September 2005 Archives

For a party that uses an elephant as its sympol, the shrill, whining partisans of the GOP have short memories.

When Bill Clinton occupied the White House, we received lots of mail (both on paper and via email) praising our columns exposing that President's lies and duplicity. We were, they said, one of the good guys.

Now that George W. Bush lives at 1600 Penn, those same partisans now call us "liars," "pimps" and "tools of the left wing."

Why? Because we dare to apply the same standards to their boy. We actually have the gall to expect Bush to tell the truth and then call him on it when he, like Clinton, lies to the American people.

I'm not surprised. When Clinton was President, Democrats called us "right wing fanatics" and "idiots." Now they praise us in emails and on anti-Bush websites.

Sadly, too many political partisans are idiots, brainless fools who let their party leaders do their thinking for them. If they have any functioning gray matters, it long ago turned into mush by listening to -- and believing -- the bullshit that comes out of political parties.

I stopped caring what partisans -- Democrat or Republican -- think. Why waste time with lemmings?

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving scumbag. Tom DeLay, who prided himself in his take-no-prisoners style of politics and loved the nickname "The Hammer," may become a prisoner himself after a Texas grand jury indicted him for criminal conspiracy.

That DeLay is a crook comes as no surprise to longtime Washington watchers. The Hammer has always been on the take, for sale to the highest bidder. The surprise came with the indictment.

The bad news, of course, comes on the heels of Senate Leader Bill Frist's problems and the possible pending indictments of White House officials in the Valerie Plame case.

"The chickens are roosting and are ready to feed," chuckles one Democratic stagegist.

Perhaps but an indictment is a long way from conviction. There's no doubt on the hill about DeLay's guilt but there is still doubt on whether or not a Texas prosecutor can prove it.

According to The Associated Press, lawyers for House Majority Leader and Chief Crook Tom DeLay fear an indictment is coming for the scandal-scarred Republican honcho.

If so, such an indictment is long overdue. DeLay is a major slimeball in a political party now dominated by slimeballs. Indicting this con artist would be a first step towards proving that justice is still possible in a world dominated by politicians who believe they are above the law.

All is not well in the good ship Elephant. It was bad enough that Republicans had to hold their nose and defend scandal-ridden House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but now it turns out the Senate's head honcho, Senator Bill Frist, has played fast and loose with ethics in some stock sales.

Frist, of course, claims he did nothing wrong. DeLay claims the same thing and everyone knows he's a crook. Frist suffers from the same disease that infects most politicians -- a blind belief that, somehow, the rules don't apply to them.

And they don't as long as voters continue to put these criminals in office and keep them there. Those who vote for crooks like DeLay and Frist (and support them in the name of "party loyalty') are just as guilty and contribue just as much to the moral decay within our government and society.

According to The National Enquirer, Dubya's drinking again, hitting the sauce on a regular basis, bucking under the pressure of being what one of the worst Presidents in American history.

Ordinarily, such headlines in a tabloid like the Enquirer brings guffaws but the gossipy tabloid broke a number of stories about Bill Clinton's sexcapades during the Monica Lewinsky debacle and other news sites, including our sister publication Capitol Hill Blue, suggest the Prez is back on the bottle.

As a recovering alcoholic (sober 11 years, three months and 15 days), the news doesn't surprise me, although it is depressing. As a fellow traveler, I hate to see anyone give in to the Beast. But the signs are there: disinterest, inability to focus, a lack of compassion during the Hurricane Katrina nightmare and growing reports of temper tantrums. And prominent Washington psychiatrist Dr. Justin A. Frank of George Washington University, author of the book, Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President, agrees:

It is true that blame and denial are arguably as typical of politicians as of alcoholics, though the latter are generally more likely to involve family members in the process. But blame is also a reminder of one’s destructive impulse; the individual who hasn’t resolved his anxieties surrounding that impulse is particularly motivated to avoid confronting those anxieties, which he can accomplish by shifting responsibility to someone else, or denying it outright. Drinkers turn to alcohol to suppress anxiety.

Bush is a complusive liar: a trademark of a drunk. He avades responsibility: Another warning sign. He is moody and temperamental: Strike three.

Tell me, Mr. Bush. How many more have to die in your illegal, immoral and ill-conceived war in Iraq? The death toll of American soldiers now tops 1900 (and may be even higher because of the way the Pentagon plays games with numbers). More than 150,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of American actions.

