Lunatic Katrina

Did anyone catch Joe Scarborough on MSN tonight? He did his report right in front of a ship emblazoned "Luna Sea." Thanks for the shoutout, Joe. Didn't realize you were a fan.

Although he didn't say so, he was, of course, making a not-so-subtle reference to the relief efforts in the South. He referred to it as "amateur hour," and told viewers that if any of their politicians say that they were surprised by Katrina and that's why the relief was uncoordinated, those politicians didn't deserve their trust or their vote. I suppose he has some experience in the area, being a former politician from Florida, but I'm not sure a perfect plan exists for evacuating entire cities within a few days, when so many are poor and without transportation.

It's hard to wrap my mind around what it would be like to feel completely stranded with no water, being shot at by snipers, and feeling completely forgotten. People are dying, babies are dehydrated. There's just one nurse in this whole area where people have gathered because they thought there'd be water and buses. I heard a hospital official say that they needed to evacuate their patients and couldn't because the next link of transportation, whatever was supposed to pick up the patients from the ambulance and take them to another hospital, just wasn't there. Can you imagine waiting for four days and not hearing anything? The church around the corner put up a sign that said, "Hurricane: don't panic - trust in God and he will save you." Pretty frickin' easy to say out here in Northern California. That sign is down today and there's just a plea to pray.