Gee Folks, What's the President Up to Today?

Just in case you were wondering, instead of participating in a full scale drill for responding to another Katrina-style natural disaster, he's going to load up the presidential propaganda catapult for another round of speechifying (read: wasting taxpayer dollars, which has become the modus operandi for the W,Rove and Co: campagning when they don't have to):

MR. SNOW: ...Also, there is going to be today a Cabinet-level hurricane exercise, so if you see members of the Cabinet coming in here, it is because they are going to be gathering in the Executive Office Building to participate in what is called a table-top exercise on hurricane preparedness, to focus on the federal government's readiness and response to a catastrophic disaster. These exercises are created at the direction of the President and intended to simulate the Cabinet's role responsibility and authority in responding to a catastrophic disaster. It's the third such exercise in the last six months. The first, December 10, 2005, was on pandemic influenza; the second on March 18, 2005, on smallpox.

Today's mock scenario, a category five hurricane that will have a landfall on the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. Secretary Chertoff had a press conference on this yesterday. There will be a readout -- at least we're going to try to give you information afterward about how it went. This is going to go from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Q Will the President be involved at all?

MR. SNOW: I don't -- no, I don't believe -- the President, as a matter of fact, is traveling. He will be doing an event --

Q Telephones and everything --

MR. SNOW: Well, yes, but the answer is, no. The Cabinet members will be talking about their roles.

The President is doing an energy event today in Pennsylvania. He'll be making remarks about energy policy. He'll be focusing on nuclear power because he will be getting a tour of the Limerick Generating Station.