You call it "collateral damage" Mr. President but let's call it what it really is -- outright murder. Your war is based on lies. We know that now. Some of us knew that going in but others would not listen. And you, sir, are a liar who lacks even basic decency or compassion. You avoid any and all responsibility for your actions, just as you callously avoided putting your own skin in harm's way by hiding out in the Texas Air Guard during the Vietnam war. And now your actions show only too well the contempt you have for those who serve in war.

Mr Bush, you are a coward, a liar and a murderer. You are a dispicable human being, beneath contempt. And the blood of every dead American soldier and the many innocent Iraqi civilians, is on your hands and the hands of every nutcase who supports your insane actions.

Looks like Georgie and the boys over at 1600 Penn haven't learned a damn thing from the Michael Brown debacle at FEMA. Now Dubya wants to put another political hack into a sensitive job at Homeland Security -- this time nominating an inexperienced bimbo named Julie Myers to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

Myers, a lawyer, has never managed a large bureaucracy and her primary claim to fame is a brief stint as chief of staff Michael Chertoff, the cretin Bush put in charge of Homeland Security, and 16 months working with Ken Starr on his laughable investigation of former President Bill Clinton.

Her real qualifications, if you can call them that, comes from birth and who she sleeps with: Her uncle is Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She married Chertoff's current chief of staff, John F. Wood, just this past Saturday.

Another crony in charge of protecting our nation's borders. Just what we don't need.

Last week we reported, tongue in cheek (so to speak), about the new survey that shows a significant number of teenage girls, aged 15-19, are noshing on other teenagers because they don't consider oral sex to be be real sex.

That, it turns out, was only part of the story. Time Magazine reports this week that the study also shows that a growing number of the young women are noshing on each other.

"A new survey says many U.S. teens have engaged in oral sex--and it's not just boys on the receiving end," Time says.

Ohmigod! Bar the doors. Bad enough you had to protect your precious teenage girls from the raging harmones of the boy next door but now you have to worry about his sister as well?

This of cource will send the rabid right wing into stroke territory. The conservative movement in this country is dominated by homophobes and this is just the kind of news that will send the Jerry Falwells to the pulpits to preach about the downfall of humanity.

Which is bullshit. Kids have been exploring their sexuality for generations and, for some, that exploration has including an encounter with the same sex. I'm a flaming heterosexual and the concept of making it with another man has never crossed my mind but I've known others -- men and women -- who say they either thought about or actually had sex with a same sex partner even though they eventually ended up in male-female relationships.

As Time reports:

More than half the adolescents surveyed, for example, said they had engaged in oral sex (and their claims are fairly credible, since the questions were posed not face to face by an adult interviewer but through a specially designed computer program). That proportion was about the same among boys and girls. And although you may assume that girls mostly perform and boys receive, the numbers show the give and take is again about equal.

Another surprise: about 11% of girls 15 to 19 say they have had at least one same-sex encounter--the same percentage that was found in women 18 to 44. (The biggest proportion, 14%, was among women 18 to 29.) You would expect the numbers to rise steadily, if slowly, as women have more opportunities to have such encounters. That they don't suggests that same-sex behavior is more acceptable among teenagers than it used to be.

Is this immoral? Depends on your upbringing and beliefs. For many, myself included, it is not. Is it unhealthy? As with heterosexual activity, it depends on what you are doing and how you are doing it. Unprotected sex is never safe and sexually-transmitted diseases can, in some cases, be passed on through oral contact.

But the moralists who try and control our lives will never see it from that perspective. They will wail and moan about sin and crimes against God and nature.

But they won't stop it.

Never have.

Never will.

Damn. Where were these girls when I was in high school? According to a new report by the National Center for Health Statistics, half of teenage girls 15-19 have enjoyed the pleasures of oral sex, with the frequency increasing to 70 percent for 18 and 19 year olds.

Same for teenage boys in the same age range. While a lot of young girls still hold out before doing "it," they don't draw the line at doing the nasty orally. And, if you believe the teenagers interviewed by various media on the subject, the kids are pretty damn good at going down on each other. Hell, even Forbes is writing about it.

Seems a lot of teens explain away blowjobs by claiming oral sex is "not really sex," a rationalization that former President Bill Clinton tried to use to explain away his Oval Office exploits with intern Monica Lewinsky.

