A BLIND EYE TO.

It is up to Israel and the IDF to make sure that EGYPT'S ACTIONS AND INACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. If they do not, then I expect ALL HELL TO BREAK LOOSE, AND SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. Stay tuned...

Also: Bush and Rice ought to be getting on Mubarak's case right away!

BAD OMENS: GAZANS LOOT GREENHOUSES; EGYPT TURNS BLIND EYE

Things are devolving RAPIDLY in Gaza:

AP:

Palestinians looted dozens of greenhouses on Tuesday, walking off with irrigation hoses, water pumps and plastic sheeting in a blow to fledgling efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip. American Jewish donors had bought more than 3,000 greenhouses from Israeli settlers in Gaza for $14 million last month and transferred them to the Palestinian Authority. Former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who brokered the deal, put up $500,000 of his own cash. Palestinian police stood by helplessly Tuesday as looters carted off materials from greenhouses in several settlements, and commanders complained they did not have enough manpower to protect the prized assets. In some instances, there was no security and in others, police even joined the looters, witnesses said.

CBC:

One day after the Israelis pulled out, the Gazan border with Egypt appeared to melt away as thousands of Palestinians used their new freedom to come and go as they pleased. What was a trickle on Monday turned into a torrent on Tuesday as Palestinians from all over Gaza headed to Rafah to cross into Egypt. They pried open doors in the massive metal security wall left by Israel and squeezed through. Before Israel withdrew, Egypt agreed to post 750 security officers on the border to prevent militants from smuggling advanced weapons into Gaza for use against the Jewish state. They Egyptian border guards are not all in place. ... Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel might eventually seek international monitors for the border. "The great danger is that both people and arms could be smuggled under the unwatchful eyes of the Egyptians."

Well, well, well: what did you expect?! The Gazans are reverting to form. And acting out this way means it should be obvious to ALL that they have about as much chance as establishing a democracy and the rule of law as do a pack of rabid hyenas. Meanwhile, Egypt renegs on their deal with Israel. And the world says nary a word. Pitiful.

BUSH INCREASES PRESSURE ON SYRIA

UK GUARDIAN:

President George Bush yesterday threatened Syria with increasing isolation alleging that Damascus was "trying to prevent democracies from emerging" in both Iraq and Lebanon. Mr Bush, speaking at a press conference with the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, said he would raise punitive measures against Syria with US allies at the United Nations in New York, where he is due to address the general assembly today. His remarks echoed more specific allegations made by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq, in a New York Times interview yesterday. Mr Bush said yesterday: "The Syrian government can do a lot more to prevent the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq. And the Syrian leader must understand we take his lack of action seriously."

AFP/The Peninsula:

These people are coming from Syria into Iraq and killing a lot of innocent people,” Bush said following a meeting at the White House with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. “They’re trying to kill our folks as well. “And the Syrian leader (President Bashar al-Assad) must understood, we take his lack of action seriously,” Bush said. ... Khalilzad said Monday that the United States believes that Iraqi Sunnis are refusing to agree a proposed constitution because of threats from Sunni Muslim extremists who have infiltrated Iraq from Syria, where they have training camps. “Syria has to decide what price it’s willing to pay in making Iraq success difficult. And time is running out for Damascus to decide on this issue,” the ambassador warned.

Based on the Iraq timetable, if Bush warns Syria this week at the UN, then we can expect Assad to fold, or be overthrown by a junta of pro-Western generals and/or Syrian Kurds, and/or invaded and forcibly removed by April.

EITHER WAY: GOOD RIDDANCE!

(PS: I expect our forces in Iraq - in conjunction with Iraqi forces - to get real real real REAL close to counter-attacking jihadists INSIDE SYRIA very VERY soon - a la the bombing of Cambodia and the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War. BECAUSE: to defeat the jihadists inside of Iraq we must keep them from being resupplied and/or replenished.)

IRAQ A QUAGMIRE? ONLY IN THE TWISTED MINDS OF LEFTISTS AND JIHADISTS

BBC:

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is meeting President George Bush in Washington, for talks which could focus on a reduction of US troops. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Talabani suggested that the US could withdraw up to 50,000 of its soldiers from Iraq by the end of the year. The possible pullout was prompted by progress in preparing Iraq's own forces, he told the Washington Post. This the first time a US or Iraqi leader has mentioned withdrawal dates. ... The US has been training home-grown Iraqi troops to take over from their forces to allow a phased withdrawal. Earlier this month the US officially handed over military control of the southern city of Najaf to Iraqi forces. The move was the first of a planned series of security transfers across Iraq, paving the way for an eventual withdrawal of foreign forces.

Some quagmire! The only quagmire is the one the Left is in: They're stuck in 1968! Oh er um, the jihadists are in another quagmire - one dating from the 11th century!

