Video shows Bush was well-briefed before Hurricane Katrina about possible threats to levees and danger to human life: “Bush didn’t ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: ‘We are fully prepared.'” So what did Bush mean when he told Diane Sawyer on September 1st, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”

The Gilded Moose explores the Green Room at the Oscars and discovers that it features (gasp!) a convex mirror. They note: “Look for this to be torn down by Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie before the audience has suffered through the first song.”

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sent a thank you note recently to Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. “This is just a short note to express my heartfelt thanks to you and the entire staff of Focus on the Family for your help and support during the past few challenging months,” the note begins. Is it common practice for a seated justice to send a thank you note to an interest group of any kind? Just wondering, because the practice seems “highly unethical” to me as well, particularly as the Court currently sits on an important partial-birth abortion case.