Lake New Orleans is rising.

Now that the mayor of New Orleans is describing bodies floating in the water in such number that rescue workers are merely pushing them aside, yes, now we see news reports of a president willing to cut his vacation — the longest in presidential history — two days short.

But this was the U.S. president, this morning, during what is likely the GREATEST NATURAL DISASTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY:

Here’s what was happening at that exact moment, not far away:

Was this a moment unfairly captured?  No.  Experts had forecast an imminent possible disaster days ago.  And from the start, other elected officials — Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, for example — began urgently working to save American lives.  Bush chose instead to continue making public speeches before hand-picked audiences pushing his political agenda for Medicare and trying to spin his unpopular war in Iraq.

And here’s the U.S. president, yesterday — while the disaster was unfolding, the morning after the storm hit, days after experts had forecast the LIKELY DESTRUCTION OF AN ENTIRE AMERICAN CITY:

Nero.

I can think of no other apt comparison.

UPDATE: Does the Bush administration’s cutting of funds to maintain New Orleans’ levees as part of their war effort mean that New Orleans is now a casualty of the Iraq war?

If you’re entering the site here, go to the main blog page, read the link, and decide for yourself.