From DailyKos:

This is a clear signal of the depravity of this administration, w[h]ere everything is political and nothing can be real. Nothing can be done simply because it's the right thing to do, or it's the best thing for America. There is a "real" America, and then there's Rove's America, where firemen serve the Republican Party and their leader, not people in distress. The Republican banner flies over the Stars and Stripes.

When does this end? Will we be free of this horrific administration when Bush leaves office, or is this going to go on and on? Is this America now?

9:28 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region – and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."

I was just reading about the new Hong Kong Disneyland, and this struck me as cool:

Don Robinson, who started as a dishwasher in 1972 at Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., and now runs Hong Kong Disneyland

I'm not sure if "Unicyclists, Nuclear" or "Voldemort" made me laugh harder.

I loved Stewart's expression after the clip of Bush telling Brown he was doing "a heck of a job."

I'll definitely have to catch TDS when it re-runs this evening.

Timelies all!

We no longer have a boxspring in our dining room! We ordered a split foundation boxspring for our bed, and they took the other one away. (Of course, now we don't have an excuse for not cleaning the dining room)

Looks like people will now be forced to leave:

10:53 P.M. - (AP): As flood waters slowly receded by the inch Tuesday, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin authorized law enforcement officers and the U.S. military to force the evacuation of all residents who refuse to heed orders to leave the dark, dangerous city.

Jessica, ITA with your assessment. I'm also irked at the lack of subtlety. Everyone is drawn with the broadest strokes imagineale as Good Guy or Bad Guy. I also can't get past that the prison guard looks like William Shatner which is a somewhat damning offense. I can't decide if I want to keep watching.

Aside from the pretty, I'm drawn to Prison Break because it seemed easy, and now isn't, an in a Jack Bauerish way, I want to see how he pulls out from his meticulous type A plan and improvises his way out of prison.

I also don't think that good and bad are clearly painted. Sure, there are cartoon villains, but his cellmate isn't one or the other, nor is the leader of the black guys.