The reality of Katrina did not sink in until Thursday night at the White House, according to Newsweek's Evan Thomas. "Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One."

Thomas continues: "How this could be -- how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century -- is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace." Maybe if he turned on the news...