To Olivia from Il. Somedays your blogs are on the money but I think you, like alot of the anti-Bushites are really missing the big picture of the problem in New Orleans. Having lived there for over 20 years of my life, what I saw was a city allowed to sqallor in ruin. Homes were built where they never should have been, local politicians (not federal) squandered monies that should have been used to upgrade the infrastructure and a general disinterest in anything but the French Quarter and a pro football team were the only things that received attention. Rather than Ray Nagin cry about how downtrodden his city has become, he should be taking bids on rebuilding the levees which will in the future be found to be ineffective when the next storm hits. (oh, and by the way, the army corps of engineers may have originally built them, but that is where their responsibility ends. There is a state and local run commission that is responsibly for maintaining the levees, not the federal government.) After they rebuild the levees then it is time to use common sense in deciding what areas are actually safe to rebuild on. If it is flood prone DUH! don't rebuild there. And when you do rebuild, create building standards that will withstand the next storms within reason. (oh and by the way again, mother nature has a tendency to mess with any preplanning you may have in place so keep in mind that just because you think it's hurricaine and flood proof, she will find a way to prove you wrong. It's time to quit pointing the finger of blame away from the problem and time to begin fixing it. Having been a registerred independent for the last 20 years and like many looking for a change in the direction of our government I'm curious to see how long it is going to take for the democrats who are now in power to quit blaming the previous administration and begin to show me some plans for stabilizing our current situation.

Bear with me for posting again--but after having done so yesterday, I realized that there was more I'd wanted to say that I hadn't.

Money talks--but poverty has a deafening silence. Katrina's survivors don't have the voice, the money, or the powerful connections they need to maintain consistent attention to their suffering and the war zone-like conditions in which they live, or, even more importantly, to obtain the help they desperately need to put their lives back together. Not to mention the assistance their communities need, and should be getting, to rebuild. The crisis they're living in and the agonies they are experiencing are as bad as those in Iraq--and should be covered as frequently and as regularly.

However, Katrina survivors have no K Street lobbyists nor well-oiled public relations machine to keep in constant contact with news organizations and ensure frequent coverage. And where are Michael Moore, George Soros and moveon.org and all those anti-Bush luminaries for which such a cause, which casts a bad light on the Bush Administration, would seem to be tailor-made, and who could be calling media attention to their plight? And for some inexplicable reason, those who have been making such efforts--Spike Lee with "When the Levees Broke," the participants in "Comic Relief 2006," et.al. have not been able to attract the media attention to this that they could have.

So it is up to ordinary Americans to demand that the cameras are regularly focussed on New Orleans, Mississippi's obliterated Gulf Coast communities, and the rest of the storm zone. So while as I've mentioned I'm grateful when coverage is aired, whenever I notice that Katrina or Katrina-related news is not receiving the coverage it should be, I am going to speak out and will continue to do so until I'm satisfied that Katrina survivors and their communities are getting the attention and the help they should be getting from the Bush Administration.

I rarely use this space to complain. However, I think banning poorly written comments elevates form over substance. The test should be whether the comments are coherent and relevant. As I have mentioned in this space, I worked in journalism. I knew reporters who couldn't write a simple declarative sentence, relying heavily on the ministrations of an overworked copy desk.

This outgoing Congress has left such a mess, taxes and deficits and wars and all manner of misconduct it is almost overwhelming and I hope Republicans and right-wingers take notice. It has been the custom that Congresses sort of clean up their issues and leave the incoming Congress a somewhat tidy state of affairs, but not so this Republican Congress. They renewed corporate and rich tax breaks and "pardoned," top down, the Republicans charged with page oversight. So many left in power when they should be in prison.

As long as we are complimenting journalists, I would like to offer a "thank you" to David Gregory for having the gumption to take on the WH spinmisters and call them on the outrageousness that sprews forth from the likes of Tony Snow. If more journalists had behaved as David Gregory, we may no be in Iraq right now. Think of the lives than might have been saved by tough, investigative questioning. Gregory is a truth-seeking missle that deserves the thanks of this republic and our (so far) free society.

The forum for First robotics, which runs competitions for elementary through high school children, has a spell checker. http://www.firstlegoleague.org

It always amazes me that someone would write a comment they expect to be taken seriously and have it riddled with spelling errors.

I try to watch your broadcast or catch up with events through MSNBC and NPR and have been very pleased with the coverage by the NBC Nightly News.

I watch NBC Nightly every night (except for when it's pre-empted or those rare evenings when due to not being at home I end up missing it.) Regarding Katrina coverage, which I've been keeping track of--NBC Nightly's coverage was not only abundant and regular but of good quality, from the Sunday evening until Katrina hit through early this year. So I apologize if I inadvertently implied that you or NBC Nightly had rarely or never covered the storm and its aftermath at all, because that's not what I meant. (Perhaps I've been guilty of the sort of sloppy writing that has been talked about lately--also, if I wrote before every comment, "At first, NBC Nightly's Katrina coverage was first-rate and there was a lot of it, but lately...", it would take up space and could get to be repetitious.)

