Gay New England Daily Blog

June 15, 2006 – HULL, MA – In what is quickly becoming one of the most recent additions to the growing list of gay and lesbian friendly tourism destinations, Hull (Nantasket Beach) which is located just 18 miles south of Boston will be hosting its first ever GLBT tea-dance. Earlier this year, Izzy Barros a Hull native saw the need for a gay dance event that would meet the needs of the ever growing local gay population. In April she began hosting a weekend gay dance party at the Red Parrott (www.theredparrot.com) with tremendous success and support from the south shore’s GLBT community. Barros has decided to expand upon this success with a series of tea-dances at a local venue called the Seanote (www.seanote.com). “This way people can come earlier, hang out at the beach, change in the bathhouses along the beach, and then come in to the Sea Note for a cold drink and some hot dancing!” says Barros. To kick off the event Barros has hired DJ Wayne Michael (www.djwaynemichael.com) who has an expansive following here on the East Coast and who’s credits include spinning at Machine (Boston), Buzz (Boston), Placebo (Boston), Kamp (Providence), Energy (Providence), Eagle (Providence), Purgatory (Provincetown), and Pied Bar (Provincetown). “Wayne comes with excellent references and we hit if off right way, we have cultural background and music taste in common! We are looking forward to have him bring the house to high energy and fun!” says Barros. Come join the GLBT residents of Massachusetts’ south coast for Tea-Dance with DJ Wayne Michael on June 18th from 4 pm to 10 pm at Nantasket Beach’s famous SeaNote. It will be an afternoon of music, live entertainment, and community all just steps from Nantasket Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. For additional details please visit http://www.thehullword.com # # # http://www.nantasketbeach.net...

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Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page A01

I just love how when a Republican is asked questions that make them nervous about this war that we should not be in their approach is to talk LOUDER and LOUDER...check it out!

Phil Donahue vs Bill O'Reilly

Phil Donahue vs Bill O'Reilly

Falafel Bill's head explodes!

Phil goes on the offensive immediately telling Billy that he's leading the pack to marginalize Cindy Sheehan.

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;   Video-WMP  

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;   Video-QT

Exclusive Madonna Album Details via Towleroad.com

Friend of Towleroad and dance music maven Matt Kalkhoff attended the Q&A session with Stuart Price (aka Jacques Lu Cont), the producer/collaborator of Madonna's new album, Confessions on a Dancefloor, and has some great details on the forthcoming album.

From Matt's mouth to your ears:

The entire album was recorded in the home studio of his London flat, including the vocals. He said his studio is as small as the stage he was sitting on -- and a lot warmer.

He apparently has a female neighbor who just cries throughout the day, and that you can actually hear her faintly in the background on some parts of the album.

Madonna knew from the beginning that she wanted to do a high-energy dance album. She said, "It’s gotta start at 120bpm and only go up."

The album’s 12 songs are continuously mixed, by Stuart, like a DJ set.

A full track listing is now available, as well as the cover art, at Madonna.com. But he mentioned the last song, "Like It Or Not," and said it was the perfect way to end the album – it’s a song that basically says, "This is who I am, this is what I do. Take it or leave it."

He chose the Jacques Lu Cont moniker for DJ and production work because it sounds like cunt, and he just wanted to hear someone on BBC get all tripped up while saying it, which apparently happens frequently.

Even after winning a Grammy earlier this year for his remix of No Doubt’s “It’s My Life,” working on two tours with Madonna (as Musical Director of Reinvention and keyboardist for both it and Drowned World), he still lives in the same flat in London.

He says Confessions is “where pop meets dance” and blurs the line between the two. But it is also very soulful as opposed to techno or minimalist.

Madonna’s publicist, Liz Rosenberg, was also in the audience. Even though she helped bring Stuart to the Summit, she said she had a few questions of her own. She started out by saying, “I thought I knew everything about Madonna, but…” She and Stuart basically talked about how Madonna has a DJ’s ear and “she knew what she wanted to dance to,” so it really was the perfect record for her to make.

