Bush told CBS Radio Today:

"Either they are isolated or callous," Bush told CBS News radio in an interview. "There's no telling how many people have lost their lives as a result of the slow response."

He said the "world ought to be angry and condemn" the junta, which has been widely condemned for stalling the disaster relief effort.

Well below the fold is the time line of how Bush dealt with Katrina in the first few days. Maybe he shouldn't throw stones at others in light of his own performance.

Update: Just what I expected. No "love" for this story. I keep telling myself that is cause I can't write, not that people don't care (keep telling myself this). But if you read it play (yes I am bitter) this video of the Dead in the background, will make it somewhat easier.

Are you one of the "worried well"?  http://www.bestofneworleans.com/...  I know I am one of the "worried well".  I am fortunate enough to be able to get help and spend much time, money and energy researching medical and legal matters or in consultation with the mental health professionals and attorneys. But, even with my resources questions remain:  "What will the next day bring?  What about unexpected catastrophe?  Will all the energy invested in rebuilding be pulled out from under us?  What about the next disaster?"  

The story of Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard's handling of emergency preparations for suburban New Orleans and his leadership post-storm have been widely discussed and documented.  When Broussard stood for re-election, the division of the vote in Jefferson Parish was clear:  Voters whose houses were flooded as a result of Broussard's decision to evacuate pump operators out of the parish voted against him.  Voters in neighborhoods unaffected by these man-made floodwaters supported him.

Submitted for the NOLA diary-athon.

You've read about the situation in New Orleans.  You know there are still crumbled houses all over, that thousands have never come back, that the economy is crippled and crime out of control.  You've heard that the levees are still unimproved, the local politicians are corrupt or ineffective or both, and that the cable news networks no longer see the issue as sexy enough for your attention.  You've wondered if things can get better.

Good news: this diary is dedicated to you, and what you can do to help.

The day after Valentine's, Big Insurance delivered Katrina's families a bunch of dead roses. Big Insurance just announced that it is refusing to sell us new homeowner policies here inside Mississippi's Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast region. Adding insult to injury, Big Insurance also informed us today that it might not renew wind policies of its loyal customers either.   The equivalent of more dead flowers.

Every year at Mardi Gras, the troops of Mardi Gras Indians dance under the Claiborne overpass on the edge of the Treme neighborhood, one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the country. Thousands of people eat and dance as the colorful troops show off their intricate hand-made costumes of thousands of feathers and beads. The troops originated when Mardi Gras parades in the rest of the city were a white only affair and the African-Americans in the city celebrated Mardi Gras while giving a tribute to Native Americans that housed run away slaves.

This, not the huge floats that roll down Canal Street is seen by many as the real Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You won't find drunk tourists flashing for beads here. This is where you go to dance and sweat and experience the incredible culture that has grown out of neighborhoods that are still struggling to rebuild and bring those culture bearers home.

More on the flip side...

Cross-posted at Facing South

It's fitting that former N.C. Senator John Edwards will be heading to New Orleans today to announce his exit from the presidential race. With Edwards' departure, the still-ravished Gulf Coast will lose its most passionate -- maybe its only -- advocate in the 2008 campaign.

I remember talking with dozens of community leaders in New Orleans and Mississippi last summer, when we were compiling research for our in-depth study on the two-year anniversary of Katrina.

This won't be a long diary.

I never watch Mr. Bush, I can't stand to hear his voice or see his face.

But I do read the transcripts of what he says.

I was wondering if he'd mention it tonight.  He certainly didn't mention it in 2006.  And if he did mention it last year, I don't recall.

But he did mention it this year.  How kind of you, Mr. Bush.

I'm sure as heck not the first to say this, but Let's get the Gulf Coast on the campaign agenda.

So far, unless I missed something during an inappropriately timed potty break, the candidates barely been prompted to offer a peep to explain how they plan to address the ongoing tragedy in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

When former Governor Ronnie Musgrove traveled to Gulfport, Miss., to announce his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Senator Trent Lott, he stood on the property across from the harbor . . . and totally missed the boat.

Not once did his speech utter the phrase Katrina recovery. Not once did his speech mention insurance reform. Not once did his speech tell Mississippi’s Katrina survivors that he intends to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Congressman Gene Taylor, our much beloved local hero, to pass Taylor’s ground-breaking insurance reform legislation, which is now awaiting action in the US Senate. Not . . . one. . . word. Nope. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

Cross-posted on the Drum Major Institute's blog

The New York Times yesterday fronted an intimate look (and equally compelling video report) on the slow pace of housing recovery in New Orleans. As FEMA readies to evict thousands of low-income residents from their trailers and bulldozers warm up to demolish salvageable public housing, the reality is that very few families are able to find an affordable place to rent back in their home city.

