Update: Red Cross AND Salvation Army Repeatedly Denied Access to SuperDome, Convention Center

Hugh Hewitt interviews Fox News' Major Garrett:

HH: What has your investigation into the Red Cross relationship with the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security revealed today?

MG: A couple of things. First of all, it established on tonight's Special Report, that it wasn't just the Red Cross. It was the Salvation Army. Both agencies, both organizations were ready, prepared, pre-positioned, eager, but were thwarted in their efforts to bring supplies, basic supplies...not everything these people needed, but core supplies to the Superdome, and then eventually, the convention center. Why? Because the [Louisiana] Department of Homeland Security said look, our plan is to evacuate these people. Marty Evans, the President and the CEO of the American Red Cross, said on camera...you don't have to believe me. Believe her. You can read her own eyes, saying look: we were told if we came in, we would create an atmosphere that would lead people to stay, and give them the feeling that they should stay. And the state did not want that.
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I was very specific with the American Red Cross, president and CEO Marty Evans, and said wait. Tell me clearly. Were you prepared to go in before the levees broke? Before water became an issue of any kind? She said absolutely. Were you denied access before the levees broke? She said we were denied access from minute one.

HH: And did they attempt to renew their request to get in after the levees broke, Major Garrett?

MG: Yes. I am told that the timeline indicates a frequent reasking of this question.

HH: And a frequent denial by Louisiana state Department of Homeland Security?

MG: Right.

ABC News: Who's to Blame for Delayed Response to Katrina?

From ABC News:

In New Orleans, those in peril and those in power have pointed the finger squarely at the federal government for the delayed relief effort.

But experts say when natural disasters strike, it is the primary responsibility of state and local governments -- not the federal government -- to respond.

New Orleans' own comprehensive emergency plan raises the specter of "having large numbers of people ... stranded" and promises "the city ... will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas...Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves," the plan states.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, however, that plan was not followed completely.

Instead of sending city buses to evacuate those who could not make it out on their own, people in New Orleans were told to go to the Superdome and the Convention Center, where no one provided sufficient sustenance or security.

The Machine Stops: How New Orleans Failed It's Weakest Citizens

Excellent commentary by Thomas Lipscomb from Tech Central Station:

As Lake Ponchatrain's waters began to drown his city, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin had the colossal nerve to shout indignantly "Get off your asses, and let's do something" -- and then continued doing nothing himself, but add to the deluge by bursting into tears.

Having been prodded on Saturday into ordering an evacuation by President Bush and the head of the Hurricane Center and then delaying it for seventeen crucial hours until well into Sunday, Mayor Nagin is directly responsible for the AP picture of over 200 unused New Orleans buses marooned in four feet of water that might have evacuated more than 15,000 in one trip alone. Those were the buses that in the Mayor's own plan were to be used to evacuate 100,000 poor the city has long understood had no other means of transportation.

Nagin is also responsible for failing to pre-position generators, food and water, a medical presence and portable toilets for the two sites at the Superdome and Convention Center that he had proclaimed "emergency centers" for tens of thousands of the more than 30% of New Orleanians that lived below the poverty line. And then the Mayor failed to police them.

The rapes, murders, and needless deaths that took place in those "black holes" of New Orleans are his responsibility as well. Eighty armed policemen were too cowardly to enter the Convention Center after reports of the savagery inside as late as Sunday. Troops finally searching the Convention Center on Monday found an elderly man and a young girl, battered to death, among the corpses. New Orleans's would-be reformers thought they had elected a responsible leader in former cable executive Nagin and instead they got a classic "cable guy" with a million excuses and the same lousy service.

Of course behind all this is a dirty little secret well-known in New Orleans which is also the reason almost 30% of New Orleans police precinct members deserted during the Hurricane Katrina emergency. The police were afraid to try to enforce any kind of evacuations in the violent ghettos of a city that remains one of the most lawless in America. Anyone driving a school bus down a street in one of New Orleans's "projects" trying to enforce the mayor's evacuation order would be risking his life. Had the Mayor ordered police escorts, the desertion rate of the police would have been far higher than 30%. And that is the reason for the current argument between the Mayor and his own Police Commissioner, who still refuses to enforce his "mandatory evacuation" order.

