Pleasantly Surprised, and Not Surprised at All

One small bit of good news is that the rally at Jackson Square at least got a bit of coverage from NPR, although they focused on participation by Catholic schoolgirls (I guess John Derbyshire will be, ahem, busy for a while--sorry to gross you out)...but ANY coverage is better than none at all.

However, as I expected, Shrubleroy showed ZERO class and even less wit, reprising his initial, lame little post 9/11 mantra (anyone remember "travel to the moon and shop till you drop to defeat terrorists"?) and slathering on more reminiscences of his partyin' fool daze...

A while back, I wrote up something about my first visit to post-Katrina NOLA. I worried that folks who hit only the tourist areas (which is what I did) would fail to notice the large swaths of city that look like the aftermath of a saturation bombing campaign...well, one tourist, Dubya Bush, vacation-boy-in-chief, apparently did just that:

"I will tell you, the contrast between when I was last here and today is pretty dramatic," Bush said. "From when I first came here to today, New Orleans is reminding me of the city I used to visit."

As if he can recall anything after the booze and coke took hold.

Bubble boy even had to get a lesson in reality this morning from Andrew Card (not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer either):

"I had to manage his expectations this morning, because while there has great progress, there continues to be great need indescribable need," Card said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Bob Herbert, on a slightly different topic, wrote this morning that "The country has set the bar so low for the performance of George W. Bush as president that it is effectively on the ground." Herbert was focusing on the lunacy of the illegal wiretaps, which, as best as I can tell, are illegal for the sole reason that filling out forms 'n stuff is just too hard. Must be all them big werds like "Please explain your reasons for seeking a wiretap."

Well, looks like any genuine focus on rebuilding the Gulf Coast is...too hard as well. Instead, it's just more photo-ops...and fundraisers. Like I noted this morning, the REAL reason for this trip is an RNC fundraiser in Palm Beach. The NOLA and Mississippi stops simply allow them to foist the Air Force One bill on the taxpayers.

Well, sooner or later, reality is gonna catch up with these clowns--I hope...