Given the Houston Chronicle’s well-documented track-record of hostility towards Tom DeLay, we’d consider them the last information source on Earth for an accurate description of any conversation he might have with the evacuees down at the Astrodome.

So it is with a Texas-sized lick of salt that we read this post by Chron reporter Purva Patel:

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s visit to Reliant Park this morning offered him a glimpse of what it’s like to be living in shelter.

While on the tour with top administration officials from Washington, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.

The congressman likened their stay to being at camp and asked, "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"

They nodded yes, but looked perplexed.

We haven’t seen or heard a tape of the exchange yet– and neither has anyone else. But that hasn’t stopped the lefty moonbat blogosphere from whipping itself into a frenzy of righteous indignation and anticipation of negative political fallout for DeLay.

Too bad no one else remembers things that way. Contacted by LST, Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said the following:

"I don’t remember hearing that exchange, but it wouldn’t surprise me, and I don’t see what the big deal would be if he had said it."

"All of us are down here trying to encourage these kids and get them to focus on the future as much as possible. They’ve been through a severely traumatic event, and all of us are trying to encourage them by talking about their new schools, the new friends they will make."

"Many of us have tried to help them think about sleeping on a cot for a little while by making reference to ‘camping.’ So I just don’t see, unless your motivated by malice, how you could take those sorts of comments and portray them as ‘insensitive.’"

"The kids enjoyed the visit, I  haven’t heard from anyone who was offended, and given Tom’s work with abused and neglected kids, I’ve got to believe this is someone trying to make much ado about nothing."

Good riddance, meathead:

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being relieved of his duties in managing the Bush administration’s Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts, The Associated Press has learned.

Brown is being sent back to Washington from Baton Rouge, where he was the primary official overseeing the federal government’s response to the disaster, according to two federal officials who declined to be identified before the announcement.

Brown will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad w. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief and rescue efforts.

Do you think he’ll add this hurricane episode to his resume?

The lovely and talented Anne Linehan points out this piece from the Reason Foundation. It seems environmentalist groups have consistently — and successfully — opposed efforts to improve flood-control structures around Lake Pontchartrain. FrontPageMag writes:

In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project planned to build fortifications at two strategic locations, which would keep massive storms on the Gulf of Mexico from causing Lake Pontchartrain to flood the city.

"The floodgates would have blocked the flow of water from the Gulf of Mexico, through Lake Borgne, through the Rigolets [and Chef Mentuer] into Lake Pontchartrain,” declared Professor Gregory Stone, the James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor and Director of the Coastal Studies Institute of Louisiana State University. “This would likely have reduced storm surge coming from the Gulf and into the Lake Pontchartrain,” Professor Stone told Michael P. Tremoglie during an interview on September 6. The professor concluded, “[T]hese floodgates would have alleviated the flooding of New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina.”

Why was this project aborted? As the Times-Picayune wrote, “Those plans were abandoned after environmental advocates successfully sued to stop the projects as too damaging to the wetlands and the lake’s eco-system.” Specifically, in 1977, a state environmentalist group known as Save Our Wetlands (SOWL) sued to have it stopped. SOWL stated the proposed Rigolets and Chef Menteur floodgates of the Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Prevention Project would have a negative effect on the area surrounding Lake Pontchartrain.

Thanks, greenies.

The Chronicle has an editorial out today on the looming probe into the Katrina debacle. At times it attempts to appear objective, but ultimately (and predictably) lapses into biased nonsense. Take this sentence:

The president should make every effort to educate himself about what went wrong, a list that would include his own failure to perform effectively as commander in chief.

First of all, methinks the Chronicle is using the wrong terminology here. The president is commander in chief of the armed forces as set out in the constitution, although it’s difficult to see how that relates to disaster relief promulgated under FEMA. I think what the Chronicle MEANT to say was that Bush has failed in his duties as chief executive, which is a different matter entirely. As a newspaper, the Chronicle should recognize that words matter.

Secondly, it would be nice if the Chronicle could speak about a probe not yet begun without prejudging the outcome by hurling blame. It makes one wonder if they are serious in their demands that the probe be independent and objective. These suspicions are confirmed by the following, damning sentence:

While not ideal, the most promising option is one suggested by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.: an independent commission along the lines of the Sept. 11 probe. It should be headed by national figures of unassailable independence and credibility, such as former President Jimmy Carter…

Carter is “of unassailable independence and credibility?” How out of touch can the Chronicle get? Carter is a liberal Democrat and a chronic critic of the Bush Administration. Conservatives wince at the very mention of his name, and yet the first name the Chronicle suggests as an independent voice is Carter?

It’s really becoming difficult to take the Chronicle seriously anymore. This isn’t just biased. It’s stupid.

This is architect Paul Murdoch’s rendition of the proposed memorial to Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennyslvania on Sept. 11, 2001:

A crescent. Gosh, where have I seen a similar design?

Here’s some background on another of Murdoch’s designs:

Murdoch Architects has designed or consulted on a variety of projects notable for their environmental design sensitivity, including an off-the-grid solar, straw-bale house

A straw house. Kinda like the first little pig.

LGF has more.

Recently we brought you coverage of rapper Kanye West’s accusations that President Bush simply does not care about black people. Mr. West took advantage of a live-broadcast fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims to express his views. Now comes word from the Drudge Report that Mr. West was roundly booed during an appearance via video at an NFL pregame show in Boston.

The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.

"The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number," reports the BOSTON GLOBE.

Could it be that Mr. West did not speak for the majority of Americans with his condemnation of President Bush, especially during a fundraiser for storm victims?  Or is this just another example of racist America shouting down someone who speaks out against it?

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