And at the UN, we have: John Bolton

This is going to be the greatest American refugee crisis of our lives. 1.3 million displaced from New Orleans alone. Then there's the rest of Louisiana (some towns wiped off the map completely), not to mention the southern portion of Mississippi and Alabama.

Even with power, where do people live? With no place to live, how do they go to work? With out work, how do they pay for the necessities of life? 25,000 alone will be brought to Houston's Astrodome. Imagine housing 25,000 people for any length of time. How do you feed them, clothe them, bathe them, keep them occupied?

Seriously: we could use international help here, if only to figure out how to handle something I don't think the U.S. has ever handled before, certainly not within its own borders, certainly not since the Civil War. We have a refugee crisis.

And in charge, we have George W. Bush, and his idea of FEMA. The Mayor of New Orleans is already blasting the lack of coordination of helicopters for the deepening disaster in that city. The Washington Post has reported how Bush has destroyed FEMA (like father, like son, as Kevin Drum has noticed).

And John Bolton wants to destroy the U.N. Which would include the UN High Commission on Refugees. Who just might have some useful advice for us.

In the meantime, no helpful advice from our "religious leaders," at least the only ones the press recognizes: Messrs. Falwell, Dobson, and Robertson. I won't hold my breath waiting for them to appear in the disaster areas with a shovel and a broom, or even a blanket and a cot to offer.

Is this a great country, or what?