The Arizona Daily Star has rid itself of columnist Ann Coulter. The editor, David Stoeffler, stated "Many readers find her shrill, bombastic, and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives." Of course, right wing voices deserve to be heard -- but surely Coulter should embarrass any respectable r-winger.

From the Center for American Progress: "The highest priority for any president should be to keep the American people safe. When George Bush appointed Michael Brown to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency he committed presidential malpractice. Brown lacked any relevant experience or skills before joining FEMA, but Bush appointed him anyway because Brown had the right political connections. When Hurricane Katrina struck, Brown was unprepared, uninformed and unable to respond effectively. (Bush's reaction: 'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.') We will never know for certain how many lives could have been saved or how much suffering could have been avoided had there been a competent federal response."

Also from CforAP, truly frightening news about how detached and removed King George is from the events that are deeply affecting this country: "In the first days of the Hurricane Katrina crisis, White House staff became worried that President Bush was out of touch with of the dire reality of the situation. Newsweek reports, 'Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor [Dan] Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.'" My god, they had to burn a DVD of disturbing sound bites to shock GW into action! Our Walter Mitty.

More evidence proving Bush's infamous statement (that the levee breach was a total surprise) was false: the existence of a strategic plan, Coast 2050, that was published in 1998. The plan recognized that New Orleans was vulnerable to flooding due to deficiencies in the levees. The fact that the breach surprised our non-reading numbskull in charge is the big no surprise.

Have you noticed the lack of post-Katrina support coming from many nations in the world? Bush has been a diplomacy fiasco. His go-it-alone swaggering and lack of respect for the opinions and views of other nations has left America with fewer allies than we had 5+ years ago. The next president is going to have to spend a great deal of time and effort repairing this damage.

New Orleans will likely be dangerous for human habitation for the next ten years, says the EPA. Toxins have mixed in with floodwater saturating all areas of the region. It will be interesting to see if Bush's gutted, neutered EPA will now do anything meaningful about this dire threat -- or like the toxic air around the WTC post-9/11, choose instead to scuttle the issue and attempt to make it vanish.