Howard Dean speaks here.

Based on today’s reports, it seems clear that President Bush’s visit today is just another callous political move crafted by Karl Rove. It’s just appalling to see how quickly President Bush and Karl Rove have mobilized a political strategy in their own defense, but simply failed to mobilize a swift response to either keep the people in the Gulf Coast region safe in the first place or aid the victims in the aftermath of the storm.

From Think Progress: If you think Mike Brown isn't qualified, look down the organizational chart. The #2 at FEMA is an advance guy. The #3 is a campaign press flak who used to work at Maverick Media. Neither had any emergency management experience.

From the Wall St. Journal, (subscription as of now):

From a Statement by Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (received by e-mail.)

“The federal government has an enormous responsibility to provide relief to the survivors of this storm. We can and must do better than the federal government’s performance so far. Through my conversations with officials on the ground and in consultation with Senator Mary Landrieu, I believe that the recovery and relief operations will cost up to and could exceed $150 billion. FEMA alone will likely require $100 billion in additional funding.

“I want to make clear to the people of the Gulf States that we will continue to stand with you as the recovery continues, and do everything we can to get you the necessary resources you need to rebuild.”

by TChris

If anyone deserves to be fired (other than the president), it’s Michael Brown, who has no clue how to respond to disasters, despite his position as the head of FEMA. As TalkLeft reported, the Times-Picayune asked the president to fire Brown immediately.

Not gonna happen. The question now is whether the president will follow the precedent he set with the incompetent George Tenet by awarding Brown the presidential medal of freedom.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Prof. Podgor's comments about the criminal responsibility for politicians' and bureaucrats' lies about Katrina are thought provoking. I previously used the phrase "disregard for human life" because I was thinking in terms of a negligent homicide prosecution (L.S.A.-R.S. § 14:32 "Negligent homicide is the killing of a human being by criminal negligence."), or at least putting the looting of NOLA's levee projects for the rich within "high Crimes and Misdemeanors" under Art. II, § 4 of the U.S. Constitution. More about that later.

How about the basic tort law?

by Last Night in Little Rock

I received overnight from one of my legal assistants a page from the Time-Picayune, Marching On, of a small parade and party in the French Quarter in place of Southern Decadence, an annual gay pride celebration that was cancelled because of the storm. He and his partner were going, for like the fifteenth year in a row, but it was cancelled.

The page from the Times-Picayune at least brings hope of recovery of the NOLA tourist trade because the French Quarter appears dry.

That is small consolation, however, to the people whose homes are underwater and the vast number who died. As Sean Hannity said on FoxNews on that priceless video on Crooks and Liars, let's get some perspective:

Just mind-boggling, when you think about it:

From late Aug. 25, when Hurricane Katrina first slammed into the southeast coast of Florida through 5 p.m. Sept. 4, the Red Cross had opened 470 shelters and evacuation centers in 12 states and had sheltered 135,535 men, women and children. The shelter census of 118,556 for the night of Sept. 3 sets a Red Cross record for one-night accommodation. Nearly half of that shelter population -- 56,387 -- was housed in 74 centers in Texas, with an additional 41,135 in 133 shelters in Louisiana and 12,870 in 102 shelters in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross has served more than 2.6 million meals and more than 3.3 million snacks to storm victims and rescue workers. In addition to the food being provided at shelters, tens of thousands of people are being served from 249 Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Law Prof Ellen Podgor of the White Collar Crime Law Prof Blog, asks:

Is it criminal to make statements over the wires that are dishonest? If you happen to be a government official does it reach the level of being a scheme to defraud of "honest services"? Is the government a corporation and therefore subject to the collective knowledge of other officials within their midst; the US government holds corporations to this standard? Is it specific intent, recklessness, or negligence, and does it make difference?

I have a lot of questions. The bottom line is that after listening to the CNN video clip on AOL here, reading TalkLeft here, reading the Times-Picayune open letter to President Bush here, and John Lewis' letter in Newsweek here and being horrified by the incompetency and disregard of too many these past few days, one has to wonder if this reaches a level of criminality. And if not, should it?

Thoughts, anyone?

Huntsville, Texas is home to the nation's most populous Death Row. At least one of every four residents of the town is a prison inmate. Now, the inmates have been called upon to serve, and they are doing so admirably. The evacuees are grateful for their help:

And so they found refuge here, beside the red brick walls of the Texas death house.Many called it heaven. With emergency shelters stretched tight from New Orleans to Houston, eight buses carrying more than 300 survivors of the flood ended up here in the proud "prison city" of Texas, 80 miles north of Houston, where every third or fourth resident lives behind bars, in seven prisons that confine 9,000 to 15,000 inmates.

The First Baptist Church, which backs up on Huntsville's oldest prison unit, including the nation's busiest execution chamber, was ready with cots, showers, fresh clothes and hot food. And prison trusties in white uniforms to clean and cook.

Via Atrios, former first lady Barbara Bush on NPR:

Former First Lady Barbara Bush said Monday that living in the Astrodome in Houston was working out well for many of the 15,000 hurricane victims there because they were underprivileged anyway.

Her exact words:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this [she chuckles slightly] is working very well for them."

Crooks and Liars has the audio .

Update: Billmon.

This is pretty incredible:

The Chicago Tribune reported that a huge assault ship, the USS Bataan, had been deployed in the Gulf of Mexico when the hurricane struck. Despite the fact it had six operating rooms and 600 hospital beds, and was willing to help, Fema did not use it all week.