September 07, 2005

9/7: If It's Brown, Flush It Down?

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The fallout from Hurricane Katrina continues to shape almost every debate in the blogosphere. This a.m., Pres. Bush is coming under intense criticism for using firefighters as "props," bloggers are calling for FEMA dir. Michael Brown to be fired, even as Bush and LA Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) take plenty of blame themselves, an anonymous source could become a problem for the Washington Post, and the Air America scandal takes another turn. Plus, Daily Kos' anti-DLC initiative misses its launch date.

BUSH: Fighting A Political Firestorm With Firemen?

At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall calls attention to a Salt Lake Tribune report about how local firefighters went south to help in "various disaster zones in the region," but "found out that they were going to be used as FEMA community relations specialists." The article states, one crew's "first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas." A number of left-of-center blogger pick up on the post, pushing the Tribune story to the top of MSM-article/blog-comment aggregator Memeorandum. Economist Brad DeLong and ex-Spinsanity editor Brendan Nyhan simply reproduce Marshall's post (and acknowledge that they are doing so). Markos Moulitsas posts a photo of Bush walking with firefighters, and calls it "absolutely the most f---ed up thing ever done by this president, in a long list of f---ed up things." He also re-posts a similar photo from last week with Bush standing in front of a Coast Guard helicopter, which presumably could have been rescuing people in N.O. MyDD's Scott Shields, on the firefighters: "It's safe to say that they never intended to go all the way to Louisiana to rescue the President's poll numbers."

Diligent WH briefing-watching lefty Wonkette posts the transcript from the WH spokesperson Scott McClellan's latest tendentious presser. Excerpted:

McClellan: We are securing the American people by staying on the offensive abroad and working to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East.
Q: That's a talking point. That's a talking point.
McClellan: No, that's a fact. Go ahead.
Q: No, it's not.

Liberal Crooks and Liars declares partial satisfaction: "Besides muttering 'blame game' over and over, Scotty did say the buck stops with Bush."

The report that Bush would lead the investigation into what went wrong draws no small amount of derision from liberal blogs. Bushout: "For starters, George W. Bush has announced that the investigation into his adminstration's failures will be led by ... (wait for it...) ...George W. Bush." Header at Random Existence: "Bush to decide if he did a good enough job."

FEMA: If It's Brown, Flush It Down

Andrew Sullivan rounds up a list of blogs calling for FEMA dir. Brown's firing, and adds, "this covers the spectrum from left to right, except for the most shameless of the Bush partisans. And again: few of these people are exempting the local authorities for dereliction of duty either. But the feds dropped the ball. Maybe this time -- for the first time -- this administration will actually show accountability."

Liberal AMERICAblog's John Aravosis laments, "The sad part is that Bush will fire the FEMA director and then use him as the scapegoat to say 'problem solved.'" CAP's ThinkProgress points out that 2 of Brown's deputies have "no emergency management experience whatsoever."

Conservative Tom Maguire: "At a minimum, I would expect the Federal role to be that of Preparedness Auditor -- if New Orleans was not ready, FEMA should have written some CYA memos and an appropriate Federal official should have noted their lack of preparedness in a CYA speech."

BUSH V. BLANCO: Not To Mention Nagin, Chertoff And Brown Again

Conservative Ed Morrissey is pleased that ABC News has looked into the N.O. evacuation plan and why it wasn't followed. As he relays, ABC reports that Blanco's office "never asked for evacuation assistance from the federal government as part of their interaction with FEMA, only for assistance with shelter and provisions. They assumed that the city of New Orleans had followed its own evacuation plan. That assumption wound up costing lives."

A TPM Cafe contributor disputes the assertion that "Bush was responsible for the mandatory evacuation of N.O. before Katrina," that is, calling Blanco and requesting one before one was declared. Comparing the AP's version and the transcript of a Blanco presser, the writer concludes, "obviously the mandatory evacuation was made well before Bush's phone call. More lies."

Arthur Chrenkoff posts a letter from a reader: "What's been lost in all the blather over New Orleans is that it was really Mississippi that took the big hit. The buildings in New Orleans are still standing; the Gulf Coast of Mississippi basically has been scrubbed, like God took out a pencil eraser and just erased it. ... I really don't like to find fault at times like this, but one thing that was missing was a quick recognition that in such a situation the potential for civil collapse is nearly 100%. Once the weather settles, you need to immediately declare marshal law and send in the MPs. That's basically what [GOP MS Gov.] Haley Barbour did in Mississippi - there were a few early problems but very quickly the MPs were patrolling what was left of Biloxi and Gulfport and keeping a lid on things."

