Words of Strength and Reassurance

Vice President Dick Cheney visited an emergency management center in Austin, Texas, and said the government was finally gaining control of the situation.

"I think we are in fact on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina exercise. We've got a lot of work ahead of us," he said.

"In fact"? "On our way"?! "To getting on top"??!! It's nearly two weeks since the storm and we're just "on our way to getting on top?

Would it be too much to expect that they, "in fact", "had been on top" of it for at least several days now? Is the current ambitious milestone just "being on the way to getting on top of it?"

How is it that they aren't ashamed and embarassed to be saying things like that?

Maybe it's because they are thinking of it as the "Katrina exercise", and not, "in fact", as a disaster affecting the lives of millions of people to whom they have responsibility.