"Oral sex is far less intimate than intercourse. It's a different kind of relationship," said Claire Brindis, professor of pediatrics at the University of California-San Francisco. "At 50 percent, we're talking about a major social norm. It's part of kids' lives."

Yum yum.

The whiners and crybabies who defend the illegal, immoral and downright stupid actions of President George W. Bush get their diapers bent out of shape when you suggest their boy is anything but the saint they foolishly claim him to be.

Sadly, Bush is an idiot, a foolish little frat boy in over his head. Has been for a long time and the blithering idiots who defend him are as brain dead as their hero.

Too bad. American cries out for strong leadership but that ain't gonna happen as long as the Bushites control government and the rabid right rides roughshod over the Constitution.

There are three kinds of lies, Mark Twain once said: Lies, damn lies and statistics. And George W. Bush is three kinds of a liar: A liar, a damned liar and a statistically-proven liar.

Bush stood in front of reporters in Mississippi Monday and lied outright when he claimed he did not know embattled FEMA director Mike Brown had thrown in the towel and resigned. In fact, Bush gave Brown the towel and told him to throw it or hang himself with it. He had demanded Brown's resignation and knew before he landed in the Gulf states that he had it. Only problem was, he told Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff to delay the announcement until after the photo op trip to the the hurricane ravaged areas of Mississippi and New Orleans. Dubya doesn't like competition when it comes to staging news events.

But Brown, pissed at being forced out, went ahead and released his resignation to the media. When confronted by reporters, Bush does whaat he always does when faced with a situation not scripted in advance by his handlers -- he lied.

Often, when watching the comedy show known as the Bush White House, I remember a comment from "Deep Throat," Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's famous source on Watergate:

Forget about the myths surrounding the White House. The sad truth is that these are not very bright people and things got out of hand.

From Thursday's White House press briefing:

Q Scott, the House Democratic leader says that the investigation announced yesterday by the House with Senate Republican leaders is a sham and that she's not going to appoint any Democratic members to it. Do you see that as an impediment to having an investigation? What's the White House reaction?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President actually met with the congressional leaders earlier today. He met with -- including Speaker Hastert and Majority Leader Frist. And the President, among other topics that they discussed, expressed his appreciation for the Congress moving forward on a joint bipartisan investigation of the response to Katrina. The President talked about how we need to have a thorough analysis of what worked and what went wrong -- what was right and what went wrong, because it's important that we be able to apply the lessons we learn to future threats that we may face, whether those are possible WMD attacks or threats from natural disasters, such as a hurricane.

And so the President is appreciative of the Majority Leader and Speaker moving forward to set up a joint bipartisan investigation. This is a time -- Congress has an important oversight role to play and the leaders recognize that. That's why they're moving forward on setting up this investigation so that they can pull the facts together. And we appreciate those efforts.

And I haven't seen -- I haven't seen exactly what she said, but we're trying to focus on how we can work together to meet the immediate needs, and also lay the groundwork for the long-term rebuilding and recovery efforts. And that was a lot of what the discussion was with the members of Congress that were here today.

Q Some of the members who were here today said that the President should appoint like a czar or somebody to oversee the rebuilding and recovery. Does the President intend to do that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, we're acting on a number of fronts to get help to people who need it now and to lay the groundwork for the long-term rebuilding and recovery efforts. There are a lot of immediate needs that we continue to have. I mentioned the ongoing life-saving operations and the life-sustaining operations. There is also the issue of flood control and getting that flood -- pulling those flood waters back.

And as I mentioned, it's going to be a very ugly scene once we go in after the flood waters have been pumped out of there and they've receded. We've got a lot of important priorities to deal with right now. There are mortuary affairs teams going in there. There will be bodies that will have to be recovered. And we've got to continue to focus on some of these immediate needs.

But we are also discussing a lot of ideas for how we move forward on the rebuilding and recovery efforts. As I said, this is a time for all of us to come together and work together and find the best possible solutions as we move forward.

And so we -- so we welcome all the ideas that are being discussed. Many of these ideas that were discussed in this meeting earlier today are things that we're already looking at and we will be talking more about as we move forward.

Q So you're saying it's premature, though, now to talk about --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I wouldn't describe it that way. This is a time for people to be offering big ideas and offering ways for us to move forward on the rebuilding and recovery. That's what we've been doing here. That's one of the reasons the President is moving forward on the initiatives later today. We've been acting, and members of Congress have been acting, and we appreciate their efforts, too.

