NEW YORK On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff told Tim Russert that one reason for the delay in rushing federal aid to the Gulf Coast was that "everyone" thought the crisis had passed when the storm left town: "I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet.'"

The Wonkette blog raised this question today: "We're wondering what papers the Chertoff household gets," and then showed a few front page banners from Tuesday morning, including the Times-Picayune's CATASTROPHIC.

"The Newseum has over 400 front pages archived," Wonkette noted, "but we suspect that the one with the 'New Orleans Dodged The Bullet' hed exists primarily in Chertoff's mind."

E&P Staff

Commentary:
Tim Russert is supposed to be the GREAT GOD of politics on NBC, but helet this lie go past without a follow-up? What kind of reporter is this uninformed? It's time for Russert to go.

"Meet the Press" is where republicans go to lie.