Thanks for the missive, Matt. You can read more of Matt's writing at MattUnleashed.

Via Towleroad.com

Government Forms "Porn Squad"

A job posting sent out by the FBI's Washington Field Office to its 56 field offices says it's searching for agents for a new anti-obscenity squad. It's described as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against 'manufacturers and purveyors' of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults."

Said one "exasperated agent" to the Washington Post: "I guess this means we've won the war on terror."

Just what we all need our taxpayer money spent on.

Katrina raises voters' doubts about Bush — GOP leaders worry about impact on 2006 elections
Posted on Wednesday, September 21 @ 10:37:48 EDT (2437 reads)

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By Ron Fournier, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Katrina and the bungled government response have weakened President Bush, raising questions among Americans about his Iraq and Gulf Coast spending plans and spreading fears among fellow Republicans that his troubles could be contagious.

An AP-Ipsos poll shows a sharp increase in the percentage of people concerned about the economy since the storm. Less than half approve of Bush's handling of Katrina. Less than a third give him good marks on gas prices.

As manyKatrina raises voters' doubts about Bush — GOP leaders worry about impact on 2006 elections...
Posted on Wednesday, September 21 @ 10:37:48 EDT (2437 reads)

Amendment Rejected! The Massachusetts Legislature rejected a proposed change to the state constitution Wednesday aimed at banning gay marriage, a striking reversal that preserves the state’s status as the only place in the nation where same-sex couples can wed. Read»

Embattled FEMA director Brown stepping down
By Associated Press
Monday, September 12, 2005 - Updated: 03:18 PM EST

WASHINGTON - Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned ``in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president,'' three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

WASHINGTON (Sept. 10) - President Bush's job approval has dipped below 40 percent for the first time in the AP-Ipsos poll, reflecting widespread doubts about his handling of gasoline prices and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Nearly four years after Bush's job approval soared into the 80s after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush was at 39 percent job approval in an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week. That's the lowest since the the poll was started in December 2003.

The public's view of the nation's direction has grown increasingly negative as well, with nearly two-thirds now saying the country is heading down the wrong track.

FEMA: What a Nightmare

Blistering new revelations are coming to light about incompetent FEMA director Michael Brown.

The most recent is this TIME magazine report that Brown's "emergency services" qualifications, light as they were already, were trumped up on his resume to make Brown appear he had authority over employees when in fact his job was more like that of a clerical intern.

On that same resume he also claimed he had won an "Outstanding Political Science Professor" award from Central State University when records show he was only a student there and not on the faculty.

FEMA is rife with cronyism. The Washington Post reports today:

"Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

Cronyism is nothing new in American politics as the lead editorial of today's New York Times points out:

"Political patronage has always been a hallmark of Washington life. But President Bill Clinton appointed political pals at FEMA who actually knew something about disaster management. The former FEMA director James Lee Witt, whose tenure is widely considered a major success, was a friend of Mr. Clinton's when he took office in 1993, but he had run the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services. His top staff came from regional FEMA offices."

Unfortunately, "President Bush chose to make FEMA a dumping ground for unqualified cronies" at the expense of thousands who lost their lives in the Gulf Coast because the government does not know how to deal with disaster.

If you think this country is better prepared for a terrorist attack than before 9/11, look at what's happening in the Gulf Coast because the same team will be responding. When is someone going to be held accountable?

Do you want this man here when a new disaster comes calling? [tr]

Cheney told to 'go fuck yourself' in Gulfport, Mississippi

RAW STORY

Vice President Dick Cheney, in Gulfport, Mississippi on a tour of the Katrina hurricane zone, was told to "go fuck yourself" twice on live television, RAW STORY has learned.

During a discussion on hurricane relief efforts, an off camera protester shouts, "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go fuck yourself."

The camera remains on Cheney while we hear scuffling in the background. Cheney continues speaking.

CNN's reporter asks Cheney, "Are you getting a lot of that Mr. Vice President?"

Cheney replies, "First time I've heard it., Must be a friend of John..., er, ah - never mind."