However, what had me frustrated was the fact that starting around March, post-Katrina coverage had started becoming rarer and rarer. So this is when I began complaining and writing in about news that wasn't being covered. The dwindling coverage got my hackles up, because I knew Katrina isn't "old news" to those who lived through it and are struggling to rebuild and put their lives together while coping with their traumas and losses. During the summer, Katrina's anniversaries passed without mention, except for the 1-year anniversary in August, when there was about a week of good coverage.

But following that, the inattention was at its worst during the months leading up to last month's election, when hardly anything aired. I started worrying that Katrina's survivors were being forgotten. I've also noticed that the times you have anchored out of New Orleans, which used to be rather frequent (about every month or two), are rare anymore--that's why I was so happy to hear, the day before Thanksgiving, that you were planning to anchor from that city "sometime soon". I hope it will be soon.

(Another thing I wonder about is whether different parts of the country (time zones) get different versions of each night's newscast--because sometimes I've seen posts where someone out west will mention seeing a lot of Katrina news, when I haven't been seeing any.)

I've also been "down" about the fact that the Bush Administration, as I've previously mentioned, has not been paying the attention to post-Katrina recovery that it should--that's another reason I complain when there isn't enough coverage. Obviously the Bush Administration seems to have forgotten Katrina and its survivors. And don't get me started on FEMA, regarding which I've recently said a lot...

And I would like to add that I AM grateful when post-Katrina coverage is aired--such as last night's, and have written in before when I've seen something I liked. So I don't complain ALL the time...

Thanks so much for Martin Savidge's report on New Orleans' plans to demolish public housing. The sort of developments city planners want to replace it with are pretty, but how many poor and elderly who had lived in public housing prior to Katrina would be able to afford to live there? Also, because affordable housing is in such short supply, New Orleans' poor, who have to live in cramped quarters, or, if evacuees, cannot afford to move back, cannot wait for new housing to be built. This lack of housing can be an obstacle to New Orleans' repopulation, so I hope something is done about it soon. Thanks again for an excellent report.

One other thing you and your news team may wish to keep in mind concerning the Holidays:

We're just days away from another tradition of the season, as big as "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year), "Green Saturday" (the day after Black Friday, the day when more Christmas trees are sold than any other) and "Cyber Monday" (the Monday after Thanksgiving, the biggest day of the day for online retail sales): "Holiday Party Saturday Night".

"Holiday Party Saturday Night", traditionally the third Saturday night in December (this year, it's December 16th), is the night when many (if not most) of the nation's workplaces hold their office Cbhristmas parties.

Although the "Nightly News" Holiday party may not be next Saturday, the 16th, many other office Christmas parties will be held that night, and you may wish to mention this or (if busibneses will let you) even send camera crews for a feature story on this subject.

David Gregory is my new hero. For Tony Snow to accuse him of partisanship simply by his quoting the Iraq Study Group report gives you some idea of how this administration will handle it. GO DAVID --- SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER!!!!!

Although it's not the subject of my post, I'd like to congratulate Brian for beginning his third year as anchor of "NBC Nightly News" and having been America's most popular news commentator during his entire span at the anchor desk.

Now for what is the subject of the post: Only time will tell whether copies of the book containing the Iraq Group's report will become a heirloom in many families' collections of books (like the mass-published paperback version of the Warren Report; I still have my parents' copy of that) or end-up at a yard sale a year or two from now, on sale for 25c.

Brian I must say you are right about having something special for Friday to make a viewer smile.
I'm so scared, angry, discussed with all the bad news about our military and corrupt elected leaders. As my daughter is currently serving our military in Afghan. I wont a solution to this invasion and chaos Bush has made. But this Friday I had a chance to smile. The young man who started the hoop for African children brought me to tears ( good tears). One person can make a different. Well I needed that story thanks for letting me have hope in other problems.
As for the report on Bush Senior crying well as a parent I can't blame him. To deal with what his son has done is heartbreaking. We can raise our kids but then we have to let them lead their lives. George W. Bush is still the same child his parents raised and the Bush twins are a reflection of how they were raised by Laura and George. Bush Senior cried but so have the parents of our dead soldiers who George W. Bush sent to invade Iraq based on lies. The pain is all around because of George W. Bush.

Peggy Noonan's comments on Bush Sr's sorrow over Bush Jr's dilemma certainly have the ring of truth to them.

I was thinking at the time of his comments (which were focused on the leadership qualities of Jeb) that maybe he was sobbing because he realized what a heartbreak it was that his ne'er do well son (George) was President, and not his "good" son (Jeb).

When most people's kids screw up they do little more than put the family car into a ditch. When you are a Bush and your kids screw up, they put the country into a ditch.

