Welcome, Walt.
amen! Every city or town in America has or should have an emergency contingency plan. If New Orleans had one and it wasn't implemented the blame falls on the Emergency Management Director. The EM director is the person who should call the Governor to request aid in the form of supplies and or National Guardsmen. He should also contact the Red Cross. If N.O. didn't have an EM director then the job would fall to the Mayor to coordinate efforts. FEMA, and the Military does not intervene without being asked.
How is it that you post an article written by Ben Stein and don't acknowledge his authorship?
It was obvious when Bush visited the Gulf Coast several times that things going well, even before he said so. Whenever a supervisor personally oversees some project that means that he or she feels that whoever is currently handling the project (city of NO and LA) is not capable of handling the situation. Governor Blanco and the mayor of NO should be fired effective immediately! Why is it so easy for us to get fired in the private sector and so damn hard to fire politicians?