Laughter ensues from the VP and reporters. Directly aftward, Cheney continues an ongoing monologue on what to do about hurricane debris: "But it's a question about what you do with the debris in terms of your toxic waste problem you've got to worry about in terms of where you're going to put it..."

The exchange was carried live on CNN and MSNBC. The video is now available here.

Sheryl McCarthy: 'Katrina highlights Bush's incompetence'
Posted on Thursday, September 08 @ 09:33:18 EDT
This article has been read 586 times.

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By Sheryl McCarthy, Newsday

From the start, I didn't think much of George W. Bush.

That a man who mangled the language so badly, who couldn't say "terrorism," so he shortened it to "terror," who couldn't handle tough questions, so he stopped holding news conferences, who avoided going to war when his generation was called on to fight one, but lied us into a deadly, unnecessary war and got us bogged down there, wasn't fit to lead the country.

Now his administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina has highlighted his incompetence even more.

On 9/11 Bush stumbled, didn't have a clue about what to do after the World Trade Center was bombed. But he had good backup and sharp frontmen who covered for him.

Dick Cheney took charge and talked tough. Donald Rumsfeld sounded like the voice of reason. And pretty soon Bush was talking about "resolve" and sending our soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq.



He had Colin Powell to put his own credibility behind the lie that our safety depended on toppling Saddam Hussein and to argue that case to the world. And he had Condoleezza Rice to defend the administration's mishandling of the intelligence.

They played the country like a drum: Osama and Hussein. Hussein and Osama. And although it wasn't true, enough Americans believed it.

This encouraged Bush to perfect his strut, to say "bring 'em on," to bully the United Nations, intimidate Congress, and send troops off to die. And, when you go to war, the country pretty much goes with you. By this summer things in Iraq were so bad that Bush's approval ratings hit an all-time low.

Then came Katrina. This time Bush couldn't hide behind trumped-up intelligence reports and the coattails of Cheney and Powell. The incompetence of his chosen people soon became glaring.

This president, who loves to backslap and tell jokes, had taken his cronyism too far in appointing Michael Brown, a man with more experience with horses than with governors and desperate folks fleeing floods, to head the federal disaster agency.

Meanwhile, he had downgraded, denuded and de-funded the Federal Emergency Management Agency in deference to cutting taxes and waging war.

Louisiana officials had warned that the levees needed repair, but the president refused to provide the money. And when the money to stave off disaster wasn't forthcoming, all the local officials could do was hope a bad storm wouldn't hit.

When it did, Brown and Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff acted as if they'd never heard of the national disaster plan Congress adopted for just such occasions in 2004.

At first I suspected it was the long and convoluted chain of command for requesting and delivering relief that kept those folks trapped without help in the Superdome for days. Now we know it was sheer incompetence - that, if there was red tape, Chertoff and Brown had the authority to cut right through it. They deserve to be fired, and George Bush deserves a large share of the blame.

If this were his first term, I think he would have been turned out of office when he sought re-election. But now he's enjoying the immunity of the lame duck.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans don't hold him personally responsible for the Katrina mess. And, of the ones who do, only about half blame him a great deal. Instead, they fault the unexpected violence of the hurricane, the fact that most people didn't expect the levees to break and the ineptitude of Southern officials.

People are madder about the high gas prices than they are about Bush's people coming in too late with too little for the people of New Orleans.

Even now they refuse to take him to task for the human misery there, and plenty of them still think he's a standup guy.

Some people never learn.

Sheryl McCarthy's e-mail address is mccart731@aol.com

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

Reprinted from Newsday:
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Bernard Weiner: 'To those who voted for Bush: Do you get it now?'
Posted on Thursday, September 08 @ 09:34:55 EDT (1152 reads)

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By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers

Here's something I don't understand. The Golden Goose was about to lay another 9/11-type Golden Egg for Bush&Co. to pick up. And they didn't.