Governor Blanco's ineptitude and indecisiveness was appalling. Her direct orders blocked the Red Cross's heroic effort to pre-position desperately needed supplies at the Superdome before it was cut off by the rising flood waters as well. Attempts by the Mayor, the Governor, and The New Orleans Times-Picayune -- which had extensively reported on the state's and city's similar failures on previous occasions -- to blame the Federal FEMA efforts for failing in its role in the immediate aftermath of Katrina are patently ridiculous.

Under white and black governments alike, New Orleans has always been one of the most corrupt cities in one of the most corrupt states in the United States. Three Louisiana officials were indicted for stealing emergency relief funds prior to Katrina. It should surprise no one that the Sicilian Mafia opened operations in New Orleans before it had a presence in New York. Even the "Louisiana Lottery" put in place by a genuine reformer to raise public funds quickly devolved into scandal.
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And that is the real problem. E. M. Forster's THE MACHINE STOPS, published almost a century ago, posits a world in the future in which the human race gives up any individual responsibility to an immense computerized system that meets every need -- until it fails.

Those who dream of the perfectibility of human institutions through increasingly, compulsorily collective government will always attack the highest levels of government when it does fail. Republicans and Democrats alike have created huge institutions like the Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and now Homeland Security, built on dreams that can never meet the excessive demands placed upon them.

If we are to learn anything from the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, we will have to review the more practical expectations of the Framers of our Federal system. Local and state government are the primary responders. To keep their powers and responsibility intact the Federal Government is a resource they must administer wisely and decisively. Focusing on the habitual incoherence of Bush Administration communications is beside the point. There is no excuse for ignoring the key failures of local and state government in facing the challenge of Hurricane Katrina. Doing so will only ensure the next disaster.

Thomas Lipscomb is a Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future(USC). His family has lived in New Orleans for over 150 years.

Thanks Dinocrat and Augusta Free Press.

Gov. Blanco Refused to Cede Guard Control

The curious cacophony of crowing liberals demanding to know why President Bush didn't seize control of the state government in Louisiana continues, despite the specious reasoning underlying such a power grab.

This from the New York Times:

As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.

For reasons of practicality and politics, officials at the Justice Department and the Pentagon, and then at the White House, decided not to urge Mr. Bush to take command of the effort. Instead, the Washington officials decided to rely on the growing number of National Guard personnel flowing into Louisiana, who were under Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's control.
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As criticism of the response to Hurricane Katrina has mounted, one of the most pointed questions has been why more troops were not available more quickly to restore order and offer aid. Interviews with officials in Washington and Louisiana show that as the situation grew worse, they were wrangling with questions of federal/state authority, weighing the realities of military logistics and perhaps talking past each other in the crisis.

To seize control of the mission, Mr. Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows the president in times of unrest to command active-duty forces into the states to perform law enforcement duties. But decision makers in Washington felt certain that Ms. Blanco would have resisted surrendering control, as Bush administration officials believe would have been required to deploy active-duty combat forces before law and order had been re-established.

While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges.

But just as important to the administration were worries about the message that would have been sent by a president ousting a Southern governor of another party from command of her National Guard, according to administration, Pentagon and Justice Department officials.

"Can you imagine how it would have been perceived if a president of the United States of one party had pre-emptively taken from the female governor of another party the command and control of her forces, unless the security situation made it completely clear that she was unable to effectively execute her command authority and that lawlessness was the inevitable result?" asked one senior administration official, who spoke anonymously because the talks were confidential.
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Aides to Ms. Blanco said she was prepared to accept the deployment of active-duty military officials in her state. But she and other state officials balked at giving up control of the Guard as Justice Department officials said would have been required by the Insurrection Act if those combat troops were to be sent in before order was restored.