Arianna Huffington quotes Bush, McClellan, DHS Sec. Michael Chertoff and others warning that this isn't the time for "the blame game," and comments: "With that kind of message discipline, how long before the media start parroting the party line? With a few brave exceptions like Jack Cafferty, the correct answer would be... right about now." She cites Cafferty's fellow CNNers Miles O'Brien and Carol Costello as such parrots. She writes, the "sooner we've identified those responsible for the Katrina tragedy, the sooner we can make sure they're not around to screw up the recovery. So, yes, now is precisely the time for assessing blame."

T. Bevan at Real Clear Politics issues a Katrina-related "report card" of sorts.

• N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin -- "I admire Nagin's intensity and understand his frustration. It's too bad he didn't show the same sort of urgency in ordering and organizing the evacuation last week
• Blanco -- "It's hard to find any redeeming qualities in Blanco's conduct during this entire affair."
• Brown -- "He's got to go."
• Bush -- "When you finish sifting through all of the partisan red herrings" blaming him for the trouble, it remains that "Bush is responsible for his players and he should have recognized sooner that Michael Brown was not getting the job done."

He adds: "Having said that, it's worth noting that even a more competent, experienced FEMA director wouldn't have been able to stop the flooding or most likely to have foreseen the widespread looting and violence that followed and caused such havoc with rescue efforts."

In 2 separate posts beginning this weekend, contrarian Mickey Kaus has been arguing first that the multiple chains of command inherent in federalism itself is partly to blame for the slow response to Katrina. In the follow-up he adds: "The whole problem would be easier if we had a unitary, hierarchical government in which federal preemption wasn't seen as an invasion of state 'sovereignty.'"

Conservative radio talker Hugh Hewitt writes, the upcoming investigation led by Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) may not "be an inquest, but a penalty phase" aimed at the fed'l govt. He writes, Lieberman and his fellow Dem sens on the cmte "aren't going to be in a hurry to expose the New Orleans mayor and their Democratic colleague Governor Blanco." The GOPers include Lincoln Chafee (RI) and George Voinovich (OH) and others who aren't "exactly the nine GOP senators I'd send out for in this situation ... it will Collins' job to make sure these nine don't get rolled by the Dems." He titles the post "The Collins Moment."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: Anonymice Strike Again!

Media Matters' David Brock has written (and made public) a letter to Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler to express "deep concern over the recent use of a dishonest anonymous source" -- the "senior Bush official" who claimed Blanco had not declared an emergency on 8/28. For the back story, see "BUSH V. BLANCO" in the 9/6 Blogometer.

Centrist Jeff Jarvis writes, while he is "glad to see" the media going hard against fed'l officials re: their laggard Katrina response, "I don't think anger is the best of journalism's performance in Katrina. I think the best of it is that journalism knows it has not done its best. That is new. ... I don't know whether this is really the mark of a new humility, transparency, fallibility, and humanity in big news. But I hope it is."

RECRIMINATIONS: The Amazing Race (Debate)

Conservatives Xrlq and John Hawkins both strongly criticize conservative columnist/blogger Steve Sailer, who had written (see 9/6 Blogometer) at Vdare that there wasn't violence after the Kobe earthquake like there was in N.O. "because, when you get down to it, Japanese aren't blacks." Xrlq writes, according to Sailer, "the world is divided not into Americans and non-Americans, rich vs. poor, civilized vs. uncivilized or even educated vs. non-educated, but but between blacks and non-blacks. It doesn't get any uglier than that, folks." Hawkins: "To smear the overwhelming majority of people in New Orleans by lumping them with the thugs and punks based on the color on their skin is disgraceful." Libertarian The Agitator: "I have never understood why Steve Sailer gets taken seriously. Even by people I respect. One can only hope that after this vile screed, said serious-taking will cease."

Lefty African-American blogger Steve Gilliard writes an angry "Letter to Black Conservatives," singling out NRO's Deroy Murdock and popular blogger LaShawn Barber along with Armstrong Williams and Berkeley linguist John McWhorter. Gilliard: "Black conservatives have betrayed the community and must now come to account for their treason. How can they face themselves, much less the community. They have been the allies of racists and those who hold even black children in contempt. The dead and suffering of New Orleans demand no less."

KATRINA FALLOUT: Beautiful Minds

Weather Underground's Wunder Blog, Stormtrack Blog, and others are watching as Tropical Storm Ophelia gathers strength off the coast of FL. WU's Jeff Masters: "She is going to cause plenty of trouble, and will be moving slowly enough that we'll still be talking about her a week from now."