It looks like the tragedy in Iraq will only get worse as Johnny One Note (W) keeps braying about "victory," instead of carefully considering the options for much needed change that have been laid out by the Iraq study group.

Re: Martin Savage reporting on victims in NO who will not be able to afford the new housing proposed.
I find it hard to feel sorry for that person as they sat there smoking a cigarette that accounts for $40 a carton. I don't think I could afford the habit today!
They must also take responsibility for their lives.

Rob, thanks :) If you take a look at Brians' blog from 12/6, you should be able to see the sidebar overlap occur. I think it happens when he has a short comment section. Feel free to email me if need me to test something; thanks for the follow-up!

The health-related news is, as always, an important aspect of domestic policy reporting. However, in the course of the apparent large Friday news dump, no one picked up on Alison Young's excellent investigative journalism at the Atlanta Journal - Constitution about the CDC's second refusal to provide post-Katrina response efficacy reports to the House Energy and Commerce Committee - the Congressional Committee charged with oversight of the CDC. Young has chronicled the bright flight exodus of scientists put off by Bush appointee director, Julie Gerberding, who is being investigated for a financial conflict of interest. As Gerberding reorganized the CDC, employees began to blog about their discontent and low morale. The CDC now is not proving accountable to Congress - or us, the mere citizens that it is charged to serve.

I am appreciative that Nightly News continues to cover domestic policy issues and stories, even as the Iraq war spirals out of control, and US foreign policy is in a shambles.

Our country is in a precarious place, and intelligent and probing news coverage is critical to keep the citizenry informed on a level which allows for informed civic participation.

Well perhaps the emailer was paying a compliment to Brian. I wholeheartedly agree that alot of the negative comments to the professionalism is without merit. Content and priorities have arguement, however regular viewers are aware of Brian's and the entire organizations oath and commitment, ( which has been substantial ), to work diligently to maintain attention of the public's eye on all important issues and incidents not just Katrina. To allow some of these completely off the wall posts to be published is statement of fact of the true professionalism within. The entire industry, of how our news is delivered, is changing historically at break neck speed. Reading Brian's blog, from a helicopter with rockets whizzing in the near distance, or from inside the Dome witnessing first hand America's underbelly and exposing all the truths, from racing in the Presidents motorcade and even in everyday mudane situations such as enduring our transportation system, brings us a personal perspective never before available. Brian, and his collegues of course, are frontiersman and woman bounding the globe and leaping political fences to brings us there, right there where the story is happening. Other media will put their own slider across the plate but this organization is aware of the times we are a living and their individual and collective professional and personal responsibilties and are striding to help us all understand the issues and the options. They can not change the stories they report to us. Only we can change history. Far as Brian's observation of the at time irritating gramatical skills of the public, I for one welcome all to participate in communicating. Communication leads to education and education leads to solutions. The fact that an average citizen can participate in a debate, in a national, even global forum such as this, is to me the apex of what the ole gal in the harbor shines her lantern for us all to see. Would be great if we all had excellent grammar skills, but one foot in front of the other, let the dialog begin. Its the successfull exchange of ideas that should be focused upon. . Just lets all maintain respect for one another and each others values and discuss logically the issues and debate with foresight the options. Negative posts not contributing to idealogical disscussion but meerly randomly taking aim like the V.P. and pulling the trigger is not constructive input. The issues before us today can bring us together and make our world a safer more just planet for our children and grandchildren to inherit. One item, that is without debate, in the I.S.G. report, is that, "time is running out".

Lynn -- You raise a good point about a comments box spell checker. I'll look into it. As for the sidebar issue, I'll see if I can reproduce it.

One comment on email spelling; this message box that you provide does not contain a spell-check option. If someone is not adept at spelling naturally, there is no tool here to help rescue them. I, too, would strongly prefer that email communication was more literate, but I have learned over time that many people simply don't have the tools or don't know how to use them effectively. Perhaps your technical staff could take a first step by providing tools for us on this site?

Additionally, on some days, the sidebars to the right overlap the message box, making it impossible to see what I've typed. This does not help in ensuring accurate spelling or grammar.

As for the Foley episode, I've given up believing that the GOP will "police its own". They came into office vowing to clean up D.C. and show the world how to be ethical, and they are leaving having shown us the verity in "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Both parties respond to questions, events and issues by consulting their daily talking points memo rather than by consulting each other or "we the people". They have all made it quite clear that, for them, it's the "party uber alles" rather than what is good or right for America. I wish I knew how to change that.

Brian I'll be watching at 6:30 pm tonight. I did read about how the GOP found no problem with Foley's actions by abusing kids. Not even a problem with those other elected officials that knew and turned a blind eye to the conduct. We now truly understand the laws of our elected officials while the Republicans were in charge. Preying on children isn't a crime but a President having an affair is impeachable offense.