Alaska to Katrina victims: Drop Dead

You probably recall how the recent federal highway bill/pork-fest contained gajillions of ridiculous pet projects, the wors of which were a cope of bridges to nowhere in Alaska. Does Alaska's Congressman Don Young have any compassion for the victims of the worst disaster on U.S. soil in generations?

"'They can kiss my ear!' Young boomed when Sam Bishop, Washington correspondent for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, asked him about the many pleas to redirect the bridge money.

'That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard,' Young went on, noting that Louisiana did quite well in his highway bill.

And, the congressman said, he helped the seafood industry donate more than $500,000 for hurricane victims. (That was at the 'Seafood Invitational,' a charity golf tournament Sept. 9 in Roslyn, Wash., Bishop reported Friday.)

'I raised enough money to give back to them voluntarily,' he said, 'and that's it!' "

Mr. Young appears to have forgotten the Alaska Earthquake of 1964, which registered somewhere between an 8.6 and a 9.2, caused a tsunami, and would have caused major damage and a killed lots of people if more than a few hardy souls lived there back then.

We'll be sure to remember your generosity, though. Dick.