In a separate discussion last weekend, the governor also rejected a more modest proposal for a hybrid command structure in which both the Guard and active-duty troops would be under the command of an active-duty, three-star general - but only after he had been sworn into the Louisiana National Guard

Louisiana Largest Corps of Engineers Grantee. Levy System Repair Not State Priority

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu quipped that the old Saturday Night Live clay figure "Mr. Bill" knew more about the possible failure of the levy's in New Orleans than President Bush. Ms. Landrieu, scion of the famous Landrieu family, who's father Moon Landrieu as Mayor of New Orleans, played a hand in building the now infamous Superdome. Her brother, Mitch, is the current Lieutenant Governor of Louisana, right up there next to wiffle, waffle and wait, Governor K. Babineaux "Babs" Blanco.

So when dollface Mary gives a speech demanding to know why nothing was done to improve the levy system to protect New Orleans from a category five storm, people rightly ask: "You've known about this problem for how long? What did YOU do about it?

Well, Mike's America went to Senator Landrieu's web page to get the goods from the horses mouth. I was looking for bills that Ms. Landrieu had sponsored during either the 108th Congress or the 109th where she sought funds for Army Corps of Engineers projects to strengthen the New Orleans levy system to withstand a category 4 or 5 storm.

As Mr. Bill would say: "OHHH NOOO!!!" Dear Mary didn't sponsor ANY legislation to upgrade the levy's in New Orleans!

Well I suppose that's President Bush's fault too! He should have known the people of Louisiana were too incompetant to elect anyone better than dear Mary to save them. The President should have sent the Army in to take control of Louisiana and depose boobs like dear Mary years ago!

Louisiana Largest Pork Projects Did Not Include Flood Control

From The Washington Post: "Money Flowed to Questionable Projects State Leads in Army Corps Spending, but Millions Had Nothing to Do With Floods"

Before Hurricane Katrina breached a levee on the New Orleans Industrial Canal, the Army Corps of Engineers had already launched a $748 million construction project at that very location. But the project had nothing to do with flood control. The Corps was building a huge new lock for the canal, an effort to accommodate steadily increasing barge traffic.

Except that barge traffic on the canal has been steadily decreasing.

In Katrina's wake, Louisiana politicians and other critics have complained about paltry funding for the Army Corps in general and Louisiana projects in particular. But over the five years of President Bush's administration, Louisiana has received far more money for Corps civil works projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion; California was a distant second with less than $1.4 billion, even though its population is more than seven times as large.
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Despite a series of independent investigations criticizing Army Corps construction projects as wasteful pork-barrel spending, Louisiana's representatives have kept bringing home the bacon.

For example, after a $194 million deepening project for the Port of Iberia flunked a Corps cost-benefit analysis, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) tucked language into an emergency Iraq spending bill ordering the agency to redo its calculations.
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Pam Dashiell, president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, remembers holding a protest against the lock four years ago -- right where the levee broke Aug. 30. Now she's holed up with her family in a St. Louis hotel, and her neighborhood is underwater. "Our politicians never cared half as much about protecting us as they cared about pork," Dashiell said.
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But overall, the Bush administration's funding requests for the key New Orleans flood-control projects for the past five years were slightly higher than the Clinton administration's for its past five years. Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the chief of the Corps, has said that in any event, more money would not have prevented the drowning of the city, since its levees were designed to protect against a Category 3 storm, and the levees that failed were already completed projects.
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[M]ore than any other federal agency, the Corps is controlled by Congress; its $4.7 billion civil works budget consists almost entirely of "earmarks" inserted by individual legislators.

This won't be the first inspection of grants and spending that went awry in Louisiana and New Orleans. But it should be a wake up call for the knee-jerks who can't get beyond the Bush is to blame mantra.

Lefty Katrina Blame Fair and Balanced?

