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Heather, can you send me your mailing address? Profile address is good.

t head goes POP

Just got an e-mail from my place of work; we're working rapidly to try and get two Tulane students enrolled in our programs.

Don't suppose said place of work is matching donations to the Red Cross or anything? I ask, as Paul is spending the day dealing with surplus crap and is therefore away from his desk, so I don't expect he'll be able to find out for himself.

I know my titular employer isn't, at least not yet (ah, temping, I hate you so), and we're making our donations tonight, so...

Whether it's true or not (I'm inclined to think it is, but can't prove it) the perception of the Bush administration is going to be worse than merely incompetent. It's going to look supremely uncaring. I think the message America got in its imagery this week can be summed up as: Bush says, "Fuck you" to the poor. "Double Fuck You, if you're poor and black."

The spin will be interesting. I mean, I've already heard the right wing response which started with "they were too stupid too leave" followed by "those animals need to be shot" followed by "we're not going to subsidize rebuilding New Orleans because it's a poor investment." But I don't think that'll play after seeing people left in such desperate straits for so long.

It's just going to ring fundamentally wrong and unfair.

You know what? After Abu Ghraib, and the complete LACK of anyone in the administration being called to account for it, I truly don't expect *any* fuckup to make a dent in this administration. I just don't.

I was sure that Abu Ghraib was going to bring down some big names, and -- nothing. Same with the Valerie Plame leak. NOTHING.

I truly don't except the post-hurricane (lack of) response to be any different in its lack of impact.

I do see a difference here though, Steph, in that the press isn't rolling over and playing dead nearly as much as they did in the other situations.

Yeah, and the prosecutor on the Valerie Plame case is pretty aggressive, so I'm still holding hope that someone's going to jail for that one....

I do see a difference here though, Steph, in that the press isn't rolling over and playing dead nearly as much as they did in the other situations.

I'm just so cynical at this point that I'm going to have to actually see some officials being called to account before I'll believe it could happen.

Don't suppose said place of work is matching donations to the Red Cross or anything?

All donations go through the state employee's fund, and unfortunately they don't match contributions. Just make the donation directly to the Red Cross.

OK, updated school website about to go up. The accrediting agency of our type of school is trying to take control of the placement process. I guess that's OK, but my history with them says that Michael Chertoff would be an upgrade in terms of leadership.

Right now it looks like we're taking at least one Tulane student and possibly one more from LSU's New Orleans campus.

Nuh. Uh. Shrub just said this on CNN:

"The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

Bush is getting hammered in the mainstream press right now. The one thing a leader is expected to do in a crisis is show up and act like they care and take charge. Fuck, it's the easiest ratings boost a politician can get. Show up. Look concerned. Order some people around. Stay up late. Look haggard.

What's happened in New Orleans will resonate as a direct indictment of Bush's leadership. And that's pretty much all he's got going for him.

You can finesse and spin the other shit all day long. The policies, the approach. But you gotta show up. He didn't. If American politics plays at the simplest levels - and it often seems to - then he's made a huge fundamental error. He needed to be there at least two days ago.

I gave to the Red Cross the day after Katrina hit. Today my contract boss sent around an email asking if folks wanted to give through the company. Actually, he'll be sending me and a couple of other web folks to help our institute set up an environmental contamination medical information site. There are loads of chemical plants in the Gulf states, as well as the petro-chemical plants and contamination from cars and boats that were smashed and heaven knkows what else. So we'll be helping with some somewhat practical stuff, I hope.

None of which will be useful until the folks get pulled out of the soup and taken to doctors with facilities that can help them. But still. I guess it's something.