TMV will be doing very little blogging himself today. Today this site will be turned over largely to our always independent-thinking co-bloggers. The reason: The Moderate Voice travels far today to visit his folks, The Moderate Parents. He'll most likely get a post on this site for the Thursday dated blog and that'll be it. The next post he'll personally do will be done … [Read more...] about Light Blogging By TMV Himself Today

At Kausfiles, Mickey Kaus makes the interesting argument that perhaps, just perhaps, federalism is to blame for the whole Katrina aftermath "fiasco". That is, the lack of a clear chain of command across (or down through) the different layers of government (federal, state, municipal) prevented any one government from assuming responsibility and control: "This gratuitous … [Read more...] about Katrina, federalism, and the levying of blame

Note to readers: This actually appeared on our site earlier. But since we have many posts on Katria TMV decided to move this up higher so other issues aren't lost in the shuffle. (Scroll down for some more recent Katrina-related posts). The California Assembly has followed through with the state Senate's move to expand the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples, … [Read more...] about California Legislature Passes Gay Marriage Bill

Now the New York Daily News tells us that FEMA was crammed with political appointees WASHINGTON - The three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent experience coping with catastrophes, the Daily News has learned. Even if Bush were to fire embattled and suddenly invisible FEMA Director Michael Brown … [Read more...] about FEMA Was Crammed With Political Appointees

This has to be one of the scariest quotes to come out of the Hurricane Katrina disaster:At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials." She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown. "He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said. "'I said … [Read more...] about The Scariest Hurricane Katrina Quote Yet

A reader has asked us to include a link to THIS TIMELINE on Hurricane Katrina. … [Read more...] about Hurricane Karina Timeline

The way it's been going, you knew this was coming, didn't you?WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been … [Read more...] about House Cancels Katrina Hearings As DeLay Blames Local Officials

Shoot me now. … [Read more...] about Just What The World Was Not Waiting For

Yes, once in a while there IS a happy ending to a heart-breaking hostage crisis in Iraq....A MUST READ (and this blogger who you'll visit deserves a lot of credit on this). … [Read more...] about American Hostage Freed In Iraq

Walmart has taken a lot of heat in many quarters but various accounts including this in the Washington Post suggest it's one of the true corporate and organizational heroes of Hurricane Katrina:At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, as New Orleans filled with water, Wal-Mart chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. called an emergency meeting of his top lieutenants and warned them he did not want a … [Read more...] about One Of Hurricane Katrina’s Fastest Relief Sources: Walmart

Here's latest info on a great talk-show that features bloggers: SUBJECT2DISCUSSION the webcast and podcast with bloggers will be on LIVE Wednesday night at 6pm PT, 8pm CT and 9pm ET with Dan Riehl from RiehlWorldView blog and Bob Sassone from TVSquad. Dan will be with us with the latest on the aftermath of Katrina and Bob will be on to review how the media has been doing … [Read more...] about Hear Bloggers LIVE Tonight

President George Bush has vowed to get to the bottom of problems with how various levels of governments including his administration handled Hurricane Katrina, which wiped out New Orleans and decimated America's beloved Gulf Coast. He announced he'll launch a probe to let the chips fall where they may — and, why, he'll even oversee the let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may … [Read more...] about Bush Vows Probe As More Unflattering FEMA Info Emerges

TMV's NOTE TO READERS: This was posted yesterday. Yesterday morning this site was down for a few hours. Due to its importance we are REPOSTING IT for today's blog. Your own views in comments under this post are welcome. The time has come to be exceedingly blunt: President George Bush needs to fire FEMA chief Michael Brown NOW if he is to stem a credibility crisis to convince … [Read more...] about Bush Needs To Clean House NOW

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz turns both barrels on the deceased Chief Justice. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a scathing indictment of a public figure so soon after their death. But definitely worth the read. H/T: Dan Markel. … [Read more...] about Rib Cracker

If New Orleans was destroyed because of its wicked ways, then does that mean the poor people who actually died are the most wicked of all? … [Read more...] about Blessed Are The Poor…

The Washington Post's Shailagh Murray and Charles Babington report that under pressure from Democrats and the current political realities across the nation, Republicans are backing off on one of the most conservative items on their agenda. As Congress returns from its August recess today, Republicans face a far more troubling political landscape than the one they left a month … [Read more...] about GOP Backs Off Move to Repeal Estate Tax

Lost amid the wreckage and carnage of Katrina, there was an event recently that offers a brutal reminder that there's still a war/occupation going on in Iraq, one that really isn't going all that well, and certainly not according to plan: Fighters loyal to militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi asserted control over the key Iraqi border town of Qaim on Monday, killing U.S. … [Read more...] about The law of Qaim: Zarqawi loyalists take Iraqi border town

We get this unique, look-for-the-silver-lining perspective on the displacement of thousands of people by Hurricane Katrina from former First Lady Barbara Bush:Former first lady and mother to President Bush said Monday that evacuees from New Orleans have found a home in Houston. "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston," Barbara Bush told … [Read more...] about Barbara Bush Thinks Refugees See Texas As Move Up

...ghosts have long existed, and they walk the streets still. … [Read more...] about In New Orleans…

....at a new website created by someone who says he's a "doctor in DC" and is outraged by the failures of FEMA — so he has created a website to document them and the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in great detail: Fema Failures. We are sure he's going to get lots of material in coming weeks, despite what appears to be an effort to shift attention away from the … [Read more...] about Take A Peek…..