A barely suppressed smirk was on his face

(I think they bought it)

Delivered in the surreal setting of a deserted Jackson Square, the first part wasn't that bad a speech. W promised a bunch of deficit spending, blah blah, blah. We'll get people out of shelters in a month. Really?

Then about halfway through, he announced his plan to build a giant trailer park for them to move to, where they'll be able to get construction and service-sector jobs for which he's already cut their wages by suspending the Davis-Bacon Act. I guess this is what he meant by our "duty to confront this poverty with bold action."

"I will listen to good ideas from Congress and state and local officials and the private sector," he said, just not necessarily in that order.

He proposed three initiatives:

n A "Gulf opportunity zone," which includes more tax cuts (they pay for themselves, you know), and loans and loan guarantees for small businesses, including minority-owned enterprises (as opposed to the no-bid contracts that will enrich his buds).

n "Worker recovery accounts," which would provide up to $5,000, which these evacuees could draw upon for job training and education to help them get a good job and for child-care expenses during their job search (how long would $5k last you if you're down to shirt/back).

n An "Urban Homesteading Act," which would identify property in the region owned by the federal government and provide building sites (prime beachfront, no doubt) to low-income citizens free of charge, through a lottery. In return, they would pledge to build on the lot, with either a mortgage or help from a charitable organization like Habitat for Humanity.

He promised better flood protection for New Orleans, courtesy of the Corps of Engineers (and some future administration to pay for it).

He praised (rightly) the relief workers who deployed "by land, by sea and by air," (Smirk suppression kicks in.) and "the private fundraising effort led by former Presidents Bush and Clinton [that] has already received pledges of more than $100 million" (0.05 percent of early rebuilding price tag estimate, some of which will go to churches).

"Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th (you knew it was coming)," review response, cooperate with GOP Congress's inquiry, blah, blah.

Obligatory jazz funeral metaphors.

ABC commentary: A reporter interviewing evacuees in a parking lot across the street from the Astrodome was unable to find one who had a harsh word for W. They liked the speech, ripped the local and state officials. Then Ted Koppel demonstrated his disgraceful lack of preparation by mistakenly offering condolences on the drowning death of his mother in a nursing home to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. Broussard corrected him; it was a colleague's mother. Broussard's a quote mill, and he didn't disappoint. They went "from 'The Jetsons' to 'The Flintstones.'" Stephanopoulos offered the incisive analysis that W won't raise taxes, blah, blah.