COLD, ALOOF BASTARD!

How anyone could not reflect on the devastation of Katrina - and the stunning visual evidence of the lack of progress toward rebuilding it marked by the first anniversary of this disaster and not feel great remorse and embarrassment escapes LOST. But to attempt to turn it into a triumph - almost an acheievement for purely political purposes on a whistle stop tour leading to the 5 year anniversary gala of the hallmark of the Bush Presidency - is a new low.

Courtesy of the Huffington Postyou can get the whole story here, but bring a strong stomach. You'll need them for comments like the following:

"Instead, in a series of upbeat events designed to underscore progress, Mr. Bush struck an optimistic — and at times almost defiant — tone. He portrayed the anniversary as a starting point, deflecting questions about slow results."

And then there was this one - from a President whose handlers have spent most of his presidency keeping him in a protective bubble - never directly exposed to the focus-sharpening light of criticism or adversity: "“I’ve come back to New Orleans to tell you the words that I spoke on Jackson Square are just as true today as they were then,” he told a largely friendly audience at Warren Easton Senior High School, referring to his major nighttime address on the storm last September. "

Finally, this note which effectively summed up the entire day: "Mr. Bush’s day — a whirlwind more of sights and sounds than of substance — began with a memorial Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis on Jackson Square and concluded with Mr. Bush returning to his ranch outside Crawford, Tex "

Back to Crawford after all? After being told it was only a 10 day vacation this year. After a weekend spent in Kennebunkport with the extended family - which was not included in the 10 day count, a retreat to the ranch after this day of "hard work." Another lie exposed for easily the most dishonest Administration in the last 100 years.