A less visible part of the damage done by Katrina may be what's happened to the President's approval rating.

Congress has a terrible approval rating, and they need something to avoid talking about the issues that people want them to talk about. Wouldn't it be great to have people focus on same-sex marriage instead of the corruption issues facing Congress?

Not only is it not unusual for a president to have an approval rating at 38 percent, it's almost predictable. Every president has rough patches, it says nothing about the ultimate historical judgment.

We've gone through three phases and had a 60 percent approval rating. We're hoping the citizens think we're doing a good job and making improvements in the city and hope they'll vote for it a fourth time.

I reckon that's it for the season. I don't really recall how it happened, but the damage is certainly done.

caused irreparable damage to the very fabric of my blood family.