How to Do a Heck of a Job

Via Andrew Sullivan, we've got confirmation from Brownie that there was more going on with the delayed federal response to Katrina than we realized.

[Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael] Brown told a group of graduate students Friday that some in the White House had suggested the federal government should take charge in Louisiana because [Governor Kathleen] Blanco was a Democrat, while leaving Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, in control in his state.

. . .
Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking, 'We had to federalize Louisiana because she's a white, female Democratic governor, and we have a chance to rub her nose in it,'" he said, without naming names. "'We can't do it to Haley (Barbour) because Haley's a white male Republican governor. And we can't do a thing to him. So we're just gonna federalize Louisiana.'"

Not that this is particularly surprising. Did any of us really think that the Bush administration is that inept? If they just weren't good enough to be effective, we would've seen them trying and failing to help the situation on the Gulf coast. But this may have been the point when Karl Rove's political instincts abandoned him. Maneuvering the federal response while the city drowned didn't make political winners of anybody.

Perhaps a more interesting question, though, would be why Brownie is making these statements to grad students at the Metropolitan College of New York rather than, oh, maybe Congress or something. Oh, yeah, I forgot--Joe Lieberman thinks it's more important to move forward than replow old ground. Let's just hope that Henry Waxman's paying attention.

By the way, the Saints have certainly done well for themselves this year, but how much does the fact that they're playing for the NFC championship tomorrow bring attention to the difficult conditions that remain in New Orleans? It's on our minds a bit more, but is it just a feel-good story about the football team, or are we really interested in examining how much still needs to be done? Maybe the fact that I'm in Chicago, where the Bears have to defeat the Saints to get to the Super Bowl. Tonight on the local NBC affiliate, after showing a Saints fan in town for the game tomorrow pointing out, "Other teams are playing for a trophy, but we're playing to rebuild a city," the anchor awkwardly responded, "Well, the Saints may have our sympathy, but the Bears have our support." Perhaps other parts of the country are paying attention to the plight of actual New Orleanians.