[GeronL]

Bush, under intense criticism for the slow federal response, on Saturday ordered an additional 7,000 active duty and reserve ground troops to reinforce the National Guard

Its now a fact, to the media, that the federal response was slow.

[Howlin]

Bush, under intense criticism for the slow federal response

The only people criticizing Bush are the MEDIA and 2006 and 2008 hopeful politicians.

[maryz]

Saw this on another thread (Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting, from the Washington Post):

Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.