William Rehnquist died.

Looks like Pat Robertson's prayers were answered.

Stolen from another board:

The Top 10 Ways To Get Bush To Immediately Help The Gulf Coast

10. Tell him they're performing late term abortions in the Moriale Convention Center.

9. Have an ordained minister perform several hundred gay/lesbian marriages on Bourbon Street.

8. Tell him that they're about to disconnect the feeding tube of a brain dead woman in Biloxi Mississippi.

7. Suggest that they're doing stem cell research in the Superdome.

6. Get Halliburton to submit a no-bid contract to rebuild the levees.

5. Tell him some Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are stranded on Grand Isle, Louisiana.

4. Get word to him that some "Pioneer" or "Ranger" campaign donors are trapped on Magazine Street.

3. Tell him some billionaires who need tax breaks are in Jefferson Parish.

2. Put a golf course down Canal Street.

and the number 1 way to get Bush to pay some bloody attention to the horrible crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi:

1. Tell him that Osama Bin Laden is in Arkansas.

Here's a website with video from various network sites in case you missed some of the video over the past week. Some featured:

Anderson Cooper beating up Lott (unfortunately, not literally)

David Brooks becoming ticked with the Bush administration (!)

Geraldo Rivera getting irritated with Hannity (!)

[link]

From Neil Gaiman's blog:

Dear Neil,

Thanks for posting the news about Keplers. I was devastated to hear (I'm a former employee) but there may now be a chance for it to be saved - councilmember Kelly Ferguson is holding a rally on Tuesday, Sept 6th at 5 pm, outside the store - Rick Opaterny is organizing people at www.savekeplers.com - and there's even been NY times coverage. Clark Kepler is apparently meeting with interested investors as well! Could you please post asking everyone in the Bay Area who cares about independent booksellers to show up to the rally this Tuesday? Thanks so much - and thanks for the blogging!
SAVE KEPLERS RALLY
Tues, Sep 6th, 5PM outside store . followed by a 6PM work session at Menlo Park City Hall to marshall community resources in support of this beloved local institution. For more info contact micloss@earthlink.net.

Best,
Dara in LA

I'm hoping that this whole clusterfuck will metaphorically put a stake through the Shrub's shrivelled caraway seed of a heart, politically speaking. Especially now that Renquist has died. If Bush will be politically useless, or even a liability for Senators up for re-election next year, perhaps the remaining non-neocons will rediscover the storage facility where they left their balls/ovaries. Especially since they'll now be voting on at least two Supreme Court justices in the coming months.

6. Get Halliburton to submit a no-bid contract to rebuild the levees.

Well, 1 out of 10 ain't bad...

I got pissed at Bush's morning press conference.

The Democrats in Congress were calling for a halt to the SC confirmation hearings in light of the Gulf Coast tragedy. Bush essentially gave a fuck-you to that, saying it is important we get the positions filled ASAP.

I have yogafied and grocery-shopped, so anything else I get done today is gravy, right?

This mornings Atlanta Journal-Constitution today did something almost unprecedented in modern newspapers. It ran a front-page editorial:

The rescue operation mounted in the wake of last week's hurricane was characteristic of a third-rate country, not the world's only superpower.

Shame on the public officials who reacted slowly to the cries for help from New Orleans. Shame on the criminals wandering the streets, preying on the poor and helpless. Shame on those who didn't heed the warnings about the vulnerability of New Orleans.

Shame on all of us.

The people of New Orleans, many of them lacking the wherewithal to evacuate on their own, were left stranded without enough food or water to survive. For days, their pitiful pleas largely went unanswered.

By midweek, bodies began piling up at the Louisiana Superdome, while bloated corpses were seen floating down still-flooded city streets.

How could this happen in the United States?...

So, and I'm asking this in all seriousness, do we think the country could collapse?

The Supreme Court that appointed Bush president now has two openings for him to fill. A huge portion of the country, including much of our refinery infrastructure, is in ruins. The economy which is just starting to recover may bottom out again. Obviously our national guard isn't operating efficiently (at least not quickly). We're in over our heads in Iraq. Any terrorist with any sense would hit us RIGHT NOW. And so much is shipped -- very little food-wise and merchandise wise produced near our population centers anymore. And warehouses are smaller than ever because of our over-nighting world. Basically, our supply lines are permanantly thin.

And what sort of collapse? Economic? Then a long term/permanant martial law and the end of already wobbly civil liberties? Then a civil war?

I'm not being doom-n-gloom, I'm asking. Could this be what we are facing?