What happened with Hurricane Katrina was the American electorate was forced to look at what lay behind the veneer of chest-beating. We all saw the consequences of having terrible government leadership.

Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment.

In most people's vocabularies design means veneer. It's interior decorating. It's the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me nothing could be further from the meaning of design.

It is veneer rouge aestheticism art museums new theaters etc. that make America impotent. The good things are football kindness and jazz bands.