This year, he traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi four times between January and April. On Aug. 29, he plans to spend the anniversary of Katrina by making his 13th post-Katrina stop to the storm zone with a visit to New Orleans and Mississippi. One point the president is sure to make: Washington has already promised $110 billion for victims.

It's been a year, and New Orleans is still just as trashed as ever. After a year of promising all that money, where has it gone? I never thought I'd say this but Gingrich is at least half right when he says "from that point on, people just look at us and see `Brownie, you're doing a great job,' and they just think we're not in touch with reality." The part he got wrong in there is he implys that they are in touch with reality.

The only time reality makes it through the White House Gate is when it kicks it in, and even then, the occupants find a way to ignore it.