Bush's Accountability Moment (Take 2)

For a while I thought this was going to be one of those "conspiracy theory" quotes that can never be attributed coz they've been pulled from the news site. But no, even the BBC now has Bush's all-time stupidest quote online:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

My God.

A few questions...

1. What if Al Quaeda had blown up the New Orleans levees, rather than a hurricane?

Would FEMA and Homeland Security and the National Guard and all the other administrators have been prepared then? We're told funds were diverted for "security", but what difference would it have made, actually?

2. From Atrios: "Why is rebuilding Iraq more worthy of our tax dollars than rebuilding New Orleans?"

3. Why should there be "zero tolerance" for looters (or for people who are just desparate) yet no accountability for politicians? Here's Bush again:

I hope people don't play politics during this period of time," he said. "There'll be ample time for politics. But now's the time to focus attention..."

As with 9/11, however, it seems political attention should have been focussed BEFORE the disaster. So here's your latest "accountability moment" right here, George...

4. Also from Atrios: "I appreciate that officials take time to brief the public, but I think the FEMA moron has been on TV for about 6 hours today. Doesn't he have anything, uh, more important to do? How can he even be briefed if he's got cameras in his face."

Meanwhile, on another planet: Michael Ledeen nominates the Fadhil brothers at Iraq The Model for the Nobel Peace Prize. Seriously...