Regarding the unprecedented American horror unfolding in New Orleans: Someone genius has posted the inevitable “those lazy coons brought it on themselves” argument in the I, Anonymous forum.

I can’t reply within the forum itselfno one can; the I Anon forum is strictly hit-and-runso I’ll do it here.

Dear idiotic asshole: Those stranded did not have means to flee, and the government failed to provide any kind of mass transit to aid their escape. As for self-motivated salvation and Tsunami comparisons: In Thailand, you dumbfuck, the water clobbered the land then went away, while in New Orleans, thanks to its tragedy-taunting below-sea-level basin, the water came and stayed, trapping those that remained and hindering the majority of escape/rescue operations. If you think living in a below-sea-level basin is reason enough to deserve horrific trauma and death, consider your own residence in a region centuries overdue for a history-altering earthquake.

In the meantime, you should stop restricting your racism to dubious conspiracy theories inspired by national tragedies. It’s clearly who you arewear your white hood with pride, brother.

Here’s video of the amazing Meet the Press segment Eli slogged about. It is tremendously upsetting, but watch it.

It’s impossible not to see the events of the last week as an indictment of Bush’s $3.9 trillion tax cut program for the rich. (Be sure to read down to the part labeled “Distribution of Tax-Cut Benefits.” )

No wonder the Bush administration had to slash funding for the New Orleans levees for the first time in 37 years. They had their trickle down economics to attend to.

And trickle down it did. In buckets.

Almost a week after Hurricane Katrina, these are the quotes that seem likely to define the day: A Louisiana senator, furious about the Bush administration’s attempt to shift blame for its failed response onto local officials, threatens to punch Bush. And a local official tells an utterly heartbreaking story about the death of a woman in a flooded nursing home — a woman who happens to be the mother of a lead emergency management official in New Orleans.

Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a Democrat, said today that she was so angry about federal failures and second-guessing that if she heard any more criticism of local efforts, even from the president, she might “punch” him…

“If one person criticizes them or says one more thing - including the president of the United States - he will hear from me,” she said on the ABC program “This Week.” “One more word about it after this show airs and I might likely have to punch him. Literally.”

She also referred angrily to comments Mr. Bush had made Friday at the New Orleans airport about the fun he had had there in his younger days.

“Our infrastructure is devastated, lives have been shattered,” Ms. Landrieu said during a helicopter tour of the area with an ABC interviewer. “Would the president please stop taking photo-ops?”

The government message has found itself struggling for time on the airwaves against angry criticisms like Ms. Landrieu’s, and anguished cries for help, like that of Mr. Broussard [president of a local Louisiana parish], the local official who broke down sobbing on NBC.

“The guy who runs this building I’m in, emergency management, he’s responsible for everything,” Mr. Broussard said. “His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, ‘Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, Mama, somebody’s coming to get you. Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday.’ And she drowned Friday night.

“Nobody’s coming to get us,” he said through his tears. “Nobody’s coming to get us.”

Crooks and Liars has the video.

The situation in Zimbabwe just keeps getting worse.