Q But, Scott, let me just ask you, on the investigation front, because a couple of days ago, the President used interesting language by saying, "I'm going to lead an investigation into what went right and what went wrong." You said, in fact, that would be some kind of after-action analysis. And now, Republicans are saying they'll have a special committee, which Democrats say that they don't buy into. So can't the President just clear all this up? What kind of investigation does he want, and by whom, and will he support it being done independent of the federal government?

MR. McCLELLAN: I would say what the President has said. The President made it very clear that we've got to remain focused on the immediate needs right now, and that's where our focus remains. That's what he'll be talking more about later today. There are people who are in need of assistance, and we continue to keep our focus there.

We also believe it's important for there to be a full investigation of the initial response, the preparedness and response --

Q By whom?

MR. McCLELLAN: Congress has a role to play in that. They're moving forward on a joint investigation. And the President made it clear that he's going --

Q But it's not joint, the Democrats say it won't be joint.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President made it clear that he's going to lead an effort to investigate the response, as well. And we'll be talking more about that as we move forward. Now is the time to remain focused where we are.

Q Well, I understand. But since the President first brought this up it's not something that he's kicking down the road -- or maybe he will; that's not clear -- but the White House --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that's it. I mean, I think that you have to keep in mind --

Q You keep saying this isn't the time for accountability now --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, this is a time to help people, and that's what we're doing. So that's where we are right now.

Q Right, but you can do both, presumably, right? Or should you do both? I mean, the Congress says they're getting started on an investigation. You're saying that you shouldn't be doing that now?

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, they haven't started yet. They are setting up the process to begin that investigation.

Q But it's a White House investigation and then there's a congressional investigation. But the Democrats don't buy into a congressional investigation, so --

MR. McCLELLAN: The President hasn't outlined the investigation that he's talked about making sure that we lead, so we'll be talking about that as we move forward. And I wouldn't agree with your characterization of kicking it down the road. We've got to stay focused on what the needs are of the people in the region right now. There are a lot of people who continue to need assistance, and we don't want to divert resources that are part of those ongoing immediate needs.

Q To get you on the record, does he, or does he not support an independent review of what went on, what went right and what went wrong -- independent of the government?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that, again, this isn't a time to start getting into start discussing all the options that are available. The President is going to be outlining how we'll be moving forward to fully investigate things and make sure there's a thorough analysis of --

Q When is the time?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- the federal, state and local response efforts, and how those plans were. And Congress is setting that up; they're moving forward. They have an important oversight role to play, and we appreciate that bipartisan effort that the Speaker and Majority Leader are working on.

Q So the President is open to the idea of somebody to run the disaster relief effort independently of FEMA and the other organizations?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, remember, all week long I've talked to you about how we've been discussing a lot of ideas. We remain, first and foremost, focused on those immediate needs. We have also been laying a lot of groundwork, or beginning to lay a lot of groundwork for the planning on the longer-term rebuilding and recovery efforts that will be needed. And there are a lot of ideas that are still being discussed. I'm not trying to limit options, but I think the President will be the one to announce initiatives and plans that we undertake as they are ready, or the respective department that will be overseeing those efforts.

Q When can we expect to hear him announce that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, as we move forward we'll be talking more about that, Bill. I don't want to put time frames on things right now. We're moving quickly on a number of different fronts, first and foremost, on efforts to make sure people are getting the assistance they need.

Q This congressional investigation isn't going to be very bipartisan if there are no Democrats on it.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I haven't seen exactly what the Congresswoman said earlier today. We've been focused on meetings and focused on acting on some of these initiatives that the President is going to be outlining later today.

We believe -- the President believes very strongly -- this is one of the things -- and let me go back and talk to you about this meeting because I think that he talked about some important things. It was a very constructive meeting that the President had with congressional Republicans earlier today. It was focused on how we're meeting the immediate needs of people affected by Katrina and how we can move forward on the longer-term plans. He talked about how this was one of the worst and largest natural disasters in our nation's history. And he talked about it was important for all of us to unite at the federal, state and local levels to make sure we're working together to do all we can to support the people who have been affected by this terrible natural disaster. And he went in and talked about his recent visits to Mississippi and Louisiana, both on Friday and then again on Monday, and he talked about our efforts to help people get back on their feet and give them hope for the better days that lie ahead.