Surely, Karl Rove, who had seen Bush's approval ratings drop to all-time lows, knew days ahead that a Category 5 Hurricane was bearing down on New Orleans and a calamitous disaster was likely to unfold there if and when the levees were unable to hold back the water. What better way to improve those ratings than for Bush to be photographed the day after the disaster struck, standing on top of debris, bullhorn in hand, vowing that the government would help Gulf Coast states rebuild from the Katrina catastrophe?

But none of that happened. They bungled their own political resurrection! Nearly a full week went by, while thousands were dying and starving or were kenneled in unbelievable filth in New Orleans. Nobody seemed to be in charge. Bush remained "on vacation" in Crawford, and traveled around to fundraisers, played golf, etc.; Condi was theatergoing and buying thousand-dollar shoes on Fifth Avenue. What was going on? Did Karl Rove not understand the significance of what was happening? Was Bush...uh..."incapacitated"? What about Cheney, "on vacation" in Wyoming; was he "incapacitated," too? Are the Bush people really that politically obtuse?

So here's the question I have for those of you who voted for Bush in 2004: Do you get it now?

P.M. Carpenter: 'Our re-inflatable president'
Posted on Thursday, September 08 @ 09:35:41 EDT (552 reads)

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By P.M. Carpenter

The Bush administration's handling of the Katrina crisis has been inspiring. It has inspired red-staters, at long last, to shake their heads in disbelief at their superstar's staggering cluelessness. It has inspired conservative pols to run for cover while pointing their fingers at the clueless one. It has inspired usually supportive newspaper editorial boards to grow uniformly critical. With the natural exception of Fox, the cable networks finally have been inspired to unleash reporters to question America's leadership. Even talking heads like former right-wing loyalist Joe Scarborough can no longer look into the camera's eye and pretend that the cretinous thugs at the top and far to the right have done anything right.

In short, the Bushies have once again demonstrated just how good they really are at running things.

So naturally we on the left once again launch into optimistic speculation that this time - this time - boy, did they ever blow it. They're ruined. The truth is out. Everyone now knows what we knew from the beginning: George W. Bush is Marie Antoinette with a press agent.

But pardon me if I remain skeptical. How many times have we written the political obituary of this pestilent gang?

The Cover-Up Begins

The Bush administration's censorship of media coverage of the recovery of the dead from the flood-ravaged city of New Orleans has begun in earnest.

Like the flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq, they're the casualties the Bush administration does not want the American public to see.

Why? Because they know their lax attitude in responding to this disaster likely contributed to hundreds if not thousands of unnecessary deaths. While Bush played the guitar, Condi shopped for shoes, and Cheney went house-hunting for a million dollar mansion, the floodwaters rose and the Federal Emergency Management Agency sat on its hands.

Now, in addition to the media being banned from photographing the dead recovered from the floodwaters, new reports are coming in that all media are being banned from Jefferson Parish:

"At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they're TV trucks around. Things are so bad, Bush is now censoring all reporting from NOLA. The First Amendment sank with the city."

Will the mainstream media let it slide again?

Pelosi on Bush: "Oblivious, in denial, dangerous."

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Bush to Sawyer on Good Morning America: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Actually (as posted below), "In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war...

...A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken."

Even Saturday Night Live's Mr. Bill knew there was a problem with the levees.

I'm not saying it's directly Bush's fault here that the levees were not fixed, but don't go on national television and blatantly lie to the American people when there is just loads of evidence out there. Seems the only time Bush ever likes to take responsibility for anything is when it's time to hang a "Mission Accomplished" sign up, and given Bush's timing on such congratulations, it's about time to hang one on the Superdome.

A blanket covers the body of a woman who died in a wheelchair, and another body is wrapped in a sheet Thursday at the convention center in New Orleans.

Reuters: World stunned as US struggles with Katrina: "The world has watched amazed as the planet's only superpower struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with some saying the chaos has exposed flaws and deep divisions in American society. World leaders and ordinary citizens have expressed sympathy with the people of the southern United States whose lives were devastated by the hurricane and the flooding that followed. But many have also been shocked by the images of disorder beamed around the world -- looters roaming the debris-strewn streets and thousands of people gathered in New Orleans waiting for the authorities to provide food, water and other aid."

