Dickie's Quickies

Back when Katrina was all over the news, someone told me to calm down about it. Mistakes were made and we'd learn from the mistakes, I was told. I accused the government of being incompetent. According the today's NY Times, I may well have been right:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.

But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department's headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight.

Well, OK, perhaps incompetence coupled with classism and racism.

Ewww, does anyone really desire a plushie fetus?

The Bush Administrations propaganda campaign regarding the NSA surveillance began in earnest yesterday. They returned to their fear tactics which have performed so well in the past. Keith Olbermann's The Countdown (best news program on television) yesterday worked to debunk what the White House told us and to clarify some of the points that they made. Via Crooks and Liars (Quicktime video).