No Safe Place

Brown could hardly be blamed for babbling on, with an unseen enemy with an unimaginable target list loose in the country. Behind him stood the massed minions of his administration, including local drug czar Don Hollingsworth, Police Chief Clarence Bradford, and the unlikely pair of chief of staff Jordy Tollett and councilman and mayoral candidate Orlando Sanchez. They seemed to be radiating the message to the masses "We ain't afraid of no ghosts" in a much more convincing manner than CBS's rattled Dan Rather, who kept demanding his reporter confirm for him that the twin towers had collapsed even though they had already disappeared from his own television monitor.

Not everybody stayed with the ship. Enron, Dynegy and other energy towers emptied in a flash.

Brown encouraged Houstonians to donate blood in this time of need. Not a bad idea, really. At least it gives you something to do. Indeed, all in all, it was actually good to have his press conference to attend instead of simply feeling impotent and staring at the television screen.