Mark Drolette: 'While bodies rot, Bush acts like he couldn't care less — because he couldn't'
Contributed by mrbanjo on Friday, September 02 @ 10:08:18 EDT
This article has been read 3844 times.

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By Mark Drolette

As the unmitigated horror in New Orleans and environs unfolds and the type of immediate, massive government assistance that was needed from the earliest moments of Katrina's landfall Monday scandalously and unforgivably fails to materialize, it is impossible to miss how America's creeping third-world status has been given a mammoth storm surge of a push forward, abetted oh-so miserably well by George W. Bush's characteristically compassionless comportment.

As corpses decompose and diseases incubate, millions of us scream, "Where's Bush?" We do so knowingly, though, because it's obvious where he is: hiding. Doing what he's always done, not showing up when it counts, taking the easy way out, ducking responsibility, not giving a flying fig about anyone but himself. He's been handed absolutely everything in his putrid little (low)life, including two presidencies, and he sure isn't about to extend any effort now. Because, really, why bother? Most importantly, though: What's in it for him?

Though thoroughly disgusted and outraged yet again by Bush's behavior, I am not in the least bit surprised, something that could really only happen if Dubya were to somehow (by mistake, no doubt), actually do something human-like.

Having a country's "leader" go AWOL when tens of thousands of its citizens are in immediate distress and danger is, dare I say it, not the hallmark of a civilized nation. For those who mindlessly crow that "America is the greatest country in the world," take a good, hard, mortifying look at who is heading it -- straight into a living hell. Your main man -- the guy who, even were he videotaped with caked white powder around both nostrils, gleefully servicing his favorite heifer, and shot-gunning the reporter about to divulge that it ain't just brush Dubya clears out there in the back forty, you'd still support because, gol-dangit, he's "a good Christian" -- is less help right now than even Elvis to those in Katrina's wake since Bush hasn't even entered the building.



Instead, he does a meaningless little flyover, comfortably and detachedly "observing" the immensely wretched devastation from on high. He goes on Good Morning America to display crocodile tears over the area's straits while crocodiles are on display in the area's streets and says (per Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press) that he "just can't imagine waving a sign that says 'Come and get me now.'"

Well, of course he can't; he's a Bush, a member of the privileged, powerful clan that, from Prescott Bush's money-laundering days for the Nazis, to Poppy Bush's murderous years as CIA director/veep/president, to his own current reign of terror, has made and sustained its (America number one crime) family fortune on the broken backs and snuffed-out lives of millions of human beings, both home and abroad. The Bushes specialize in delivering destruction to people, not people from it, and not one of them ever need worry about holding a sign that says "Will work for helicopter ride."

Obviously, though, one can't be a good sacker or looter without holding humankind in utter contempt. So the trick is to convince enough people that you honestly care about them even while you suck their husks dry. With the invaluable assistance of a bribed, lapdog American whoreporate media, Dubya and his crew have managed to convey this image well enough to continue their pillaging. While millions of us have long recognized him for the fascist puppet he is, Dubya's handlers have nonetheless managed to paint him as "a regular guy" (though I've yet to understand what his bowel movements have to do with anything).

Bush's natural tendency to freeze, though, in the face of anything more trying than a paper cut, is on full display in Katrina's Dantesque aftermath. One of America's unique and most beloved cities is in anarchy. Whole parts of states have nightmarishly been turned into flooded and wrecked no-man's lands where people have gone without food, water, medicine, or shelter for days, and who are left to mind-bendingly wonder why no help is forthcoming.

Well, here's why: because they have a president who really isn't, and who also does not give a midget rat's ass about them. The only worrisome thing about Katrina's devastation to Bushco is bad press that may impede the whole rotten lot's ability to pursue their sole concern: the acquisition of (more) power and profits. Dubya and his administration, chock full of Poppy's longtime pals, have always looked at human beings as nothing more than disposable consumer units, whether they be American or otherwise.

