Critics say Bush 'in denial'

Will the Bush administration, finally, be held responsible for one of their disasters?

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California told reporters Wednesday that Gulf Coast residents were struck by two disasters -- Katrina and the president's failure to lead.

"Instead of unconscionably blaming others, President Bush must take charge and take responsibility, and must get it right, and that is my concern and the message that I will bring to the president: 'Mr. President, you should have taken charge and you should have taken responsibility,' " she said.

Pelosi recounted a conversation with Bush, during which she called for the resignation of Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who has been under fire since the outset.

"He said, 'Why would I do that?' " Pelosi said. "I said, 'Because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said, 'What didn't go right?' "

"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she said.

Under scathing criticism from Democratic leaders and anyone else with a minimal acquaintance with reality, the White House and its Republican worker bees found themselves in the deep end of the honey pot this week.

So, despite Tom Delay's squawking like the Aflac duck in his attempt to block an independent investigation of FEMA World (Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency), and despite Bush's whiny pretense that he would investigate the unacceptable conduct himself (like OJ looking for the killer), Republican leaders of the House and Senate were compelled to announce their intentions of mounting a congressional inquiry into their own party leader's "unacceptable" response to Hurricane Katrina.

Democrats, of course, were not included in the GOP's hastily thrown, stall-for-time press conference. Why open the door to more Democrat finger-pointing negativity and such -- liberal ideas, like maybe we don't need to wait till February to expose what's rotten in the woodshed?

Meanwhile, The New Orwellian Times* trailed SOD Rummy on a photo op to the seashore, where he briefly sniffed "freedom's messy" aroma before returning to Washington to reshuffle his chess board and work more of his magic calculus on troop strength and flak jackets.

COO Cheney, finally stirring from his summer hideaway, took time to line up "the majors" at the big-time feeding trough in Washington before collecting his meds and dragging himself down South to add another snarling snout to the calamity.

Back at the White House, however, the president's operatives continued to debate their next press release, expected any day now: "Dangerous storm Katrina may threaten gulf coast; you're on your own."

* The New Orwellian Times is my creation.