The process of collecting dead bodies in New Orleans is about to begin. Where will the bodies be taken? To Saint Gabriels, LA, a small town that used to be a leper colony.

In a long, low, nondescript warehouse in a Louisiana town that used to be a leper colony, Hurricane Katrina's victims will be identified and returned to their families.

How are their families going to come and pick them up if they are stranded in Houston and elsewhere? Are the authorities going to take the dead bodies to the Astrodome? How will these relatives, who have been left with less than zero, pay for the burials, once they get the remains back?

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has issued a new order tonight: Everyone must leave New Orleans, even if the police and military have to use force to get them out. The edict applies to those on their private property and those who don't want to leave.

Police estimate there are thousands of hold-outs.

The mayor also fiercely denied rumors that he had ordered relief workers to stop delivering water to those who refused to evacuate.

"I want to emphasize that I would like everyone to get out because it's a health risk," he said. "It is not safe. Mosquitoes that are biting dead people are starting to fly." The toxic nature of the water is evident from the smell of garbage, human waste and rotting corpses, and the slick sheen of oil, gasoline and other chemicals on the surface.

Arianna explains why the new Bush-meme of "this is not the time for fingerpointing" is dead wrong.

Look, if we’ve learned anything from watching shows like CSI, Law and Order, and their endless progeny, it’s that you can’t let a crime scene grow cold. You’ve got to start collecting and analyzing the evidence while the DNA is still fresh and let David Caruso or Vincent D’Onofrio start sweating the perps while the passions are still running high.

And make no mistake, what we saw go down -- and not go down -- in New Orleans was definitely a crime… a crime that is in many ways still in progress.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Louisiana officials have told CNN within the last two hours that the Superdome may be torn down.

The Louisiana Superdome was so heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath that it likely will have to be torn down, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.

Katrina sheared away much of the roof's covering, and rainwater began leaking into the stadium when it was being used as a shelter of last resort for thousands of residents stranded by the storm.

Was it damaged that bad? They were bragging during the hurricane that it was designed to withstand a huge storm. And what do they mean by "aftermath"? Flooding? Forced housing with an absolute failure to provide for basic human needs of nearly 40,000 stranded people? Really ugly memories?

When you drive into New Orleans heading to a French Quarter hotel, you go right by it. It is not the tallest building in town, but it certainly dominates the skyline.

Maybe it is because it now stands as a glaring symbol of man's inhumanity to man.

John Amato of Crooks and Liars, writing at HuffPo, has Bush's final report on what went wrong in New Orleans.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar today called for the resignation of FEMA director Mike Brown. In a letter to President Bush, Salazar said:

"Specifically, Mr. Brown represented to the public that he could not have imagined the levees being breached in New Orleans, even though he had been briefed by federal government experts nearly a day and a half before Hurricane Katrina made landfall that those levees could indeed be breached by the hurricane surge. Having received such information, Mr. Brown should have acted more quickly than he did — and should not have suggested to the American public that he was given contrary information," Salazar said in the letter.

Also on the Colorado front, Rep. Diana DeGette -- along with Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) -- introduced legislation to separate FEMA from Homeland Security.

Yesterday on CNN, there was a press conference with Michael Chertoff, Gen. Honore and embattled FEMA director Mike Brown. This exchange took place:

PHILLIPS: ....we got to take you straight to a live news conference with the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff. Let's listen in.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECY.: ....That's my update. We'll take a few questions. If you've got questions for me or for the general or for Mike Brown, please just tell us who you want to direct your questions to.

....QUESTION: There's been a lot of questions about Mr. Brown's background. Can you tell us a little bit about any disaster experience you've had or what qualifications you have to be (INAUDIBLE)

MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: Sure. Started out as general counsel at FEMA, ran operations at headquarters through 9/11, and since then, 164 presidential disaster declarations, including the California wildfires, the historic outbreak of tornadoes in the Midwest a couple of years ago and last year's historic four hurricanes that struck Florida. So yes, I've been through a few disasters in my life.

[Source, Lexis.com, CNN, 9/5/05 1pm]

Update: Brown was the subject of much discussion at today's White House press briefing with Scott McClellan. Things didn't go too well for McClellan.

Via Bob Casey's (PA) Senate campaign:

When asked about the Hurricane Katrina disaster this weekend on Pittsburgh's ABC affiliate WTAE-TV, Rick Santorum said, "...you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving." Click here to see the video.

by TChris

Mark Levin gripes about the Supreme Court in this Newsweek interview. He argues that the Supreme Court is the “most powerful” branch of government and that its power is “unchecked.” In fact, the Supreme Court has the final word only when it interprets the Constitution. If the Court interprets or applies a statute in a way that Congress doesn’t like, Congress can (and frequently does) change the statute, effectively nullifying those Court decisions.

While complaning that the Court has usurped power from the states and from the federal legislature, Levin cites Justices Scalia and Thomas as his current heroes. It’s interesting that he didn’t mention Rehnquist, who led the mini-revolution in Commerce Clause jurisprudence, invalidating two pieces of federal legislation. Scalia and Thomas helped Rehnquist form the majority in those cases, but Levin fails to explain why he holds his heroes blameless for their own role in a supposed usurpation of federal legislative power.

by TChris

Posting sex offender registries on the web provides a doubtful benefit to communities. Individuals who want to reoffend often move without registering, while those who seek to obey the rules risk becoming the targets of vigilantes.

Michael Mullen has confessed to killing two sex offenders in Washington.

"Mullen also said that he had planned the murders for some time and that on July 13, 2005, he had accessed the Whatcom County Sheriff's sex offender Web site, and from that selected at least one of the two victims," the release said.

As is typical throughout the state, the Web site includes the residences of sex offenders who are required to register with local authorities.

Publicizing conduct for which punishment has been imposed and completed hampers rehabilitation. It also encourages harassment and violence, as this case illustrates.

The AP reports that President Bush, like Jesse Jackson, opposes the term "refugees" in referring to Katrina victims.

The president tells reporters, "The people we're talking about are not refugees, they are Americans." And he adds, "They need the help and love and compassion of our fellow citizens."

His words appear to put him on the same side as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who has declared it's "racist" to call U.S. citizens refugees. Jackson and other black leaders say the word has a criminal connotation -- and prefer the more neutral term "evacuees."

[Hat tip Patriot Daily]

Howard Dean speaks here.

Based on today’s reports, it seems clear that President Bush’s visit today is just another callous political move crafted by Karl Rove. It’s just appalling to see how quickly President Bush and Karl Rove have mobilized a political strategy in their own defense, but simply failed to mobilize a swift response to either keep the people in the Gulf Coast region safe in the first place or aid the victims in the aftermath of the storm.