Left Blames All Equally for Katrina Mess? Put Up, or Shut Up!

Update: Thus far, no lefty who has taken repeated pot shots at President Bush has stepped forward to offer evidence of comments slamming the response of state officials with equal vigor.

O.K. kiddies. All I've heard from the neosocialists the past week is how Bush is at fault for the Katrina mess in New Orleans. Oh, they claim to be objective, claim they have offered criticism of the local and state government, and insist that I somehow validate their Bush hate with an admission of culpability on his part. Of course they also fail, after numerous requests to provide the LEGAL justification for what would amount to President Bush seizing the assets of the government of Louisiana.

But let's move on. The neosoc comments here always include that throwaway line about state and local governments, then launch an extensive screed against President Bush and the way he has handled the situation.

Now, is it possible that these oh, so fair-minded neosocs are visiting lefty blogs and offering similar chastisement to the virulent Bush hate that clouds these people's judgement? Is it possible that I am wrong when I say that their efforts are a transparent C.Y.A. for failed Democrat leaders in Louisiana and New Orleans and just another disgraceful round of partisan politicking at a time of national tragedy? Could it be that at lefty sites they offer paragraph after paragraph of criticism of the state and local response?

O.K. Prove Mike Wrong

Please offer in the comments section below a link back to comments you have made on lefty blogs where you demonstrate the balance you seem to be lacking here. Provide links to those comments that occur BEFORE the date of this post. Link back directly to your comment, not some general link to a story posted at whatever-lefty.com, as I have no desire to wade through the verbal sewage that swirls around those places worse than it currently does in the streets of New Orleans. That toxic spew has shown to be highly dangerous to mental health.

Louisiana Refused Red Cross Permission to Save Superdome Refugees

SUPERDOME? SUPERDUMB!

Thank God there is usually a sheep dog around when you need one. Flopping Aces has corralled the sheep with an excellent round up of analysis of the Katrina relief failure. Course what we really need around here is someone who can herd cats, but that's another story.

The scenes outside the Superdome in New Orleans and the Convention Center were heart-rending. Thinking how much those poor folks suffered for what seemed like an eternity waiting to be evacuated. Sadder still when we consider how it all could have been prevented.

Excerpts from Flopping Aces roundup here:

This from Hugh Hewitt:"The Fox News Channel's Major Garrett was just on my show extending the story he had just reported on Brit Hume's show: The Red Cross is confirming to Garrett that it had prepositioned water, food, blankets and hygiene products for delivery to the Superdome and the Convention Center in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, but were blocked from delivering those supplies by orders of the Louisiana state government, which did not want to attract people to the Superdome and/or Convention Center. "

Political Teen has the video for the Garrett interview on Fox News.

The Red Cross confirms the above here.

Ed Morrissey states the obvious:

"It's also worth noting that the Red Cross gets more access to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay than the people still stuck inside New Orleans."

And Chris Regan has an interesting thought about what Bush did do wrong:

"President Bush failed now in one way. He failed to ascertain that he was dealing with a governor who was a clear and present danger to the people of Louisiana. That's a tough nut to crack in a crisis, so I don't blame him. Taking military control over Louisiana to save Blanco's subjects from her sociopathic leadership style would have been helpful to some individuals for sure, but the problem is that such a move may have done more serious long-term damage than the Democrats have already done to the United States in this crisis. Can you say "military dictator?"

New Orleans Police Radio System Had No Emergency Fuel Supply For Generators

Chaos in the streets, no communications? Too bad New Orleans didn't have an emergency fuel supply for the generator that powered police radios. I suppose that's Bush's fault too!

Accountability For Local Government or CYA Cover-up?

On Sunday, September 11th 2005 America will observe the fourth anniversary of the September 11th atrocities. It was day that Americans of all stripes, Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, young and old came together, united in a common goal to recover our fallen, and march forward to protect our nation. New York's finest, the police and firefighters, many of whom lost friends and family in the attacks, worked tirelessly for weeks after the attack, first to rescue those they could, then to recover what few remains were found.

