Hi JAP69:
I mostly agree with you, though it seems to me the failure goes deeper than that. The people who didn't evacuate should have made the choice to do so. They could have, should have and didn't.

The locals and the governor should have done as you say, and the State and Federal officials should have made different choices about mitigation, about stopping any new building in floodprone areas, about improving those dikes when everyone knew what was going to happen someday.

The failure at a Federal leadership level's no worse, it seems to me, than it would have been with any president for the last 30 years. Disaster is, after all, the responsibility of the residents, to prepare and take responsibility for their own safety and well-being, for the local government in areas where locals are unable to do so, and the State government when the local government is overwhelmed by something too large to handle.

The Feds don't share any of that responsibility. They only come in when asked, and they only provide the help as they're able, within the more general context of the well-being of the rest of the nation. The Federal government wasn't responsible for this disaster and it has no obligation at all to do any more than it's able.

The Feds just happen to be a bit strapped at the moment. They're doing what they're able.

We've all come to think of the Feds as Big Mama to pull us out of every fray, but this one doesn't belong to them. They're just the folks who came when the Governor of LA called saying, hey guys, we have some problems we can't handle down here. How about some help.

They came.

Jack

To comment on Rip's statement, I'm compelled to say that there should be a department in the government, whos only role should be disaster control. Fema and the army corp of engineers were asking for money, for 20 years or so now.

This dept. will not deal with the red tape of whos problem it is. They will just take action.

It's like when someone is involved in a car accident. They don't wait 3 days for an ambulance to arrive.

Pac,

There are already plenty of organizations that do a much better job of that than the government would.

The government would waste the money. Creating ANOTHER agency is a BAD idea.

There are problems in New Orleans, but none of which exist because the government doesn't have another agency. The problems exist because of foolish local and state officials, and foolish/stupid residents.

-Todd