From CNN (via Atrios)

Spellman: Right now, and for several hours, a stream of people have been heading down Canal street heading for the the convention center looking for help. The Convention Center is along the Mississippi river on the southern side of town. They'll be shocked at what they see when they get there. It's thousands and thousands of people who havew been there all night sleeping out on the streets on the sidewalk wherever they can find a spot.

There's no one in control. No national guard. No police. And certainly no FEMA.

Inside we've gotten disturbing news of many dead bodies and nothing to be done with them. CNN's Chris Lawrence got word to us that right in front of him an infant died. That's where people are going for help and there's simply none for them.


Kagan: And Jim, when you were talking to us earlier you were saying among these thousands of people who are there, they're there with perhaps a false hope of immediate help, that they believe they are standing by waiting for a bus or a boat or someone to come get them. There's really no indication that's going to happen anytime soon.

Spellman: Indeed... it's rumors spreading throughout the group. The convention center sits on an area called the riverwalk which is a sort of promenade along the river. There's two riverboats, the last time I checked down there, that are sitting there, the Cajun Queen and another one I didn't get the name of. They're sitting there empty with no activity around them and many people believe these boats will take them away to safety and where they can start to regroup. Also buses, they think that buses are coming for them but there's been no indication that any buses are coming to the convention center. The only buses that we've seen leaving the downtown area are buses provided by hotels only for their guests.

No FEMA! This is exactly what the first responders have been preparing for since 11 September 2001. This disaster is the same, just a natural disaster rather than terrorism, as a dirty bomb or a Chem/Bio attack in many respects. How can there be no authority? What have we been doing for the last four years? Where are the air drops, the water, the resources? All we have are talking heads blaming people for not leaving NOLA! Well what if you can't; what if your poor with no car, credit or a solid family to aid you; then what?

So the guy at the head of FEMA is Mike Brown...

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a B.A. in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University's School of Law. He was an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

Does a man with these credentials belong at the head of FEMA? He was an estate planning lawyer and clearly unprepared for this event. More of a timeline at the Washington Monthly.

And how 'out of touch' is Bush? He said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Now this is not true and was for the most part common knowledge to, well, anyone.