“…Mr. Rove had told administration officials not to respond to Democratic attacks on Mr. Bush’s handling of the hurricane in the belief that the president was in a weak moment and that the administration should not appear to be seen now as being blatantly political. As with others in the party, this Republican would discuss the deliberations only on condition of anonymity because of keen White House sensitivity about how the administration and its strategy would be perceived.

In a reflection of what has long been a hallmark of Mr. Rove’s tough political style, the administration is also working to shift the blame away from the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana who, as it happens, are Democrats.” (New York Times )

“Police Superintendent Eddie Compass announced the two suicides yesterday morning, telling WWL Radio in New Orleans that ”the world really can’t understand’ what has happened in New Orleans in recent days, and that the two suicides were tragic parts of an already horrible situation.

…”He lost everything he owned. ‘He just could not find a way to wrap his mind around what had happened. There was despair in his eyes and sorrow. All I can say is it is more than he could handle.'” (Boston Globe)

A Times-Picayune open letter to Bush: “Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially.

In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn’t known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, ‘We’ve provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they’ve gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day.’

Lies don’t get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President.

Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, ‘You’re doing a heck of a job.'”

Halliburton subsidiary gets Katrina repair contracts: “A Halliburton subsidiary has a Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Hurricane Katrina-damaged Gulf Coast military sites.

Kellogg, Brown and Root Services was awarded the competitive bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work after natural disasters.

It’s a 500 (M) million dollar contract for the unit of Houston-based Halliburton.” (KLTV 7 Tyler-Longview-Jacksonville, TX)

Maureen Dowd: “Why does this self-styled ‘can do’ president always lapse into such lame ‘who could have known?’ excuses.

Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.

Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.’s prewar reports.

Who on earth could have known that New Orleans’s sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy’s uneasy fishbowl.” (New York Times op-ed)