Wholly hell this is a big state! We're still working our way westward and may stop in the mountains if we can find any (we hear rumors there are some in NW Texas) to cool off for a day or three along the way.

So the bulk of the BRADBLOGGING will be done by our fine bevy of Guest Bloggers who will be paid double for their extended duty.

Speaking of which, any opinions on how you all like the generally increased amount of BRAD BLOG items in my general absense now that we've got the GB's cranking it out with a bit more regularity than I do when I'm running the usual one-man-band here? Should we continue with the additional voices even when I'm finally back? Your thoughts are appreciated...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Tonight, on MSNBC's countdown, Kieth Olbermann nailed the Bush Administration and other officials for their handling of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans:

You can find the rest of the remarks in Keith Olbermann's Blog. A video clip of the statement is here (Windows Media).

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

I've been reading Stan Goff now and then, but not regularly. My bad. I was forcefully reminded of this when a friend sent me an excerpt from The Butterfly Effect --- Katrina and Occupation. In my humble view it's monsterpiece, and I recommend it most heartily.

Here's a quick teaser:

Please read this essay. And then, if you have any words left at all, you are more than welcome to share them with us here.

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

The following comparison is anecdotal and it's circumstantial evidence at best, but look at what these three major North American news providers are feeding my hotmail news page (as of noon PT Sunday):

from CBC the #1 story is: U.S. must be prepared for what's coming - thousands dead from Katrina and the #2 story is "Rehnquist is dead".

from CTV the main headline reads: New Orleans death toll reaches the 'thousands'; and the second story is "Alberta sends more oil to US", with the "Rehnquist dead" story 3rd

but from MSNBC the lead story is about the upcoming trial of Saddam Hussein!!! Guess what? They've set a date!! No kidding! October 19th!!! Can you believe it??? That is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!! especially now, of course, since there's nothing of greater significance going on! Or is there?

Or is there?? Look! What have we here? The second story is a gripper: "French Blaze Kills 14" Wow! All of a sudden we care about France! We care so much about France --- home of our timeless allies the cheese-eating surrender monkeys, after whom we so graciously named our favorite fastfood junkbomb, whose ancestors gave our ancestors the Statue of Liberty ... yeah, those French people ... the very same French people whom we have been always taught to love and respect ... suffered fourteen deaths in a fire. How awful! How tragic! How utterly earth-shattering! Mind-bending important stuff, for sure, and right up there with the trial of Saddam Hussein.

Third on the list, the minor little tragedy still unfolding in the USA.

Who said "spin-meister"?
Who said "damage-control"?
Who said "Location, location, location"?

Here's the 3rd ranked story from MSNBC: Storm exposed disarray at the top

Who controls the selection of stories?
And who controls their placement?
Is this a deliberate dereliction of editorial duty??
Or is it just more of the same, more of the same, more of the same??

Who said "Media Whores"??
Who said "The Horror! The Horror!!"??
Who said "God bless us, every one"??

Guest blogged by David Edwards

President of Jefferson Parish, Aaron Broussard, says he still doesn't have the resources needed to save the lives in his Parish. At the end of this interview on Meet the Press, Broussard tells a heart wrenching story of a co-worker's mother that was trapped in a nursing home. She called four days in a row for help but help never came. Broussard breaks into tears as he explains that the Cavalry never came and she died by drowning. Folks, people are still trapped. People still don't have food and water. President Bush has staged some photo-ops to make it look like the Cavalry had arrived and everything was under control. As Winter Patriot noted, this was a staged photo-op. It was faked. It was media hype. George Bush's Administration and the federal government agencies that he is responsible for have still not responded in proportion to the disaster. They have not fulfilled their duties to the Americans that are depending on them. Please watch and listen to all of Aaron Brousard's comments in this video. Streaming video in Real Media format. Video in Windows Media format. Video in QuickTime format. Video for dial-up users. Audio in MP3 format.

UPDATE: Pam Spaulding keeps an eye on the sad and embarrassing state of the Freepers who seem to have deleted the words "accountability" and "responsibility" from their dictionary once their Savior and King succeeded in purchasing his way into the White House. What a world...

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

The first few items on today's menu at The Whispering Campaign provide a quick sketch of the so-called leadership we are seeing from our Chimperial Highness and his retinue of Chimperial Spin-Meisters:

They built a fake food-distribution center to use as a backdrop for the Chimperial visit:
Food Distribution Was Staged For Photo Op by Laura Rozen
and they even pretended they were fixing the levee, so the image of the Chimperor could be framed against such a comforting background
Levee Repair Was Staged For Photo Op by U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu
but in fact, the actual relief effort was shut down while the Chimperor was in the area:
Bush Visit Halts Food Delivery For Photo Op by Michelle Krupa

This Chimpire surely must be in its final throes.

We must end this Chimperial madness!!

Chimpeach!! Chimpeach!! Chimpeach!!

Knowledge Is Power! Pass It On!!.

Guest Blogged by Winter Patriot

A bit of a SNAFU backstage at The BRAD BLOG has prevented us guest bloggers from posting new items for the past few days ... more on that later, maybe ... and Brad has been on the road and out of net range for the most part, and unable to do anything about it until this morning ... more on that later too, maybe ... so we're All Fupped Uck indeed!! And we're not the only ones!

We're scrambling to put it back together, but in the meantime ... we haven't even had an open thread for a while ... so let's use this one.

IBC Radio is replaying our "Operation Noble Cause" coverage from Crawford, Texas continuously all weekend long. Or so I'm told...Enjoy.

The filter is gone. This is the No Spin Zone...

Listen all the way to the end to Mayor Ray Nagin. Heartbreaking.

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Cable news networks are setting ratings records. More people are tuning in than ever to see coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. All the cable news shows have suspended their normal topics to focus on the crisis.

For example, on a given night it is not unusual to hear thinly veiled racist undertones on one of Lou Dobbs regular reports about immigration issues. Seldom, if ever, has Dobb's bigotry been as obvious and disturbing as it was on tonight's broadcast concerning race, class and the failure of emergency management during the the current crisis.

Is it just me or is Lou totally missing the point? I was going to title this piece "Lou Dobbs is a fucking racist" but "we report, you decide"...

Watch the video of CNN's Lou Dobbs and decide for yourself (Windows Media). The transcript is here.

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Thanks to our great engineer Otie Maclay (who we found on the side of the road on our way to Crawford), this Saturday Night's BRAD SHOW will feature many of the highlights from our 50+ hours of LIVE daily broadcasts from on the ground at Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas.

Highlights to include interviews with: CINDY SHEEHAN, JOAN BAEZ, REP. JOHN CONYERS, RANDI RHODES, Goldstart Mom KAREN MEREDITH, Iraqi Vet TOMAS ANDREWS, plus musical highlights and much much more!

And yes, your DONATIONS are still greatly appreciated to help us pay for the Radio Miracle that was "Operation Noble Cause"!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this historic series of broadcasts possible!

Guest Blogged by Winter Patriot

This just in from CTV:

New Orleans rocked by blasts, military move in

There's more!

Guest Blogged by Winter Patriot

As reported by RAW STORY:

Yikes! Shoot-To-Kill! I ask you, What's wrong with this picture?

Guest blogged by David Edwards

MSNBC Photojournalist, Tony Zumbado, spent the morning filming at the New Orleans Convention Center. He assumed that some news reports had been exaggerated. Zumbado wanted to see and film the victims' situation first hand.

Allison Stewart asked him about the experience:

Watch Tony Zumbado's film of the New Orleans Convention Center in Windows media format or Real media format.