Then And Now: A 12-Day Experiment

If by "disaster," Condi is referring to the disconnect between the ultra-rich out of touch members of The Administration who, like Nero, nonchalantly vacationed while Katrina sank New Orleans, than Condi is right.

I present to you: NOW [13 September]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the people who were stranded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are evidence that race and poverty can still come together "in a very ugly way" in parts of the "Old South."

"The United States should want to do something about that," Rice said in an interview Monday with the editorial board of The New York Times. "There are still places that race and poverty are a huge problem in the United States, and we've got to deal with that."

And then there's the problem of: THEN [1 September]

Did New Yorkers chase Condoleezza Rice back to Washington yesterday?

Like President Bush, the Secretary of State has been on vacation during the Hurricane Katrina crisis, with Rice enjoying her downtime in New York Wednesday and yesterday. The cabinet member's responsibilities are usually international, but her timing contributed to the "fiddling while Rome burns" impression given by her boss during the disaster, which may have claimed thousands of lives.

On Wednesday night, Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at "Spamalot!," the Monty Python musical at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the performance.

Yesterday, Rice went shopping at Ferragamo on Fifth Ave. According to the Web site www.Gawker.com, the 50-year-old bought "several thousand dollars' worth of shoes" at the pricey leather-goods boutique.

A fellow shopper shouted, "How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!" - presumably referring to Louisiana and Mississippi.

Ahh yes. This disaster did front-page the terrible conflicts that certain areas of America experience with poverty and race. But, Madame Secretary, we at the AntiCentenarian ask you: Why don't you recognize your part in that conflict? When you seek to eliminate racial conflict and when you seek to eliminate the terrible poverty that exists in America, then we'll take your word. Until then, you're just dropping cash on thousand dollar pumps, and you can lock it up.

Your integrity is compromised by your social ineptitude and lack of compassion.