That's where the President's focus is right now; it's on those people and it's on how we can come together and work together. There are immediate needs that we continue to meet -- work to meet. We continue to work to save lives. We continue to deliver critical government benefits to people and make sure that we're getting it to where they are, because we recognize that some of those people aren't going to be able to pick up and move to centers that may be set up. It includes people in shelters; it includes people in homes, apartments, or hotels, wherever they may be staying.

It includes addressing the public health issues. The EPA and CDC spoke about some of those yesterday, and they'll continue to keep the public updated as we move forward, particularly in the New Orleans region where those flood waters have presented us with some serious challenges as we move forward.

And, of course, I mentioned that he talked about the importance of investigating the preparedness and response. He also talked about -- updated the members on our counterterrorism efforts. The President talked about the discussions and briefings that have been held to make sure that we're keeping our focus on potential threats during this time, as well.

As you all know, the President continues to receive his daily intelligence briefings. That is one of the first things he starts his day with. Yesterday he had a National Security Council and Homeland Security Council briefing to make sure we're keeping our guard up and that we're on top of potential threats that we may face.

The discussion in this meeting really centered on how we've got a lot of work to do. Members were talking about that. Everybody recognizes that. And we've got to focus on meeting those immediate needs and coming up with the ideas and solutions to meet the longer-term efforts, as well. So this was very much a meeting discussing ways we can solve problems and move forward together. And we hope that all of us can continue doing that.

Q Would it be fair if I have a question on another subject? The President's definition of "bipartisan" would include members of the Democratic Party?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the Speaker and Majority Leader made it clear that they intended to move forward on a bipartisan committee.

Q Those are Republicans. I'm asking -- that would include --

MR. McCLELLAN: They said they were going to move forward on a bipartisan committee. They are the congressional leadership and they're moving forward in a bipartisan way.

Q On a separate issue, how does the President propose the country will pay for all of this?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, pay for all of --

Q The reconstruction relief effort, which is --

MR. McCLELLAN: We talked about the immediate needs that we're working to address right now. And when it comes to addressing those immediate needs, we've already passed one supplemental request, an emergency budget request, that provides $10.5 billion to meet some immediate needs. Yesterday we made a second request for $51.8 billion --

Q And to finance that, though, the country will go into debt to do that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's going to -- keep in mind, these are one-time costs, but we're going to make sure the needs of the people are met. And it will have an impact on the budget, at least in the short-term. But these are one-time costs we're talking about. But we're going to do whatever it takes to meet the needs of those on the ground. We are going to spare no effort to get them the help that they need.

And the President has made it clear in meetings he has been having that we are going to show the true compassion of America in all that we do. And that includes in the delivery of government benefits, critical benefits that people depend on, on a daily basis. And that's what we'll be talking about more later today. We're going to do all we can to support the faith-based and community groups that are helping those in need. That's why the President met with a diverse group of faith-based and community organizations the other day to address some of their concerns.

Q I'm going to yield the floor, but I just have one more question. Why does the President believe it is morally justified, why is it the right thing to give some of the richest people on the planet a huge tax cut right now?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's not a fair --

Q Well, that's what the estate tax cut repeal, making it permanent, is, isn't it? There are some people who want to hand on billions -- hundreds of millions of dollars to their --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no -- the tax cut you're talking about -- I don't know of any that are expiring this year. They expire in later years.

Q Right. But why at this point in our history is it justified, morally right to do that?

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I'd have to dispute your characterization, because all Americans receive tax cuts. We went through a very difficult time, economically, and our national economy is really a lifeline for that region that has been hit by this hurricane. We must continue to keep our national economy growing and creating jobs. The latest unemployment numbers are down to 4.9 percent last week, more than 4 million jobs created since May of 2003. We've made tremendous progress to keep our economy growing and get people -- and create jobs.

Q And there's no way to ask the richest people in America to sacrifice?

MR. McCLELLAN: And the economy -- keeping our economy growing stronger is important to helping with the rebuilding and recovery efforts on the ground. The last thing we want to do is take more money from lower-income Americans that have been affected by this and that have received significant help from those -- from those tax cuts.

Q That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about taking money from higher-income Americans.

