Is he ever NOT a dick?

How George W. shows gratitude and humility for the generous offers of help from around the world:

Offers have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States, the spokesman said.

Still, Bush told ABC-TV: "I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it."

"You know," he said, "we would love help, but we're going to take care of our own business as well, and there's no doubt in my mind we'll succeed. And there's no doubt in my mind, as I sit here talking to you, that New Orleans is going to rise up again as a great city." (Source.)

Oh, and by the way, thanks for the help, everybody. Sheesh.

Tang Rooftop

The Tang Museum on campus has free rooftop concerts from time to time; tonight we walked the forty minutes up to campus (conserving gas in the wake of Katrina—we passed prices of $3.29 and up) to see Kevin McKrell. He plays mostly Celtic Lite music, which I would not ordinarily go out of my way to hear: oh how sad, the fair colleen canna marry her soldier-boy lover, let us keen about it. But I found myself caught up, sitting there on the concrete as the blue bled out of the sky, looking down on the rippling reed-edged pond; my mind grew crowded with friends (and, yes, fair Irish colleens) who are far away. I was hoping to find some connection to the college tonight, since Saratoga has been nothing but a tourist trap since our arrival, but the audience was packed with retirees in pastel polo shirts; "I do not feel any more hip for coming," I whispered to K. They leave very soon, to be replaced by academics, but right now Saratoga is kind of a lonely and alien place for my kind. It is my hope that Tuesday will bring a transformation.

(The Store of Too Many Hats is having a sidewalk sale; I may have to investigate this tomorrow.)