"Barbara Bush" started climbing up the Technorati top searches last p.m., and she remains #1 so far today. 2 other top searches include names of public figures who have made controversial statements about Katrina: "Kanye West" and "Celine Dion" -- who come in at #3 and #9. Among them, West certainly has the most support, from liberal blogs such as Left in the West (no relation).

Ray in Austin reports, "Everybody from New Orleans knows who Blaine Kern is. Everybody who has ever been to Mardi Gras knows him even if they don't recognize the name. Blaine Kern's company manufactures all the floats for just about every Mardi Gras krewe in New Orleans and the surrounding areas." Kern told a local TV station there will indeed be a Mardi Gras this year "if I have anything to say about it."

The New Editor: "Corporations are so often portrayed negatively in movies, books, plays, and the MSM that it becomes easy to forget that corporations are simply organizations made up of people. And those people -- dare we say it? -- sometimes do really good things." TNE lists a number of major corporations that have donated, many over $1M and some over $5M.

Essay-blogger Bill Whittle posts his latest think piece, this time on lessons learned from Katrina: "Courage isn't free. It is taught, taught by certain tribes who have been around enough and seen enough incoming storms to know what one looks like. And I think the people of this nation, and those of New Orleans, specifically, desire and deserve some fundamental lessons in courage. Because we are going to need it." Whittle has a strong following among conservative bloggers. Will Franklin, who excerpted the bit above, tells readers: "You must go read this piece. It is not optional. Go. Now. Read it. Of everything I have read this year, nothing has impacted me as much."

TX-based Charles Kuffner posts a round-up of TX-related blog posts about Katrina relief, plus info about how those in the area can help.

In case you've missed the news, Big Star frontman Alex Chilton and '50s rock and roller Fats Domino, both of whom went missing in Katrina's aftermath, have both turned up okay.

Listed at eBay: "Upon receipt of a valid $100,000 bid, award winning investigative journalist/bestselling author Mark Ebner will officially change his name to 'Ron Bon Jovi' and donate the auction proceeds to the American Red Cross hurricane relief fund."

BLOGS VS. THE BELTWAY: The DLC Gets A Reprieve?

Little Green Footballs, which had been counting down the 2 weeks since Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas announced his plan to make the DLC "radioactive," (see 8/23 Blogometer) and notes this a.m. that Moulitsas "was supposed to unveil his top secret plan to destroy the Democratic Leadership Council... uh... yesterday." Last p.m., a diarist at Daily Kos asked: "Did I miss it? Is it held up because of Katrina? What's up, Markos? I am dying to hear how we can make the DLC 'toxic.' I believe that was the promise. Make my day, Man!" It is not outside the realm of possibility that the author and some of the handful of commenters thereafter are actually trolls.

IRAQ: Is That A Plan For Jihad In Your Pocket, Or ...

TAPPED's Garance Franke-Ruta describes seeing ret. Gen. Wesley Clark (D) speak at a New America Foundation event. "Clark laid out, in the Q & A session, the best case against immediate withdrawal I've yet heard, and laid it out in nuts-and-bolts operational terms. It's a scenario that those who back immediate withdrawal would do well to consider."

Power Line's John Hinderaker highlights a UPI report that a terrrorist captured in Iraq had plans for the 7/7 London bombings: "To my recollection, this is the first clear evidence of al Qaeda using Iraq as a base for attacks against the West since the beginning of the war in 2003. It's interesting that UPI labels the captured terrorist a 'terrorist.' If he hadn't had the bomb plans in his pocket, I suppose he would have been just another 'insurgent.'"

AIR AMERICA: Is Franken More Involved Than He's Said Before?

Conservatives Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney file another installment of their investigative series into Air America, this time showing "the Grand Canyon-sized chasm between what Al Franken says and what Al Franken does." Contrary to Franken's statements, they write, radio personality Franken was a signatory to the "questionable asset transfer" which moved the network from Progress Media to Piquant. As before, they reporoduce documents, and this time quote Franken's previous assertions about his involvement, followed by "THE TRUTH" about each. And as before, the New York Sun has followed up quickly with a report of their own. The story picks up as part 2 at Maloney's Radio Equalizer blog with more about Franken as well as Air America founder Sheldon Drobny.

SENATE '06: Riding It Out

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) has been catching flak from liberal blogs for his 9/4 comment: "There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." PA resident Michael Berube "This humble blog believes we need tougher penalties on people who raid the public till to pay for their children's private (fundamentalist) educations, and who then turn around and complain that drowning and starving hurricane victims should be charged with something like insurance fraud or reckless endangerment of others." Whiskey Bar: "I have to say I still don't get Santorum's reelection strategy. Sure there are plenty of racists in PA who will cheer when he blames those people for not getting out while there was still time (no doubt because they were waiting around for their welfare checks so they could go buy some crack.) But he's already got those votes locked up."