MR. McCLELLAN: And we're going to remain focused right now on our highest priority. Well, again, these tax cuts you're talking about, many of them expire in later years. I don't know of any that are expiring this year. But it's important to keep our economy growing and keep jobs being created.

Reading the transcript of the daily White House press briefing sheds a lot of light on both the duplicity and stupidity of the Bush administration. Take this exchange Tuesday between Presidential flack Scott McClelland and reporters:

Q Scott, recently, top Democrats in Congress, they had some tough words and some questions about President Bush. Congressman Pelosi says that -- said that "the President was obviously in denial," because she said she talked to him yesterday about Mike Brown and said that things were going wrong, and he said, What's gone wrong?" What hasn't gone right? And I'd like to ask you if you know if that's an accurate portrayal of the conversation.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, it's not, because they discussed a lot of other things. And I think the President was just wanting to know what she -- what she was most concerned about.

Q So it wasn't as if he knew -- he didn't know, wasn't aware that things had gone wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Terry, I just updated you on the President's day; I updated you yesterday. You all are well aware of how engaged this President is in the response efforts and making sure that we're meeting the immediate needs. The President has been participating in Cabinet meetings. He's been participating in meetings with key staff and Cabinet officials, and the President has been working to make sure that we have all the resources needed dedicated to this effort, and that the needs on the ground are being met.

We are focused on bringing everybody together to help the people in the region. And the President continues to act to make sure that we're addressing the ongoing problems. The President, very clearly to you all, over the last few days has talked about how he is not satisfied. I just said at the beginning of this how he is not satisfied. There are ongoing problems on the ground, and that's why we're working to address those issues. That's why the President held a meeting earlier today to talk about our plan for moving forward to deliver benefits to people who have been evacuated out of the area.

Q And then Senator Harry Reid is questioning whether the President's Texas vacation impeded any kind of relief efforts.

MR. McCLELLAN: The Senator -- the Senator must not be aware of all the updates that we were providing you all, because I cannot imagine that he would engage in such personal attacks if he did. You all, or your colleagues were covering us during that time. We were providing you regular updates on the President's participation in our efforts to prepare for what was then a tropical storm off the coast of Florida, and then we continued to keep you all updated over the course of the next several days about the President's participation in the preparations for what was coming.

And the President, if you'll recall, on Sunday morning, was in touch with Governor Blanco. He was in touch with Governor Barbour. He was in touch with Governor Riley and Governor Bush, as well, even later in the morning. I know he spoke to that Sunday morning -- he spoke to Governor Blanco around 9:00 a.m., had a good conversation with her about some of the things that needed to be done ahead of the hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast. So you all were well aware of what the President was doing and his involvement during that time.

Q Scott, can I follow up on what Terry was saying? One of the things that Harry Reid did say today was, why didn't President Bush immediately return to Washington from his vacation, and why didn't he recall key officials and staff members back from their vacations? And then he asks, would the President -- would the presence of key officials in Washington have improved the response?

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, we are focused on getting things done and solving problems on the ground. And again, I go back to what I was just talking about, the President on Saturday, Saturday night issued -- this was Saturday night before the hurricane hit, which I believe was early Monday morning -- the President issued an emergency disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana. Then the next morning, he issued declarations for Mississippi and Alabama. So we were focused on the preparations that were being made prior to Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast region.

Q So your answer to the Senator would be that the presence of officials in Washington would not have improved the response?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that my answer is that you all are very well aware of what we were doing in terms of preparations for Hurricane Katrina. And I'd just assume that he is not informed of everything we were doing and all the updates that were being provided at that point.

Q Scott, does the President retain confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security?

MR. McCLELLAN: And again, David, see, this is where some people want to look at the blame game issue, and finger-point. We're focused on solving problems, and we're doing everything we can --

Q What about the question?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're doing everything we can in support --

Q We know all that.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

Q Does he retain complete confidence --

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to continue. We appreciate the great effort that all of those at FEMA, including the head of FEMA, are doing to help the people in the region. And I'm just not going to engage in the blame game or finger-pointing that you're trying to get me to engage.

Q Okay, but that's not at all what I was asking.

MR. McCLELLAN: Sure it is. It's exactly what you're trying to play.

Q You have your same point you want to make about the blame game, which you've said enough now. I'm asking you a direct question, which you're dodging.

MR. McCLELLAN: No --

Q Does the President retain complete confidence in his Director of FEMA and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just answered the question.