If you haven't had the chance to see the National Geographic special "Inside 9/11" it will be repeated on Thursday, September 8, 2005. The first part of the four hour special was a real eye opener on the events which led up to the attacks and formed the basis of my post here.

Four years later, we find ourselves facing another tragedy. This was not a terrorist attack, but an act of nature. Yet even with the winds of Hurricane Katrina still howling, as people were being rescued and as many were dying, we saw the opposite of a united front of caring and compassion. In stark contrast to the unity expressed after the September 11th atrocities, Hurricane Katrina brought forth an instant chorus of race baiting and finger pointing aimed in one direction, and one direction only: President Bush and the federal response to the disaster.

205 School buses made inoperable by the flood in New Orleans. Buses that could have been used used BEFORE the storm, or in the immediate aftermath to evacuate and save the poorest residents. Should President Bush have seized these buses and other state and local government assets to save New Orleans BEFORE the storm?

Never before have we seen such a crass, and transparently political C.Y.A. operation launched to shield the complete breakdown of state and local government that occurred BEFORE Katrina's winds reached the gulf shores.

A few miles away from New Orleans, the residents of Mississippi took the direct hit that was feared for New Orleans. Flooding, wind damage and immediate loss of life far exceeded that found in New Orleans on early Tuesday. Yet, we didn't hear stories of a failed evacuation plan or poor black families trapped and deprived of food and water for days as people died.

Back across the waters of Lake Ponchatrain, The Federal Emergency Management Agency began surveying the scene preparing to bring in relief supplies. The Red Cross stood poised to move in as well. But armed thugs decided that helicopters offering rescue made good targets and the relief effort was delayed until the security situation improved.

Where was the National Guard? Were they in Iraq? Noooo.... They were ready to move, but that decision, by law, had to come from the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Ms. Blanco waffled at so many critical points. First in not ordering the mandatory evacuation of the poorest residents using the full transportation resources of the state and local government BEFORE the storm (she did so on Wednesday, August 31, AFTER New Orleans buses were made inoperable by the flood). But as egregious as that failure, Ms. Blanco refused to send in the guard and STILL refuses to grant the federal government the full authority it needs to conduct operations in New Orleans.

Federal Emergency Management disaster plans clearly state that it is not possible for the federal government to respond fully to the needs of disaster victims for at least 72 hours AFTER a storm passes. The massive footprint of supplies and personnel were prepositioned in the safety zone outside the worst swath of Katrina's destruction. Had they been closer, they might have become part of the tragedy, not part of the response.

Within that 72 hour time-frame, the federal government, with the authority belatedly granted by Governor Blanco, entered New Orleans and immediately established order. The evacuation of those trapped at the Superdome and the Convention Center was completed in another 24 hours.

Blame Bush Continues

You might have thought that after the massive and effective federal response the one-way finger pointing by those on the left would stop. Sadly, not so. Sadder still are the people who say that they won't give one dime for relief because A. Bush is responsible for the hurricane or B. The people who live in red states deserve to get hit because they voted for Bush.

It hasn't been much better in Congress, where Democrats fresh from their long August vacations launched an instant outrage offensive. Interesting that at the same time many Democrats were sitting on the beach enjoying the last days of summer sun, leaders like Senator Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, was on the ground at the New Orleans Convention Center offering his services as a physician on the first line of rescue and hope.

And many of our commenters at Mike's America offer little more than a tepid throwaway line of blame for the local and state governments before launching an extended and continuing demand that Bush and the federal government be held to account. Such a transparent device is clear evidence of the most massive C.Y.A. operation I have yet seen. And it will do nothing to hold accountable the first responders in local and state governments dominated by Democrats for generations.