BUSH ACCEPTS SOME RESPONSIBILTY ON BEHALF OF FED RESPONSE

NYTIMES:

''Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government,'' Bush said at joint White House news conference with the president of Iraq. ''To the extent the federal government didn't fully do it's job right, I take responsibility,'' Bush said.

I am convinced that a thorough vetting of the details of the aftermath will prove that the federal/FEMA response will be shown to have been VERY GOOD, and that all the major failures were due to local and state incompetence and negligence. This is based on what we already know.

But that doesn't stop the NYTIMES from MISCHARACTERIZING what Bush said (from the same article):

"President Bush said Tuesday that ''I take responsibility'' for failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina ..."

OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT WHAT HE SAID. They twisted his words to make it seem as if he was admitting total responsibility. WHAT SCUM THE NYTIMES IS. BOTTOM-LINE: Bush has canned brown and taken SOME responsibility for the lack of coordination of the response. THIS IS MORE THAN NAGIN OR BLANCO WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT POINT FINGERS! UPDATE: the MSM is reporting Bush's statement AS IF he accepted FULL responsibilty - which is a distortion which verges on an outright LIE. Gee... I wonder why they would do that!?

45 Bodies Found in a New Orleans Hospital

NYTIMES:

The bodies of 45 people have been found in a flooded uptown hospital here, officials said Monday, sharply increasing the death toll from Hurricane Katrina and raising new questions about the breakdown of the evacuation system as the disaster unfolded. Officials at the hospital, the Memorial Medical Center, said at least some of the victims died while waiting to be removed in the four days after the hurricane struck, with the electricity out and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Steven L. Campanini, a spokesman for the hospital's owner, Tenet Healthcare, said the dead included patients who died awaiting evacuation as well as people who died before the hurricane struck and whose bodies were in the hospital morgue. Mr. Campanini said the dead might have also included evacuees from other hospitals and the surrounding neighborhood who gathered at Memorial while waiting to evacuate the city.

SO... after you read the shocking headline - and wade through the BDS BS - you learn a few FACTS: (1) the dead included people who died elsewhere and those who died BEFORE the hurricane; and (2) that the reason for unnecessary death within that hospital was A FAULTY EVACUATION PLAN AND/OR PLAN EXECUTION. And that means the fault of the state and the city - NOT FEMA. Not the federal government. Not Bush.

USA GIVES SYRIA PENULTIMATE WARNING

As reported EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING THE ARAB MEDIA:

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, fired a strong warning to Syria yesterday over help that Washington accuses Damascus of giving to radical groups in Iraq. “Our patience is running out with Syria,” Khalilzad told a press conference. When asked how the United States could respond, he said “all options are on the table,” including military. “I would not like to elaborate more, they should understand what I mean,” he added.

I predicted that this front would be our next focus of the GWOT. And that it would come soon. It has just KNOCKED ON THE DOOR. I infer that the USA will soon begin air-strikes against Syria, and to give the GREENLIGHT to the Syrian Kurds that their time has come. STAY TUNED...

THE BLINKERED LEFT

DEFINITION: blinkered; adj. - A blinkered person is unable or unwilling to understand other people's beliefs, and blinkered opinions or ways of behaving show an inability or unwillingness to understand other people. DEFINITION: Blinkers - blinkers UK, plural noun (US blinders), two pieces of leather that are put at the side of a horse's eyes so that it can only see where the driver leads it, and not anything else.

Since Katrina, I have been debating the response with some of my MANY Leftie friends, (as a former Leftie raised by hardcore lefties in NY, NY, and I have many MANY Leftie friends - and even MORE FORMER-friends who are Lefties!).

One retort they ALL seem to make at some point goes sort of like this: "Don't give me that KKKarl Rove RIGHT-WING BLOG crap!"

They often say this after I send them something from The Washington Times, or POWERLINE, or INSTAPUNDIT, but it is just as likely to come after I send them something from the Washington Post or Fox News or a DoD briefing link or even an article they missed in the NYTIMES! IN FACT: on this blog, about 33% of all my links are to articles in the MSM - like the NYTIMES, the BBC, the WASHINGTON POST and the like! Which PROVES I am better informed than they are. HERE'S WHY:

They say that right-of-center media are bad as if:

(a) ONLY the MSM reports the truth, (and everything else is false); (b) if it ain't never been reported in the MSM, then it ain't true; (c) if it's ever been reported in any media outlet which is right-of-center then it is partisan and false, (but EVERYTHING left-of-center is objective); and (c) - HERE'S THE KICKER - if you ONLY READ/WATCH MSM/Left-of-center media then you are more informed and better informed than if you read all media - RIGHT and Left, MSM and blogs (even though all the bloggers always provide links/footnotes --- something you NEVER see in the DT-MSM!) -- as I do, and as they KNOW I DO since often I am arguing with them about how poorly the NYTIMES covers events and how this is ALWAYS biased against the Right.

