Now this is so sad that it’s funny. Laura Bush is defending her husband, saying that he “cares about people.” Uh, Laura, he only cares about them if they’re rich and are willing to line his pockets as well. Sorry honey, but that’s the truth.

From the Katrina Blog:

9:44 P.M. – WASHINGTON (AP): Laura Bush described as “disgusting” comments by rapper Kanye West and Democratic chairman Howard Dean blaming her husband for the disproportionate number of black hurricane victims.

“I think all of those remarks are disgusting, to be perfectly frank, because of course President Bush cares about everyone in our country,” the first lady said Thursday in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks.

Yes, Laura, George cares. That’s why he’s cut funding for veterans, for Medicaid, for FEMA, and has weakened laws which protect workers. And that’s why he has killed 100,000 Iraqis and almost 2,000 US soldiers. Because he cares!

“And I know that. I mean, I’m the person who lives with him,” she said. “I know what he’s like and I know what he thinks and I know how he cares about people.”

Well, that is your problem, Laura. Living with George, I mean. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

You really know how desperate the Bush clan are getting when Laura has to take center stage and try to defend her husband, by lying through her teeth and saying how much he loves the American public. Especially those poor black folk who got washed away in the hurricane. Then again, maybe this is her idea of caring.

Now here’s another priceless comment from Laura. She said that it was clear that poor people were more vulnerable when the hurricane hit.

“They lived in poorer neighborhoods. Their neighborhoods were the ones that were more likely to flood, as we saw in New Orleans. Their housing was more vulnerable,” she said.

“And that’s what we saw, and that’s what we want to address in our country.”

Well gee, Laura, how nice. And how has your husband gone about addressing that? We’ve got 40 million people who have no health insurance, and thousands who live on the street. Maybe he can start there? Or maybe he can stop cutting funding to programs like food stamps? You know, those poor little kids tend to get cranky when they’re hungry.

I hate to break the news to you Laura, but since George took office, we have seen a rise in the number of people in poverty. I guess that’s what you mean when you say that he’s addressing the issue. But hey, tax cuts to the wealthiest in our country–now that’s a go. Tax cuts at the expense of the middle class and poor. Right on, Laura. You say it like it is.

Okay, just a few more posts. This information is important, because it does affect healthcare. If funding hadn’t been cut to New Orleans, if the levees had been fortified to withstand a category 5 hurricane–the mess that the city is currently in would not have happened. Yes, the hurricane would have hit and ended. Most of the hospitals and other facilities would not have flooded as they did, there wouldn’t be toxic waste and chemicals all over the city now, or the danger of a host of diseases.

So let’s hear one more in the case against Michael Brown.

From Editor and Publisher:

NEW YORK Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Times-Picayune Sunday afternoon that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi–and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.

We were briefing them way before landfall,” Mayfield said. “It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.”

So he was well aware of the danger facing the city of New Orleans. Well aware that the levees could break. Well aware of the intensity of the storm.

Then again, maybe Mickey has no idea what a hurricane even is. Or a levee. Or has difficulty finding New Orleans on the map.

From the Nurses (and other healthcare workers) Medblog at Medscape:

I have volunteered at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and I found it very disturbing that all these people coming to seek refuge and a little bit of solace were met with chaos and uncertainty. It was very disturbing to me that everything seemed to be very disorganized. It seemed as though there was no communication between anybody. It was very hard to determine who to go to for answers to even simple questions. I’m still to this day not sure who was actually organizing the whole situation. I didn’t know if it was FEMA or LSU medical school running the show.

I was very humbled by some of the stories that these evacuees had to tell. I remember a man and his 4 month old twins who came into the pediatric ER where I work. They had been seeking shelter under a bridge for the past 5 days. One of the twins had a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt that was presumed was infected. They had been seen at the makeshift hospital at New Orleans airport. They tapped the child’s shunt at the airport and sent the child to us for further evaluation. The man’s wife and other 6 children had to stay behind in New Orleans.

These stories are amazing, disturbing, enlightening and shocking. Spend a few minutes reading about their experiences.