Katrina: "Where is my government?"

I have received two emails asking me where Cheney is (please note: you are asking a Canadian who is currently on dial-up in Dwight, Ontario. I think I just saw a loon). I wish I could answer; I've Googled but have not found. Meanwhile, top props to Page Six and Gawker for totally busting Condi for gallivanting and shoe-shopping; the Daily News picks it up today with "As South drowns, Rice soaks in NY." Honestly, you can't make this stuff up. Another emailer writes: "Where the fuck is my government? I know where Sec. Rice is, and she may feel that she's not officially involved with things inside the U.S. but for God's sake -- she's a daughter of the South (Ed. Birmingham, Alabama), and could possibly have a grasp of the geopolitical scene there, which is important to understand, if we are going to help people. Where is Dick Cheney? Where is Richard Carmona, the Surgeon General (I would say this is a public health emergency)? Where is the rest of the cabinet -- sounds to me that their job titles make them sort of necessary to this situation... Why do we only have Chertoff, who is a (Ed. - strongly-worded descriptive term)?" Emailers to blogs are not the only ones wondering where the hell the government is, and has been: CNN is now officially "pissed," as per TVNewser, who should know -- Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Soledad O'Brien, Daryn Kagan -- they've all dropped the arms-length journo pose to let loose on a bumbling and absentee administration. And right now on CNN online they've got "The Big Disconnect" comparing the "official" version with the "in the trenches" version: "The sanitized view came from federal officials at news conferences and television appearances. But the official line was contradicted by grittier, more desperate views from the shelters and the streets." Take no prisoners, CNN. Even Alessandra Stanley takes up the drum, planting a clickety stiletto right into the administration's black eye: "As Mr. Chertoff tried to reassure viewers that the federal authorities had matters under control, CNN and Fox News split the screen and had him speak alongside images of stranded refugees, looters, and a bare-chested man, knee-deep in water, battering a store window with a baseball bat." It kind of makes you love these people.

Fishbowl

Katrina: "Where is my government?"

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