Where Bush's culpability lies

This is what Robert Novak, an independent-minded but dyed-in-the-wool conservative commentator, had to say about the federal responsibilities on the Katrina disaster. It strikes me as a very fair and credible summary: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/printrn20050908.shtml

However, Novak does not notice one thing. This was not just any other governmental appointment. The Department of Homeland Security was Bush's own Big Idea, his gift to the nation. It was necessary, given that the US did not until then really have anything comparable to the Ministries of the Interior or Home Offices of other countries. And it was intended to deal with such present and major concernes as terrorism, international crime and natural disasters. So why did Bush nominate a couple of totally unqualified individuals such as Chertoff and Brown to run his own baby? Dammit, just as you are beginning to convince yourself that this President really has been as "misunderestimated" as he claims, he goes and does something so careless, amateurish, pointlessly stupid, as to nominate a totally unqualified person to run his own pet project.

EDIT: patchworkmind pointed out to me that the Department of Homeland Security was not, in fact, Bush's idea, and that he resisted pressure from Congress for a while before giving in and setting up the post. This explains, at least, his apparently thinking so little of the post as to nominate an unqualified lawyer.

"... but Hermione got there first..."

This is my first attempt at a subject that has held my visual imagination ever since I read it in PoA. There are a number of problems, especially in the matter of dress, but I was limited by the paper size. I think I will try this subject again, but I think the basic idea is good.

Swunked from agatha_s: freak me out by quoting old posts at me

The object of the game is to stump the person writing the journal. I've been writing in my live journal for over a year, and can't possibly remember all the topics I've talked about in that time.

Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to go into the archives of my journal and pull out a random quote from some time, some year, and then my job will be to see if I can remember what I was talking about. You tell me if I'm remotely right or wrong.

Nope, I can't peek, and you'll have to trust I won't. :)

Please don't pick a quote that's so random that it could apply to anything, like "feh" or "Damn it!" or something equally generally. Pick something that might actually be about something, but not so blatantly about something that I'll have to guess what I'm talking about.