Rice soaks in N.Y.

New York Daily News reported Like President Bush, the Secretary of State has been on vacation during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, with Rice enjoying her downtime in New York Wednesday and yesterday....

So what? She is Secretary of State, concerned with things in other countries, not domestic matters. She does need to respond to this, but she can do that when she gets back to Washington

Joe Gandelman blogged Speaker of the House Dennis Halstert put his foot in his mouth by asking a question some have asked out on the streets:

Hastert, in a transcript supplied by the suburban Chicago newspaper, said there was no question that the people of New Orleans would rebuild their city, but noted that federal insurance and other federal aid was involved. "We ought to take a second look at it. But you know, we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild, too. Stubbornness." Asked in the interview whether it made sense to spend billions rebuilding a city that lies below sea level, he replied, "I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me."

I completely agree with the Speaker.

Hastert later issued a statement saying he was not "advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated." "My comments about rebuilding the city were intended to reflect my sincere concern with how the city is rebuilt to ensure the future protection of its citizens and not to suggest that this great and historic city should not be rebuilt," the statement said.

Again: not smart. He MAY be right; it's no secret that New Orleans has known for years that the way the city was built meant it could be decimated by The Big One.and so it was. Does it make sense to rebuild exactly the same way so residents continue to in effect be poised to suffer possibly another disaster — maybe even a worse one?

It makes absoutely NO sense to rebuild in a place that is 7 to 15 feet below sea level. Start construction somewhere above sea level, and dump any material that must be removed for that construction in the bowl that is now called New Orleans

But it is indeed a political fumble (he wouldn't have issued his statement later if his people didn't realize it was a mistake). Whether or not to rebuild New Orleans is not the issue on the table right now. A supposedly smart professional politician would have avoided opening his mouth so wide and shoving his foot so deeply in it.

I disagree. If he had not even mentioned the possibility (which I think should be done), of relocating New Orleans, everyone would have just assumed it would be done. By placing the subject on the table, and then spending whatever it takes to save people and get them out of New Orleans and into better housing somewhere else, we make sure the subject of relocation is considered when it is time.