Q Is the answer "yes" on both?

MR. McCLELLAN: And what you're doing is trying to engage in a game of finger-pointing.

Q There's a lot of criticism. I'm just wondering if he still has confidence.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and blame-gaming. What we're trying to do is solve problems, David. And that's where we're going to keep our focus.

Q So you're not -- you won't answer that question directly?

MR. McCLELLAN: I did. I just did.

Q No, you didn't. Yes or no? Does he have complete confidence or doesn't he?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, if you want to continue to engage in finger-pointing and blame-gaming, that's fine --

Q Scott, that's ridiculous. I'm not engaging in any of that.

MR. McCLELLAN: It's not ridiculous.

Q Don't try to accuse me of that. I'm asking you a direct question and you should answer it. Does he retain complete confidence in his FEMA Director and Secretary of Homeland Security, yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said -- that's exactly what you're engaging in.

Q I'm not engaging in anything. I'm asking you a question about what the President's views are --

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely -- absolutely --

Q -- under pretty substantial criticism of members of his administration. Okay? And you know that, and everybody watching knows that, as well.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, everybody watching this knows, David, that you're trying to engage in a blame game.

Q I'm trying to engage?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q I am trying to engage?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's correct.

Q That's a dodge. I have a follow-up question since you dodged that one. Does the White House feel like it missed opportunities to alleviate or head off some of the damage in the New Orleans area, flood damage? Did it miss an opportunity to head any of that off?

If you have a strong stomach, you can read the rest on the White House web site.

Jim Garrison, a Colorado computer engineer, won a free cruise, but he had to get fired to win the prize.

Garrison, fired from his job for eating two pieces of pizza left over from a company meeting, won a contest sponsored by Simplyfired.com, which solicited the "most outrageous" stories about how people lost their jobs.

Garrison, who won a free cruise that will include semi-celebrities fired from Donald Trump's show The Apprentice.

The runners-up included these bizarre stories: a furniture mover who got fired after he and a co-worker were caught fencing with some adult sex toys that they found in a customer's bedroom; a worker who misunderstood a manager's instructions to send some sensitive data to microfilm and e-mailed it to a "Michael Finn" instead; and a warehouse worker found doing perverse things with the prosthetics made by his employer.

Like many others in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, newspapers feel the effect of tragedy. In Biloxi, the Sun-Herald reports that 30 percent of its staff is still missing after Katrina devastated the city last week.

In New Orleans some wonder is the venerable Times-Picayune will continue publishing, prompting the publisher to issue a public letter saying the paper will survive, no matter what. Others are not so sure.

Sometimes, other say it best. Washington Post Marc Fisher's comments from an online chat Thursday:

Last year, for the first time in 37 years, the Army Corps of Engineers halted work on the levee system in Louisiana. Reason: Budget cuts. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the head of the Corps was sacked by the president because he was pushing too hard for a new flood control program. The paucity of National Guardsmen available to establish some order in New Orleans is a direct result of the massive deployment of Guardsmen to Iraq--another administration policy designed to prevent the American public from feeling the true cost of the war.

Yet in the president's thin remarks yesterday, there was no call for sacrifice, no mention of conservation, even as gas prices skyrocket and we look ahead at a period of obvious shortage. Just as he failed to call on the goodness and strength of the American people in the aftermath of 9/11, urging contributions to the Red Cross rather than far stronger forms of sacrifice, Bush has once again decided to treat Americans like schoolchildren, making this crisis sound like someone else's problem, one that we can help by writing a check instead of one that we all need to address through common sacrifice and effort.

So the president wins today's Nay of the Day, for failing again to speak straight to the people and for putting the politics of having it all ahead of the reality of life in a community--paying for a decent life for all.

Amen brother. Amen.

This message from New Orleans Times-Picayune Editor Peter Kovacs was published this morning on Romenesko's Media News.

The Times-Picayune has lost contact with Leslie Williams, a reporter who was to cover the hurricane on the Mississippi Coast. Because our phones failed in New Orleans, we were unable to communicate with Leslie and he may not know that we are in Baton Rouge at LSU. If anyone ran across Leslie, please contact me at 225-578-9880. My cellphone is 504-352-5550 but it is still balky. My email is kovacs70003@yahoo.com. Leslie is experienced at covering hurricanes and is a native of the Mississippi coast. His mother still lives there and he sometimes stays with her.