Verminous, Breeding Scum

On a day when former FEMA head Mike Brown blames local leaders for his much-publicized failures, TIME has a lengthy look at up to 3,000 other corrupt, incompetent and inefficient Bush appointees.

I don't normally get too bogged down with lower-level US politics, but sometimes the scandalous corruption of these yes-men is just too outrageous to ignore. Josh Marhsall has been all over the Jack Abramoff case - now he has a new email linking Abramoff with former AG John Ashcroft (and hence to Karl Rove too). Marshall also links the arrest of two gangland killers to a former Abramoff business associate.

And meanwhile:

More than 80 per cent of the $US1.5 billion ($1.98 billion) in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were awarded without bidding or with only limited competition, including enormous deals with Kellog, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton - the former employer of the Vice-President, Dick Cheney - and the Shaw Group. The lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, former campaign manager of the President, George Bush, and a former head of the agency, has represented both companies.

The inspector-general for the Department of Homeland Security, Richard Skinner, told The New York Times that 60 members of his staff were examining Hurricane Katrina contracts.

And would you believe Laura Bush is travelling to Biloxi, Mississippi, to film a spot on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I kid you not. Mike Moore thinks the idea of a Bush family member doing a reality show is pretty ironic.

UPDATE 1: ABC News calls Brown out on his lies - when was the last time you saw a media outlet doing that?

"I could not find out who was making decisions about what needed to be done," Brown testified.

UPDATE 2: The fact that Brown is still working for FEMA and making public pronouncements could have something to do with the rumour that Bush has started drinking again (did he ever stop? what about the cocaine?). Jane Hamsher lists a bunch of bloggers then says:

But one of the above-mentioned folks called me this afternoon to say that according to sources within the Enquirer itself, the source for Bush's drinking story is -- an incredibly pissed-off, recently scapegoated head of a federal agency who thinks that BushCo. done him wrong.

Did Brownie threaten to go public with insider info?

UPDATE 3: The Post has detailed coverage of the Abramoff killers story:

Police have long said they knew who killed Boulis but needed more evidence to bring a case. Late last week, police persuaded the Broward County State Attorney's Office that they had enough evidence to get a grand jury indictment. The indictment of the three men was handed up Thursday and remains under seal...

Bang, bang, George...