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The multifaceted terribleness of the hurricane is sad and breathtaking. Most of it, while truly awful, is at least comprehensible — we know hundreds are dead, we know tens of thousands are refugees, we know the levees are breaking and supplies are running out and things are getting worse and worse. What we can't quite get our heads around is this: New Orleans's mayor is saying the city will have to be abandoned for several months. An entire American city, evacuated. The mind boggles. It's apocalyptic, it's third-world, it's heartbreaking.

This horrific act of nature has even forced the president to leave his marathon vacation. Which made us realize: This "God" fellow Bush likes to talk about so much? It doesn't seem the feeling is mutual.

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