Day: March 21, 2006

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said today that residents will be more likely to heed his warning and evacuate the city if another hurricane like Katrina hits New Orleans again.

Nagin predicted residents would be more likely to comply with evacuation orders now. He said residents would be bused away from the city rather than to shelters like the Superdome, where residents were stranded in hot, dank conditions for days after Katrina hit in late August.

“People are pretty attuned to leaving if I say you have to leave, so I don’t see that as being as much of a challenge,” he said.

So, it appears that Nagin (or whomever the next mayor is) will do everything to prevent a picture like this, next time.

We can only hope…

Meanwhile, Nagin is doing a little hoping of his own as he campaigns for reelection. That means he’s got to play nice with words, so he heaped sugary sweet compliments on the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, whom he credits for helping the city become better prepared to withstand the upcoming hurricane season.

The work they’re doing is just incredible,” Nagin said of ongoing work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps, which designed and built the city’s levees, has been heavily criticized by residents who note the city survived the worst of the Aug. 29 storm but then was swamped when flood walls broke, inundating 80 percent of the city with brackish water. Many have expressed fear about the condition of the levees as the June 1 start of hurricane season approaches.

But Nagin told The Associated Press he’s confident the Corps is using better materials and designs on the levees.

The election, which is likely to gain nationwide attention, is set for April 22.

Hugo is at it again.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned that if U.S. troops were to invade any Latin American country, “revolutionaries” from across the region would join forces to battle the Americans.

The Venezuelan leader said the U.S. “should know that if it wants or someday decides … to invade any of our countries – be it Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, today, tomorrow or the next day – we would be there gathering together the revolutionaries to do battle with weapons in hand against U.S. imperialism.”

Washington has said repeatedly it has no plans to attack Cuba.

The U.S. has accused Chavez of trying to export his socialist “revolution” to neighboring countries, saying he is a destabilizing force in the region.

“I am convinced that in this century we will bury U.S. imperialism, sooner rather than later,” Chavez said.

It’s amazing what powerless leaders of weakened countries will say just to gain the attention of the press. Chavez is a super bloviator who suffers from super power envy. He desperately wants to be in the world leader club, but always finds himself left off the “A” list. He’s really nothing more than a dancing monkey. Cute and interesting for about 15 seconds.

Bush, in an appearance before the press this morning, dismissed calls for censure as nothing more than partisan politics.

He’s right.

President Bush says Americans expect “an honest and open debate” — without “needless partisanship.” He was responding to a question about Senator Russell Feingold’s resolution to censure Bush over his warrantless wiretapping program.

In his White House news conference, Bush said Democrats haven’t come forward to demand an end to the domestic surveillance program.

Bush says if that’s what they want, then Democrats “ought to stand up and say, ‘The tools we’re using to protect the American people shouldn’t be used.’”

A brilliant push back move by Bush. Rather than ignore the matter altogether, he tells the Democrats to put action behind their words, something they’re mostly incapable of doing.

Michelle Malkin interviews Cindy Sheehan, and other moonbats.

Hillary was none too pleased to find out that her husband Bill had an advisory role in the Dubai ports deal, so to prevent future embarrassment, he’s been put on notice. He won’t be allowed to do or’say anything without her approval.

So I’m wondering, what’s changed?

After being surprised by her husband’s role in the Dubai ports deal, Sen. Hillary Clinton has insisted that Bill Clinton give her “final say” over what he says and does, well-placed sources said.

The former President agreed to give his wife a veto to avoid his habit of making controversial headlines that could hurt her chances of returning to the White House, multiple sources told the Daily News.

“He knows it’s Hillary’s time now,” said an adviser close to both Clintons who expects to play a key role in her likely 2008 presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton’s handlers are keeping a close rein on the former President’s schedule to try to prevent another embarrassing screwup like their competing roles in the Dubai ports deal.

While she was blasting the Bush administration for allowing Dubai to run six of the country’s ports, he was advising Dubai on how to sell the deal.

“Hillary has final say,” said the adviser, and the ex-President’s staff has been warned not to do or say anything without running it by the senator’s handlers.

“That was true in the White House during the [2000] Senate campaign,” recalled another longtime aide who stayed close to the ex-President after he left office. “If he said the sky was blue and she said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple.”

“When I say jump, you’re gonna say how high!”

Wow, what amazing role models. It’s hard to believe that these people are actually married.