Of course, their position is NUTS. But BLINKERING themselves is a necessary reaction formation for Lefties. WHY? Well, they need to do it in order to maintain denial in the face of a reality which contradicts their long-held beliefs, irrational historical analyses and failed prescriptive policies. This is the same impulse which drives them to BDS: BLINKERING themselves and thereby maintaining their wall of denial requires that a lot of emotional fuel; hatred is the fuel.

When Lefties DO start to read BOTH sides, they start to become deprogrammed. That's what they fear.

BUSH IS SAINTLY

CNN showed President Bush touring NOLA on the back of a military truck with ADM Thad Allen, LTG Russel Honore, AND Mayor Nagin and Governor Babineaux Blanco!

After those two clowns spent the better part of the past ten days doing nothing but hissy-fitting, pouting, whining, and attacking him.

HE IS A SAINTLY MAN. There are no 2 ways about it.

NYTIMES PUT OBL ON MAGAZINE COVER TO "HONOR" VICTIOMS OF 9/11

I believe in the 1st Amendment, and the NYTIMES - like EVERY other Left-wing dominated outlet in the MSM - is entitled to print whatever "Bush Derangement Syndrome" infected lies and distortions they want, whenever they want. And they should expect and accept the criticism that some readers of their ideologically infected rag , for THAT is also FREE SPEECH.

HERE'S MY CRITIQUE: By putting OBL on the cover on the 4th anniversary of 9/11 , the NYTIMES exposes itself for what it is, and reveals its STUNNING lack of sympathy to the families of Osama's victims.

They have no shame. IMHO: This kind of stuff aids and abets the enemy, and we all know what that is called. In WW2, FDR punished people for doing what the NYTIMES does almost everyday.

GAZANS TORCH VACATED SYNAGOGUES

NYTIMES: "KISSUFIM CROSSING, Gaza Strip, Sept. 12 - Palestinians moved into the former settlement of Neve Dakalim today after Israel ended its 38-year presence in the Gaza Strip, setting fire to the main synagogue and ripping out aluminum window frames and metal ceiling fixtures. The Palestinian flag and the flag of the militant group Hamas flew from the synagogue roof. "

The Gazans did NOT choose to reclaim or recycle the religious buildings - as some Muslims have done in the past; for example, the beautiful Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul did not become a museum until 1935, as part of Ataturk's reformation of Turkey and Islam; it was built in 600AD as St. Sophia Cathedral -- and was Christendom's 2nd most imporant Cathedral - to St. Peter's in Rome - for 916 years; the cathedral only became the Suleymaniye Mosque in 1453, (and was a mosque for only 481 years); in other words: this edifice was "transformed" TWICE without arson!

OBVIOUSLY, the Gazans could not control their racist hatred, and the Gazan authorities could not control the Gazans. The Gazans torched the EMPTY synagogues and demolished them by HAND by swinging hateful sledge-hammers into concrete columns. This display of UNBRIDLED HATE AND GENOCIDAL DESTRUCTIVENESS reveals EVERYTHING you need to know about the chances Gazans have at establishing the rule of law in their own "space" and about the chances Israel has at peaceful relations with the Gazans. ZERO. NADA. BUPKUS. ZILCH. Only this time - as Mofaz and others in the IDF have WARNED: the response to an attack by the IDF will be more destructive then any other reprisal - ever.

But the Gazans will suffer on the home front, too. Because, HAMAS will do to Gaza what the Taliban did to Afghanistan - and they'll have plenty of help from the other jihadoterrorist groups and from Iran and Syria - (as Egypt turns a blind eye). Gazans now may have been handed their independence from Israel, but unless and until they win their indpendence from jihadism they will achieve neither democracy, nor freedom, nor prosperity.

UPDATE - JIHAD WATCH: "Rajoub: PA to fight terror only if IDF pulls back more." In other words, they will use terrorism until they attain ALL their goals. From the Jerusalem Post: The Palestinian Authority will take all necessary steps to fight terror in Gaza provided Israel withdraws completely and gives hope there will be negotiations over a Palestinian state and more pullbacks from the West Bank, Palestinian National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub told The Jerusalem Post.

UPDATE #2 (hat tip EURABIANTIMES): A Qassam rocket has been fired from Gaza into Israel. SO: General Mofaz, I'm waiting for the reprisal....

