On Friday night, the History Channel was scheduled to break from their coverage of World War II and broadcast "Isaac's Storm," the story of the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston. Instead of broadcasting the film, however, they broadcast a special about bootleggers.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the show was pre-empted due to sensitivity concerns about hurricane Katrina. Which is a shame, really, because we could have learned something from the film."

A coastal city is destroyed by a hurricane. Thousands are killed. Galveston was rebuilt, and thrives today.

There are bloggers and TV pundits who continue to tell us that New Orleans is destroyed--gone forever. They're wrong, of course. But the History Channel missed a chance to be relevant and informative, and decided they would rather not offend anyone. And for that, we are all the poorer.