It's in times like this when I always hear from my old friend S. H. Otis. The scenes from New Orleans and reports from around that entire area have him spewing his usual right-wing nonsense. I'm not sure if turning New Orleans into the real life image of John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is the correct thing to do, but it just might be what is happening whether we like it or not.

The U.S., considering the delayed response of just about every Federal and state agency, is not helping the situation and it's certainly angering a lot of decent folks around the country. Seems only the talking heads on the G.O.P./Fox News service are keeping their mouths shut about His Smugness. People like Paula Zahn, Anderson Cooper and a couple of other hosts on CNN are actually coming out and saying what it obvious. Where is everybody? Anderson and one of his reporters were correct in saying in effect, "We were able to get here. Why can't the government and rescue workers?"

Unless the White House does a really good job of sheltering G. W. I think he's going to hear a lot of things he isn't going to like. Not that he cares, of course, but it won't look good on television to see the Secret Service taking down old men and women as they bad mouth the Prez.