To the Bushes and ilk, the whole world is their oyster; nationalities matter not. Borders are but mere constructs, pifflings that only concern the billions of people who both comprise a vast buyer base and naively believe that things like sovereignty should be respected. The Bush and their unkind kind consider natural resources -- anywhere -- to be theirs by birthright. If they have it already, they want to keep it. If they don't have it but think they may want it later, they will do anything to secure it for possible future use.

And whoever suffers in the robbing of those riches matters not, as long as the Bushes and the Dick Cheneys and the Donald Rumsfelds and the Richard Perles and all the rest get their sickening split.

So, those suffering in New Orleans, Biloxi, and so many other places? What about 'em? Most of those who are so desperately struggling to survive after Katrina's brutal thrashing, hoping beyond hope that help will arrive before they perish, were poor to begin with; they sure as hell aren't any richer now. They've nothing to offer (read: steal), so: Who cares?

Not Dubya, that's for sure, 'cause nothing's in it for him. Besides hoping that our fellow citizens get help from somewhere, anywhere, before it is too late, the next best thing one can wish for is that enough people in this country will finally see George W. Bush for what he is: an utterly despicable, soulless, inhuman, cowardly cipher who couldn't care less about anything that happens to anyone who isn't him.

Anarchy, anger, desperation: Sharp criticism of Bush administration reaction and failure to prevent disaster
Posted on Friday, September 02 @ 10:10:06 EDT
This article has been read 5270 times.

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By Marc Sandalow, San Francisco Chronicle

Washington -- Disturbing images of thousands of Americans dehydrated, hungry and unable to escape an uninhabitable city are prompting angry questions about whether the richest nation in the world is doing everything it can to respond to New Orleans' disaster.

The anger is aimed at the failure of the government to fortify levees before Katrina blew in, its inability to move residents out of the city, the wretched conditions inside the Superdome and the desperation on the streets that, on television, appears to border on anarchy.

"This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace," Terry Ebbert, head of the city's emergency operations, told the Associated Press. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

Critics say President Bush's preoccupation with Iraq, his administration's focus on terror and bureaucratic incompetence have contributed to conditions that more closely resemble a Third World disaster area than a favorite American tourist destination.

Federal officials do not dispute the magnitude of the suffering. Yet they say it is horrific natural conditions, not human blunders, that have hampered their efforts and that they are doing a Herculean job, under the circumstances, of saving lives.



"I think everyone in the country needs to take a big collective deep breath and recognize that there are a lot of people in this state ... that have no food, no water, it's hot, it's sticky, their homes have been destroyed, they don't know where they are going to go next," Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said, referring to the outbursts of frustration.

"This is an ongoing disaster. This disaster did not end the day that Katrina made landfall."

Brown insisted that enough food, water, ice and medical supplies were being brought into the city to care for the remaining residents until buses could drive them to safety.

But pictures on television and reports from occupants told another story. With basic communications systems still hobbled, the world's view of New Orleans has been shaped by images, replayed over and over again, of flooded homes, looters, corpses, rotting garbage and increasingly desperate residents.

After CNN broadcast footage of hundreds of disheveled residents huddled around the convention center, including a visibly frightened group chanting, "Help, help, help," the mayor of New Orleans made an astonishingly blunt plea.

"This is a desperate SOS," Mayor Ray Nagin said in a statement to CNN. "Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we're running out of supplies."

In a country that spent nearly $1 billion airlifting supplies to tsunami victims in southern Asia and tens of billions of dollars ferrying military supplies to Baghdad to wage war, many wondered why the United States could not also supply water, food and medical supplies to the tens of thousands of its own needy residents.

Federal officials suggested that the television pictures do not show the entire story and said rescue crews successfully rescued and evacuated thousands from the most dangerous areas. They said the Superdome, whose tens of thousands of homeless occupants are being bused to Houston, was likely to be completely empty by the end of the day today. The double force of the hurricane and then the flood had made it impossible, they said, to respond as swiftly as in past emergencies.

President Bush sat down for a rare live interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" to promote what is the most extensive federal response to any natural disaster in history.

