Random thoughts on New Orleans

- Not only do I think Michael Chertoff and Michael "Brownie" Brown won't get fired -- they'll probably get Presidential Medals of Freedom, like those other freakin' numbnuts, Paul Bremer and George Tenet. After all, Bremer and Tenet only screwed up a foreign country. Chertoff and Brown actually screwed up an American city.

- Latest example of When it Matter Most, It Matters Least: The environmental cleanup in New Orleans. The flooding of a single underground gasoline or chemical storage tank would require a ridiculous amount of bureaucratic hoop-jumping with EPA, etc. When the whole city is flooded? Let's just pump it all into the lake. The reasoning is, of course, to adequately treat all that waste water would just be too hard and take too long. When it matters most, it matters least.

- I've always been proud to be among the 3% of Americans who strongly dislike Barbara Bush. She's always gotten a free ride from Americans because she's overweight -- she's got a frame like a linebacker -- she's got grey hair, and she always wears pearls. But underneath, she's a real be-yotch. Now, I feel somewhat vindicated that more Americans recently got a glimpse of the real Bar. The quote:

What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.

Barbara Bush, in an interview on September 5 with the radio program "Marketplace."

To read the story click here. The followup story is here. To listen, click here.