Picked up here with lots more to offer in the article.
I particularly paid attention to this part because I read something similar about Laura Bush's visit yesterday. I'll post that too

And there's more, this time on the 'recovery efforts' in New Orleans, from War And
Piece:

There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International
report on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and
reports of the same event by German TV.

ZDF News reported that the
president's visit was a completely staged event. Their crew witnessed how the
open air food distribution point Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn
down immediately after the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and
that others which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.

The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves, said
ZDF.

And taken from an email posted at dailykos.com , a view from the scene of Laura Bush's visit:

It goes to show how overwhelming things are here right now that I
encountered the First Lady yesterday and I almost forgot to put it in
this e-mail.  It
actually couldn't have been a worse experience; a team of us were
working to put up a website with directions to every Red Cross shelter
in the region when we were evicted from the computer room by the Secret
Service.  There's only one room in the Cajundome with telephones and
internet access for refugees, and Laura Bush shut it down for eight
hours (along with the food service rooms to the side and the women's
showers).  You may have seen it on CNN; apparently seven refugees were
allowed back so Laura could help them in front of the cameras. If
you saw that footage, that's where I put in half my volunteer hours.
Not knowing Bush was still back there later I tried to insist on being
allowed back into the room to a "Red Cross" guy who must have been a
Secret Service agent undercover.  A hint for future Secret Service
agents:  The real Red Cross guys don't look like they want to break
your legs for walking too close to the barricade, because they're too
busy passing out food and helping people.  They're also less likely to
use phrases like "Stand fast, sir!"  Now, I know this is the sort of
thing that happens whenever a VIP tours a disaster site, and maybe
Laura Bush handing out that loaf of bread really will lead to an
increase in donations.  All I can say is, to have paralyzed a third of
a day of operations at this stage of the game, it fucking well better.
And I tried to position myself to say this to her in front of the
television cameras too, but instead I only got a wave and a smile as
she hurried past me.  Looks like I'm going to have to become nationally infamous another day. 

Emphasis was added by the original poster, but I would have added it myself!

If its one thing that Rovian politics are all about, its illusion. The whole bunch of them are fartknockers...I swear. I can't believe what they've done to our country.  

Around a year ago on this day..

• Blog Contest - Only one more week! - 2007
• Its never too soon.. - 2006