"I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday. I mean, I understand the anxiety of people on the ground. I can -- I just can't imagine what it's like to be waving a sign saying 'Come and get me now,' " Bush said. "But I want people to know there's a lot of help coming."

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he said.

That point was fiercely contradicted on blogs and talk radio Thursday.

In 2001, a FEMA report ranked hurricane damage to New Orleans as one of the three most likely catastrophes facing the country (the other two were a terrorist attack on New York City and an earthquake in San Francisco).

The New Orleans Times-Picayune published a five-part series in 2002 that began with the words: "It's only a matter of time before south Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day. ..." The stories quoted flood experts warning specifically of the potential damage from rising water levels and broken levees.

Despite the warnings, money was cut from flood control as the federal government's focus shifted to terrorism. The Bush administration routinely provided less than half the money the Army Corps of Engineers requested for New Orleans flood prevention. Officials routinely blamed budget restrictions and the war in Iraq in Times-Picayune articles.

A strategic plan produced by FEMA in 2003 noted that "Since September 11 (2001) ... the nation's attention has shifted from natural hazards to include its capability to respond to future terrorist attacks."

The agency, which was given Cabinet-level status by President Bill Clinton, was folded into the newly created Department of Homeland Security and reported to its secretary rather than directly to the president.

It is impossible to know whether a more muscular FEMA, more money and fortified levees would have spared New Orleans from Katrina's wrath. The 17th Street levee, the first to fail late Monday night, had recently undergone renovations and was regarded as among the strongest links in the city's 350- mile system of canals.

Clinton defended the Bush administration in an interview with CNN, saying it made sense to put people up in the Superdome "because they thought they were saving their lives. And then when the (flooding) problems showed up, they had a lot of other people to save."

Federal officials expressed sympathy for those undergoing hardships during repeated news conferences, but split-screen images of the suffering on the streets undercut the credibility of their statements.

"We totally understand what it's like to be sitting on top of a roof or to be sitting in a shelter where it's hot; where you're worried about when you're going to be picked up; where you're thirsty; where you're hungry; where you're afraid for yourself, you're afraid for members of your family," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters at a Washington news conference. "We have to nevertheless proceed with our priorities in terms of how we deal with this unprecedented disaster."

Chertoff praised FEMA for positioning 18 medical disaster teams and food, water and other supplies around New Orleans over the weekend in advance of Katrina's arrival. But he said the flooding that followed the hurricane "dramatically impeded our ability to actually get these supplies into New Orleans."

Officials repeatedly denied that the war in Iraq had drained resources needed to assist in disaster relief.

Asked by Hearst News Service columnist Helen Thomas if the administration had plans to bring home National Guard troops from Iraq to help, White House press secretary Scott McClellan responded: "I think you're talking about two separate priorities, and we're addressing both."

Still, Bush's defensive posture earned him criticism even from typically friendly allies, like the editorial page of New Hampshire's conservative Manchester Union-Leader.

"The cool, confident, intuitive leadership Bush exhibited in his first term, particularly in the months immediately following 11 September 2001, has vanished," read an editorial in Thursday's editions. "In its place is a diffident detachment unsuitable for the leader of a nation facing war, natural disaster and economic uncertainty."

Katrina Updates

Aid from Canada being blocked by Homeland Security: "Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of 'mass confusion' at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm."

CNN: FEMA and Cst Grd suspending some operations due to gunfire...

Not in my job description: Condi Rice laughs it up at Monty Python farce, goes shopping for shoes: "A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman."

"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming"

Yesterday, as he surveyed Katrina's destruction from Air Force One, Bush reportedly declared, "It’s devastating. It’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground."

Former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal says the Bush Administration was warned:

"In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war...

...A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken."

National Guard military policeman stationed outside of Superdome: "This is mass chaos. To tell you the truth, I'd rather be in Iraq. You got your constant danger, but I had something to protect myself. [And] three meals a day. Communications. A plan. Here, they had no plan."

Crooks and Liars: "Anderson Cooper was visibly upset today by the fact that 'person after person' came up to him asking why the federal government hasn't shown up to help out yet." Video.