IN THE STATES: Is This A Crisis For Arnold? Or An Opportunity?

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum comments on the CA Assembly's just-passed bill authorizing same-sex marriage: "The bill now moves to the governor's office, where [Gov.] Arnold [Schwarzenegger (R)] will have to decide whether to sign it or not. Will he stick with his peculiar suggestion that the legislature is the wrong place to decide questions like this and we should leave it up to the courts? Or will he make up some other excuse for vetoing it even though he almost certainly has no personal objection to gay marriage? At the very least, his squirming should be entertaining." And either way, it seems likely opponents will place a prop. on an upcoming ballot to overturn it. Captain's Quarters's headline re: same: "California Legislature Confirms Its Lack Of Connection To Voters."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Finally, A Newspaper That Would Have Wonkette For Its Gossip Columnist

Considering that bloggers are mostly talking amongst themselves, Seeing the Forest proposes a "national blog tabloid" -- "a printable blog tabloid which would aggregate news and opinion daily and post it in printable form. That way, individuals could print off copies and distribute them to friends and acquaintances or leave them in public places. In order to work, this tabloid would have to be attractively and professionally formatted, with punchy stories, quick summaries, nice graphics, and a bit of humor. ... This would effectively be a free national hard-copy tabloid printed off at thousands of locations. The tabloid would also be readable online, of course, but the selling point would be its printability. The net is tremendously powerful as a tool for gathering and quickly disseminating information, but it does not reach everyone."

LEST WE FORGET: Pizza Man

Economist Craig Newmark imagines what the Katrina response might have been like if ex-Pres. Clinton was in office:

Tuesday, August 30, Nightline with Ted Koppel:

Domino's Pizza delivery boy: I can tell you that they're working very, very hard on this. They're pulling another all-nighter for sure.
  Koppel: How do you know?
  Delivery boy: Well we usually deliver just three or four pizzas a week to the WH. But tonight we delivered twenty. And Ted?
  Koppel: Yes?
  Delivery boy: They were all double pepperoni!
  Koppel: Wow.

SCOTUS SPECIAL: Re-Ordering The Court

What the blogs are saying about Pres. Bush's pick of John Roberts for CJ of the U.S.

Liberal MyDD's Paul Rosenberg argues that Roberts is not experienced enough for the Chief job: "There have been 16 Chief Justices in American history, and ... every single one of them had a significantly more extensive public record than this nominee. The idea of appointing someone with virtually no record that he will stand by to the Supreme Court is bad enough," but "this is typical coming from a President whose own record and 'accomplishments' are all spin." Rosenberg goes down the list of all 16, noting their qualifying accomplishments. He concludes: "There are plenty of substantive reasons to oppose the Roberts nomination. The historical record shows that there is every reason to require a public accounting from him. To do otherwise would lower the bar for no reason whatsoever, except to hoodwink the American people."

Conservative Ankle Biting Pundits criticizes Senate Jud Chair Arlen Specter for asking Roberts into his office shortly after helping bring Rehnquist's coffin into the Rotunda SCOTUS building. "Couldn't Specter have at least given Roberts an opportunity to be alone with his thoughts during this time? Not only was Rehnquist a mentor and friend to Roberts, but we can't imagine how he feels about being his replacement. ... I mean, for God's sakes, he just carried the man's coffin and his emotions were clearly running high. That's not me talking, that's from a description" in the Washington Post.

RedState, on the announced intention of Jud Cmte Dems to focus on "poverty, race and government policies" in the Roberts hearings: "Affirmative action and voting rights laws have what to do with the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina or the relief efforts? Nothing, and Judge Roberts positions on these matters, or the positions ascribed to him, were going to be the subject of scrutiny pre-Katrina. And again, Roberts is replacing Rehnquist, not Stevens."

Kausfiles suspects Roberts had always been Bush's choice for the Chief slot, and that Rehnquist had been "persuaded to hold off on retiring and let O'Connor retire first" so the "names of Janice Rogers Brown and others" could be "floated in order to draw fire as being 'too conservative' -- making the ultimate Roberts nomination seem more reasonable and something Dems could live with."

With all the talk that Bush will pick a woman or a minority, K.J. Lopez muses at The Corner, if Bush picks either Michael Luttig or Michael McConnell, "I'm buying a round for The Corner in awe of Bush's disinterest in the conventional wisdom."

Posted by at September 7, 2005 12:41 PM