UPDATE: As pointed out in the comments, rebuilding must not only be affordable, but environmentally sustainable. Check out this NYT piece on Brad Pitt's effort to "Build Green" in NOLA, and his "Make It Right" campaign site. Very cool.

Let's be honest.  The entire history of the United States is built on racial hierarchy and discrimination.  In fact, as Michael Guerrero, the House of Representatives just decided on an exhibition to honor the African American slaves who built the Capitol building, brick by brick.  Racism is our national legacy — and increasingly our main export.

Witness the War in Iraq.

Last month, Bush's Corps of Engineers walked into a high school auditorium in Bay  St. Louis, Miss., and told the hundreds of local residents--myself included--that for two years it had been working in virtual secret on a proposal for Bush and Co. buy up the area. Bay St. Louis is one of the beach towns comprising Katrina's ground zero. Katrina wiped out the town. Big Insurance betrayed and abandoned us. And hte Bush Administration FEMA screwed us but good.

With plenty of outrage then and there, we rebelled  on the spot and have continued to express this sentiment ever since. This week, the corps and their counterparts representing Mississippi Governor Barbour met with local public officials and community leaders to discuss this ridiculous proposal. What came out of this meeting in terms of the Corps' reaction maddened me further.

The unmitigated gall of Bush’s Corps of Engineers Susan Rees really burns my grits.  First, she walks into this tiny town and announces a never-before-heard of plan from Bush’s government to buy up 2/3 thirds of our homes. This week, she had the audacity to blame the source of our outrage on the press.  

BREAKING NEWS 9/26/07: American Bankers Association Supports Multiple Peril Insurance Legislation--H.R. 3121  Read more here.

"These people don’t necessarily need a good psychiatrist. They need a good contractor or someone to fix the ‘Road Home’ program and good leadership."
Dr. Elmore Rigamer, psychiatrist
Catholic Charities of New Orleans

Want to help the Katrina survivors in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama? Great! This is it. The week we’ve been waiting for. Just got word that the House of Representatives is anticipating a floor vote on the Multiple Peril Insurance Reform package that  Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) sponsored. This is where the rubber meets the road.

A tropical wave has been passing across Central Florida today and is headed west out over Gulf waters.  If it intensifies as predicted, it will become Tropical Depression Ten on Thursday and Tropical Storm Jerry by Thursday night.  

More on the flip...

A sign in Joe De and Betty Benvenutti's front lawn on Beach Blvd, Bay St. Louis, Miss., states "I Know My Flag is Tattered In Need of Loving Care But I Can't Take It Down Till State Farm Pays Its Share." Go here for image.

Watch the video below as Joe De tells his family's story to Kevin Davis of KETY-TV, Santa Barbara. Joe De and Betty Benvenutti live in Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Beach Blvd, a few doors down from Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS).

While expressing tremendous gratitude and appreciation to all the volunteers and church groups who came to help and who arrived in Katrina Land long before FEMA and the insurance companies, Joe De also expressed his frustration with being able to collect on his insurance premiums that they've been paying faithfully. Joe De and Betty hired an attorney to sue State Farm to pay on the wind coverage on which they've been paying their premiums.

Speaking what is in the hearts and minds of the many that Katrina impacted, Joe De said

"All we want is what we paid for so we can get on with our lives."

An article in today's Sun Herald, a McClatchy newspaper, accurately reflects the jam-packed, standing room only public high school cafeteria at last night's meeting with the residents of my own hometown and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Titled Residents dispute Corp plan: Hancock may be removed from plan, the article reflects the tone and outcome of local residents at a meeting that was relatively unknown about until a few days ago. The only exception to the article that I have is  that it wasn't just 200 people, but more like 1,000 who attended.

The Corps of Engineers had apparently originally intended the meeting to take place in a small facility like a trailer, but the ever vigilant and truly beloved county chamber of commerce secured the cafeteria. One woman's pointed question easily summed up the perspective of the crowd, myself included.

"How can we trust the Corps after what you did to New Orleans? We may be form Mississippi, but we're not stupid."

Huge applause erupted.

The plan appears, for now, to be essentially DOA.  

Last night, the Santa Barbara ABC affiliate interviewed Kevin Davis, a budding would-be reporter who had just returned from his self-financed trip to the Katrina-ravaged region. In his interview on InFocus, Kevin aired part 1 of his two-part video titled Katrina Revisited.

Kevin’s mini series demonstrates compellingly the devastating financial crisis that can befall the 55% of Americans who live within 50 miles of our nation’s beautiful coastlines.  His series demonstrates further that Taylor’s multiple peril insurance proposal is the answer to protect the financial security of  everyday Americans who work hard, play by the rules, and expect an insurance policy to provide the financial security we pay for it to provide.

While doing his research long before coming to the area, Kevin came across my blog  A.M. in the Morning! which I had posted  on my Daily Kos diary.