All the Bushies Were "Gone Fishing" For Katrina

From Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo:

Small world. The Times and the Post note that one possible reason for the White House's slow response to Katrina was that so many key appointees were on vacation. A number, for instance, were in Greece for the wedding of White House communications advisor Nicolle Devenish.

It so happens Devenish is marrying Mark Wallace, who, it turns out, took over from the esteemed Michael Brown as General Counsel of FEMA when Brown ascended from General Counsel to Deputy Director.

Wallace was General Counsel at FEMA as the agency was being transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 and 2003. After that he took a different job at DHS before becoming Deputy Campaign Manager of the Bush-Cheney 2004.

According to The Hotline (10/16/03), Wallace got his start in politics as Jeb Bush's driver in 1994.

Condi was vacationing in New York through five days of people starving; Bush stayed on vacation four days past his notification, Rummy was a VIP at a ballgame, and there's some question whether Cheney is even back from vacation now (he usually takes about two months off - July AND August - each year).