UPDATE #3 - (hat tip McCarthy/NRO/The Corner) - Condi Rice praises the turnover of Gaza and mentions not a word about the torching of the FOUR synagogues. WHEN WILL THE BUSH ADMINSTRATION HOLD ABBAS AND THE PNA TO THEIR COMMITTMENTS?!

UPDATE #4 - The BBC reports on the withdrawal and just MENTIONS IN PASSING THE ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST FORMER SYNAGOGUES:

"Palestinians celebrate Gaza exit - Jubilant Palestinians have taken control of the Gaza Strip following the withdrawal of Israeli troops more than 38 years after they captured the area. Thousands entered the former Jewish enclaves, some setting an abandoned synagogue ablaze in a settlement. Crowds celebrated in the town of Rafah, on the border between Gaza and Egypt. "

They make it sound as if the racist arson attacks (plural) were SINGULAR and just part of the jubilant fun: "OH, THOSE WACKY HAMAS BOYS ARE SUCH WILD FUNSTERS!" In fact, the growing lawlessness of Gaza bodes very VERY badly - for the Arabs and Israel. Gaza needs a few brave men - as brave as the Afghanis and Iraqis and Lebanese who are fighting to establish democracy and the rule of law in their own nations. And Abbas is no Karzai, no Jafrazi, and no Hariri. And there is NONE on the horizon, either. I think, perhaps, that between Arafat and Hamas every reasonable Gazan was either murdered or exiled.

UPDATE #5 - NYTIMES:

"Behind him, a settlement synagogue built in the shape of a huge Star of David was smoldering, fires inside sending smoke through the edges of the star. Atop the building, in the dim smoky moment before dawn, one could see a huge green flag of Hamas, with a smaller Palestinian flag flying below it. A few minutes later, a large black flag of Islamic Jihad was flying just under the Hamas flag, above the Palestinian one. Five minutes later, the Palestinian flag had been taken down altogether."

Sheesh, the NYTIMES makes it sound like the friggin' Star spangled banner! Can you IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE IF IT WAS JEWS BURNING MOSQUES!? I hardly think that they would wax poetic about smoldering smoky pre-dawn moments. They'd be calling for sanctions against Israel! Well, this is just more proof that the NYTIMES - like the Beeb and so much of the MSM is anti-Israel. We should be outraged at these acts of racist violence and we should be demanding that Abbas fulfil his obligations under ther Roadmap and crack down on the terrorists.

GAZANS CLAIM THEY WILL STILL BE OCCUPIED AFTER ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL

GAZA, Sept. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan said on Sunday that despite an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the coastal strip is still under occupation. In a written statement sent to reporters, Dahlan, who returned Saturday from Jordan for treating back pain there, said Israel still keeps the ability to invade Gaza again in the future by controlling Gaza's airspace, waterway, borders and crossings. "Israel is deceiving itself if it believes that occupying Gaza Strip has now ended," he said. Israeli security sources said earlier that ceremonies of handingover the security control of Gaza Strip to the Palestinian security forces would start at 4:30 pm (13:00 GNT) Sunday at Erez crossing, declaring the start of the Israeli army withdrawal.

This is a bad sign. Scroll down for prediction...

KATRINA AND THE DUST BOWL

In the 1930's, a ten year drought led to widespread bankruptcies in the Midwest and to the dissolution of scores and scores of family farms - which in turn led to a vast inner-migration as impoverished farmers - known as Okies - left the drought-stricken dust bowls of the Midwest and tried to make a new life for themselves - all over the USA, but mostly out West.

They were refugees of sorts - evacuees - vacating the Dust Bowl for a new "promised land"... The novel THE GRAPES OF WRATH immortalized the ordeal many faced as they made this journey.

The drought was slow and insidious and pernicious; it wreaked its havoc months by month and year by year - months and years that seemed hopeless.

Last week, Nature wreaked a massive and sudden blow to a region almost as large as the area hit by the Great Drought, and has displaced - in one fell swoop - perhaps as many as a million people. Some will make new lives for themselves and their families in the wake of the storm surge and the flood. Some will return and rebuild in their cities and towns, and replant their roots.

With the help of a feeling nation, ALL the survivors, (those who relocate and those who return) - and this nation, will sumount the difficulties brought on by this natural catastrophe, and the efforts and its results will reinvigorate the entire nation. It will be a struggle - just like in the 1930's, but we will make it. And we will be the better for it, too.

Godpseed.

UPDATE: More HERE - (YAHOO/CSM: "The great Katrina migration"), (hat tip PRAIRIE PUNDIT).

9/11/05

Four years have passed since they attacked us here - and we FINALLY started to fight back. I pray that all the families of those lost on that day - and in the counter-attack we've been waging since - find more and greater strength and peace each day in the cherished memories and everlasting blessings of their lost loved ones. And: God Bless Our Troops.

Peace through Victory.