Fool Me Once

Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey write on Newsweek.com: "Bush is prepositioning himself in the Texas area on Saturday, after traveling first to Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. The excuse is a two-day 'thank you' tour of states that have taken in large numbers of Katrina evacuees. But it could easily turn into a Rita disaster tour, if the worst projections come true.

"The critical question remains where he'll spend Saturday night. Given his druthers, Bush would much prefer to spend the night at his ranch in Crawford. The downside: it reminds the world how he spent so long on vacation before Katrina struck. The upside: he'll be close to Houston after Rita passes through. One thing seems sure: as Cindy Sheehan and antiwar protestors take to the streets in Washington this weekend, Bush won't be at the White House."

Word of the Day: Focus

Press Secretary Scott McClellan was repeatedly asked yesterday how the White House preparations for Rita differ from those for Katrina.

And McClellan's word of the day was: "Focus."

Here's the transcript of yesterday's briefing.

"One, the President is focused on making sure we have the strongest possible coordination with state and local governments in the path of Hurricane Rita," McClellan said.

"I just told you that the President is focused on making sure that we have the strongest possible coordination with state and local officials. . . .

"[I]n addition to coordination, communications is an area that we're very focused on in the preparation and response for Hurricane Rita. . . .

"[H]is focus is on making sure that we're doing the right thing for the American people."

McClellan also referred to the "lessons" of Katrina seven times.

The Sept. 11 Angle

David E. Sanger , writing in the New York Times, calls attention to Bush's somewhat perplexing conflation yesterday of Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Though whether this was part of an orchestrated White House strategy, or just an unfortunate ad lib remains to be seen.

Sanger writes: "President Bush on Wednesday for the first time linked the American response to terrorism and its response to Hurricane Katrina, declaring that the United States is emerging a stronger nation from both challenges, and saying that terrorists look at the storm's devastation 'and wish they had caused it.'