Morning copy 9.8.2005

Why the Marine Corps wants two battleships, Washington Times.

Katrina

Michael Grunwald's lede in the Washington Post:

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.

The lady doth protest too much, GOPthinks. Washington Post.

Even though the Katrina response is not politcal, wink wink, parties are struggling for political gain, Washington Post. Excerpt:

With the midterm congressional elections 14 months away, both parties see high stakes in where blame will eventually fall for the government's lagging response to Katrina. Yesterday, congressional Republicans tried to get a head start, announcing the formation of an investigative commission that they can control.

They rejected Democratic appeals to model the panel after the Sept. 11 commission, which was made up of non-lawmakers and was equally balanced between Republicans and Democrats. That commission won wide praise for assessing how the 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, and for recommending changes in the government's anti-terrorism structure.

House and Senate GOP leaders announced the "Hurricane Katrina Joint Review Committee," which will include only members of Congress, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats by a yet-to-be-determined ratio.

The hard hit that the Ninth Ward suffered, Washington Post.

David Brooks calls for a response to focus on the plight of the urban poor, New York Times.

Many consider the term "refugee" inappropriate, Los Angeles Times.

American farming industry is an economic concern in Katrina's wake, NY Times.