by TChris

The commander of the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged today that the Corps followed its usual procedures when it prepositioned resources in the New Orleans area before Hurricane Katrina, knowing that those procedures would be inadequate to protect against a category 4 or 5 storm. Lt. Gen. Carl Strock admitted that the Corps should have prepositioned more helicopters and sandbags.

As his poll numbers continue to plummet, President Bush will acknowledge today that poverty and inequality are long-standing problems in the country he governs. Unfortunately, he isn't likely to admit that he exacerbated the problem by insisting on tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest members of society.

I'll be offline most of the day, if you'd like to take over, be my guest.

A new CBS-New York Times poll finds that Americans prefer rebuilding New Orleans to social security changes or tax cuts.

Almost two-thirds, 63 percent, said rebuilding the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina is more important to them than changing Social Security, and almost three-fourths, 73 percent, said rebuilding the flooded city is more important to them than cutting taxes, according to a CBS-New York Times poll released Wednesday.

A large majority of Americans, 73 percent, said they think their taxes will increase as a result of Katrina. More than half of those polled said they were willing to pay more taxes to help with Katrina recovery, job training and housing for victims.

Bush's second term as President has focused on tax cuts and social security changes. This poll is a resounding defeat for his policies and, in my opinion, his presidency.

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by TChris

Mike Brown predictably blames Gov. Blanco and not President Bush for the way things went “to hell in a handbasket” in Louisiana. But Brownie revealed in an interview that he spent the week calling the president’s top aides to report that “local authorities were overwhelmed and that the overall response was going badly.” His account confirms an obvious conclusion: the president should have set aside his guitar and tackled the problem at its inception.

This isn’t a tune the White House wants to play.

A senior administration official said Wednesday night that White House officials recalled the conversations with Mr. Brown but did not believe they had the urgency or desperation he described in the interview.

Brownie’s attempt to play the blame game is contradicted by Louisiana officials:

Proving again that sex offenders, however minor, are the new pariahs in our society, the House of Representatives today passed a bill that would outlaw misdemeanor sex offenders of minors from possessing, buying or selling firearms.

What is the connection? Violent sex offenders don't get misdemeanor convictions. This is as bad as the law it was patterned after, the Violence Against Women act, which prohibits misdemeanor domestic violence offenders from possessing a weapon. Both laws are attempts by Congress to mass-federalize state and local crime, and another step towards rendering the Second Amendment a nullity.

Update: It gets worse:

by TChris

MediaMatters calls attention to an underreported story: CNN's lawsuit to vindicate its right to photograph (against the initial wishes of the Bush administration) victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In response to restrictions placed on the media covering the Hurricane Katrina disaster by New Orleans emergency operations chief Terry J. Ebbert and Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, CNN successfully filed suit against the U.S. government to protect the right of the press to photograph the deceased victims of the hurricane. But aside from CNN, most major media outlets have given scant coverage to, or ignored entirely, CNN's legal victory or the subsequent reported violations of the federal court order by government personnel on the ground.

A new NBC- Wall Street Journal poll says Bush's approval ratings have sunk to their lowest level ever:

Bush's approval rating has declined to its lowest level in his presidency. So has his handling of the situation in Iraq. Moreover, fewer than half those surveyed approve of the way in which Bush has dealt with the hurricane, and a whopping three-fourths believe the United States is not prepared for a nuclear, biological or chemical attack.

by TChris

As predicted here, a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution banning gay marriage died after failing to gain a majority on its second trip through the Massachusetts legislature.

Wednesday's 157-to-39 vote by a joint session of the House and Senate partly reflected the fact that some legislators now consider same-sex marriage more politically acceptable, after a largely conflict-free year in which some 6,600 same-sex couples got married and lawmakers who supported it got re-elected. The vote also reflected some lawmakers' reluctance to pass a bill that could either withdraw rights from already married couples or create a class of married gay men and lesbians and a class of those unable to marry.

The lopsided vote attests to the wisdom of procedures that prevent constitutions from being amended in the heat of the moment.

If the steam has gone out of the "gay marriage will end civilization" train, the religious right will be forced to pounce on today's pledge decision to try to regain momentum. But that decision pertains to one case, in one court. The case isn't likely to reach the Supreme Court soon. Not much steam in that train either, as much as the right would like a distraction from the more pressing problems their favored president has caused or mismanaged.

Gov. Arnie spoke in California today and broadly hinted he will run for Governor again. He said to expect an official announcement Friday.

So far, two Democrats have announced their intention to run, state Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly. I doubt either stand a chance. How about Robin Williams?

With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity plummeting, a growing number of Democrats are asking whether state Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly should be the party's only choices for governor.

Prominent Democrats ranging from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and former Rep. Leon Panetta to non-politicians such as businessman Steve Jobs and comedian Robin Williams are mentioned in the quiet conversations of Democratic activists, although no one is saying anything -- at least publicly -- about jumping into the race

Time for a laugh:

Q: What is Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He doesn't really care how people get out of New Orleans.

And, Via Crooks and Liars, President Bush writes a note to Condi Rice advising of his need for a potty break.

Law Prof Michael Froomkin at Discourse.Net predicts that Bush's next appointment will be an extremist who will re-ignite the culture wars.

There are a lot of people who think that George Bush's political weakness will result in a more moderate appointment to replace Justice O'Conner to the Supreme Court. They are deluding themselves. In fact, it's worse than wishful thinking: it's exactly backwards.

The weaker Bush gets, the more certain it is that he (or Cheney or Rove) will appoint someone certain to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Update: Frances Newton was executed a few minutes ago.

It took eight minutes for her to die from the time they pumped the chemicals in her.

********

The Supreme Court has denied Frances Newton's petition to stop her execution scheduled for 6:00 pm CST.

On Wednesday afternoon justices rejected appeals that could have kept Frances Newton, 40, from becoming the third woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. She also would become the first black woman executed in modern times.

Without dissent, the high court declined a pair of appeals about an hour before Newton was scheduled to be taken to the Texas death chamber. Newton is slated to die by chemical injection at 6 p.m.

Background and links here.