And what about those who suggest that President Bush should have realized the gross incompetence and corruption of local and state governments would impair their response to evacuation, preparedness and response needs? Many of these same lefties have screamed bloody murder about expanding federal intrusion into their lives via the Patriot Act. Bush was Hitler and we were living in a fascist police state. Yet, NOW, they ask why President Bush didn't act BEFORE the storm to supplant the legally elected governments in New Orleans and Louisiana.

Apparently, Bush wasn't Hitler enough for you folks!

Now we learn that nearly a third of the New Orleans police force abandoned their job after the hurricane. The remaining force was quickly overwhelmed and is now headed to R&R in Las Vegas at city expense. Mayor Nagin also has his hand out, salivating at the prospect of the first $ 10.5 billion down payment from the federal government.

Perhaps we should send a contingent of New York firefighters and police down to the "Big Easy" to fill in while their brothers are in Vegas.

The City of New Orleans has known about their vulnerability to just this kind of tragedy for decades. And they did what to prevent it? Here is their disaster plan. Did they implement it effectively to avert the post Katrina disaster? Were some of the poorest and sick evacuated BEFORE the storm to safety outside the city? Did the city preposition supplies at the evacuation sites? If so, I am sure the "mainstream" media would like to hear about it. Wouldn't you think the Bush blame/ Bush hate media would be all over this story as proof that the local government followed through on it's disaster plan?

The silence is deafening!

Sources:

Journal of Homeland Security

U.S. Code, Title X, The Insurrection Act

State of Louisiana Emergency Evacuation Order

City of New Orleans Emergency Evacuation Plan

US Department of Defense Briefing on Hurricane Katrina Relief

New Emergency Phone Information

Statement from the White House: Please discontinue phoning 911 in emergencies.

In the wake of grumbling about the poor quality of local and state government response in the preparation, planning and execution of disaster relief post Hurricane Katrina, the federal government today is issuing the following order:

Please do not phone traditional emergency services should your house catch fire or you are in need of emergency services. It is apparent that the first responders charged with responsibilty for providing those services in many areas of the country are unable to meet your needs.

We suggest that should you have an emergency, you contact the White House immediately at this number: 202-456-1414. We have President Bush standing by to take your call. Should he need to go to the bathroom or sleep from time to time, Laura or Dick Cheney will be filling in.

We don't recommend you phone your local or state governments for help, unless those governments are headed up by Republicans, such as Governor Barber of Mississippi, who thus far seems to be pretty darn competant when it comes to handling a crisis and saving the lives of his poorest and weakest citizens.

(Oh, and in case you are a complete ignorant boob, or a devotee of Michael Moore (same thing) the above is a SATIRE!)

Louisiana Governor STILL Resists Federal Disaster Efforts

Not content with completely bungling the planning, preparation and evacuation for a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, Governor Blanco (LA-D) continues to resist federal efforts to take control and better assist those in need.

From the Washington Post: Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

Who remebers what the Church Lady, the Dana Carvey character on the good Saturday Night Live used to say? "Well, isn't that SPECIAL!"

Yes, special indeed. Perhaps more interesting is what was going on between the Federal and LA and N.O. governments BEFORE Hurricane Katrina struck. We know President Bush was on the phone from Crawford, (amazing, I didn't know they had phones there and that he could do his job) before he declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. We will find out more behind the scenes info the next couple of days that may dispel the flood of raw sewage coming from Michael Moore and the hate Bush crowd.

Thanks V the K for pointing me to this via Moonbattery.

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at Home

BREITBART.COM - Just The News:

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening of cancer, ending a remarkable 33-year tenure on the Supreme Court and creating a rare second vacancy on the nation's highest court.

Rehnquist, 80, was surrounded by his three children when he died at his home in suburban Arlington. 'The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days,' said court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986. "

One of the stalwarts of the conservative court has finished his last term on the bench. Let's hope we have at least a decent interval to honor his memory before we are bombarded with calls from Democrats for a "mainstream" replacement....

Rest in peace Mr. Chief Justice, you served your country well.