Back from an extra long Sunday morning stroll with the old, blind dog, I was multi-tasking during This Week with George Stephanopoulos but still picked up two pretty juicy quotes. In one, Spike Lee, promoting his new HBO film When the Levees Broke, said (and I'm paraphrasing), speaking of New Orleans in those horrible days immediately following the failure of the levees, "The Mounties, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, got there before our Federal Government." In the discussion following one of three recent very strong posts by Markus at The Wet Bank Guide I said that what still bothers me about the whole thing is the realization, over time, that it was intentional, that our government chose it, chose to let those levees be substandard, chose not to let folks know that, chose to give incorrect flood maps that resulted in un or under insuring tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of people, and then chose - CHOSE - to let those people sit on those rooftops and in the Convention Center and in the Superdome and on I-10 and in those sweltering hospitals for days and days and days. They could have come. They could have brought water and food. We all know that ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and The Weather Channel managed to get to New Orleans in those days immediately following The Federal Flood. Apparently, so did the Mounties. I have come to the conclusion that it's simply naive to think it was only incompetence.
This Week juicy quote number two came compliments of roundtable regular Fareed Zakaria, who summed up the Bush Administration's foreign policy in one sentence, "We have united our enemies and divided our friends."
One of the best things I saw watching ABC this morning was a promotional ad for the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. I confess that, while I'm not an avid fan of this show, I've been known to indulge from time to time in its guilty pleasure and I have to admit that I don't think I'm going to be able to resist watching Tucker Carlson dance. I mean, we have a presidential campaign that's suddenly just around the corner, and TC is going to be on Dancing with the Stars. Make it make sense.
In the Blogosphere this morning, there's buzz and more buzz about last night's Geek Dinner II in New Orleans, which was ably hosted by Loki of Humid City fame (his Geek Dinner pics are here). It looks like these guys are redefining "geeks" with an emphasis on hearty community, lively conversation, good food and fun. I can tell, even though I had to miss this one, because Dangerblond so eloquently told us all about it, and Lisa has posted her pictures here.
Ray has a wonderful post up on his blog about his trip last week down into New Orleans East with lots of pictures, including some of the "Vietnamese po boy" (it has a real name) for which he went searching and the lonely open shop in which he found it. He said, "Many have said before that the Lower Ninth Ward reminds them of Hiroshima. Out here in the East, it feels different. It feels like Chernobyl." Last week.
In print, I've found a new magazine, Paste, that covers popular culture, entertainment and media with a beautifully written and fresh perspective. The current issue comes complete with both a DVD and a CD chocked full of interesting new artists. It's visually fabulous with unusually high quality construction, and well worth the admittedly steep purchase price. This issue includes a report from Bonaroo by North Carolina novelist Kaye Gibbons that provides an adult's eye view of this increasingly popular annual southern spectacle of outdoor youth and music (and usually mud, sex, drink and drugs).
Finally, please keep Monica in your thoughts and prayers. She's having a heck of a time right now, and doing so with her customary smile and calm resolve that I can't help but admire. May her recovery be swift and complete.
Peace, out, ya'll.
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