Petrified Truth

Hurricane season over for Texas?

Here's good news for us here in southeast Texas, if the trend just holds.

Today is something of a magical day for hurricanes and the state of Texas. Although hurricane season doesn't end until Nov. 30, the traditional peak occurred just two weeks ago and the tropics remain exceptionally active, the odds of a hurricane striking Texas after today are now exceedingly long.

Since the 1850s, after Sept. 24, there have been just three direct landfalls by hurricanes in the state of Texas.

The War

Episode One of the new World War II documentary by Ken Burns, The War, premiered last night on PBS.

Thanks to the unique talents of Ken Burns and his team, The War is real must-see TV. More episodes follow each night this week.

No help

This just makes no sense, which is becoming more and more the norm when talking about the handling of hurricane consequences.

Two years after Hurricane Rita pushed deep into East Texas with devastating force that damaged or destroyed an estimated 75,000 homes, the state has spent less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the federal grant money set aside to repair or replace many of them.

Local and regional officials say the state has been slow in loosening the purse strings. State officials blame restrictive federal rules and a lack of money compared to Louisiana and Mississippi. Advocates of storm victims contend the entire process has been broken from the start.

"It really appears to me that the state has had an overabundance of caution to prevent fraud and abuse," said Walter Diggles, executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments. "Every time we talk to them they say, 'Look, we don't want a Katrina,' or fraud with individual distributions."

The state and three regional councils of governments, or COGs, have distributed less than $200,000 of the more than a quarter-billion dollars available in two separate allocations of federal housing assistance. And more than $210 million has sat frozen for months while a state agency seeks to hire a private contractor, which isn't expected to have initial disbursements done until next summer.

Failing to take effective advantage of federal resources has become a Texas specialty under our current governor.

Never too late

President Bush's speech tonight was a solid, sober effort, delivered about as well as he can in a speak-into-the-camera setting. No irrational exuberance there.

I hope average citizens were listening. Grade: B.

The success of a free Iraq is critical to the security of the United States. A free Iraq will deny al Qaeda a safe haven. A free Iraq will counter the destructive ambitions of Iran. A free Iraq will marginalize extremists, unleash the talent of its people, and be an anchor of stability in the region. A free Iraq will set an example for people across the Middle East. A free Iraq will be our partner in the fight against terror -- and that will make us safer here at home.

Realizing this vision will be difficult, but it is achievable. Our military commanders believe we can succeed. Our diplomats believe we can succeed. And for the safety of future generations of Americans, we must succeed.

If we were to be driven out of Iraq, extremists of all strains would be emboldened. Al Qaeda could gain new recruits and new sanctuaries. Iran would benefit from the chaos and would be encouraged in its efforts to gain nuclear weapons and dominate the region. Extremists could control a key part of the global energy supply. Iraq could face a humanitarian nightmare. Democracy movements would be violently reversed. We would leave our children to face a far more dangerous world. And as we saw on September the 11th, 2001, those dangers can reach our cities and kill our people.

Whatever political party you belong to, whatever your position on Iraq, we should be able to agree that America has a vital interest in preventing chaos and providing hope in the Middle East. We should be able to agree that we must defeat al Qaeda, counter Iran, help the Afghan government, work for peace in the Holy Land, and strengthen our military so we can prevail in the struggle against terrorists and extremists. [...]

Some say the gains we are making in Iraq come too late. They are mistaken. It is never too late to deal a blow to al Qaeda. It is never too late to advance freedom. And it is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win.

The responses from political defeatists, especially Democrats, have been predictably venal.

Six years after

The memories of September 11th will never leave us. We will not forget the burning towers, and the last phone calls, and the smoke over Arlington. We will not forget the rescuers who ran toward danger, and the passengers who rushed the hijackers. We will not forget the men and women who went to work on a typical day and never came home. We will not forget the death of schoolchildren who were on a school trip.

And we will never forget the servants of evil who plotted the attacks. And we will never forget those who rejoiced at our grief and our mourning.

- President George W. Bush, address to the FBI, September 10, 2003

Learn more:

• Pentagon Memorial Project
• Flight 93 National Memorial
• 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
• Popular Mechanics - Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report

Ways to help:

• Fisher House Foundation
• Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust
• Wounded Warrior Project