Talking Points Memo is working on a timeline of events leading up to and following Hurricane Katrina.

Take your time…not like it’s an emergency or anything: FEMA Chief Sent Help Only When Storm Ended

The government’s disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security workers to support rescuers in the region — and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

If you missed Mayor Nagin on Nightline this past Sunday, here’s a partial transcript.

That says that people value their property, and were protecting property, over human life.

Official says feds warned of storm’s potential:

Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said yesterday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 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 before Hurricane Katrina slammed 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. … I keep looking back to see if there was anything else we could have done, and I just don’t know what it would be,” he said.

Chertoff said Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane and levee breaches that flooded New Orleans.

It’s so much fun, it’s now official policy: White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage

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.

Ms. Rice did not return to Washington until Thursday, after she was spotted at a Broadway show and shopping for shoes, an image that Republicans said buttressed the notion of a White House unconcerned with tragedy.

These officials said that Mr. Bush and his political aides rapidly changed course in what they acknowledged was a belated realization of the situation’s political ramifications.

[Emphasis mine]

Changes in Saturn Rings Baffle Scientists

New observations by the international Cassini spacecraft reveal that Saturn’s trademark shimmering rings, which have dazzled astronomers since Galileo’s time, have dramatically changed over just the past 25 years.

Everyone is suffering, but as always, the have-nots suffer more: In Tale of Two Families, a Chasm Between Haves and Have-Nots.

I just heard that Dr. Phil is going to the Astrodome in Houston to help the refugees there deal with the situation. Haven’t these people been through enough? Do we really need to inflict them with Dr. Phil?

When all else fails? Pass the blame buck.

Every day I read a story that makes me think, “wow, our government couldn’t have produced a more fucked up response to Hurricane Katrina if they tried.” Sadly, each day I’m proven wrong again.

Chertoff: Katrina scenario did not exist – despite the fact they had been warned for years. In fact, try taking a look at this October 2004 National Geographic story.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great.

And, let’s not forget the fact that FEMA paid a private company “more than half a million dollars” to develop just such a plan.

Federal troops get limited role in Katrina work:

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, enacted during the post-Civil War reconstruction period, prohibits federal military personnel from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States. But the president can waive the law in an emergency.

Asked whether Bush might waive the law, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, “We continue to consider the full range of options.”

And, on the nit-picky side, maybe this isn’t the time to smile for the cameras, you know?

At least the mayor of New Orleans had the balls to call them out. This was followed by some members of the press growing a few too. Some of these incidents are documented here.

And while the news is concentrating on the New Orleans angle of the disaster, what about the people in Mississippi and Alabama?