[cgbg]

Look--I think Chertoff did a good job for the Pubbies during the Clinton scandals.

But the DHS post was a mistake.

Chertoff told victims to go to web sites for information. It sounded great in his air-conditioned office, but it lost a little in translation to folks without electricity or cell phone access in the Gulf Coast.

I would have liked to have seen some realistic estimates of when troops would arrive in NO, when food and water would arrive in bulk, etc. as early as Tuesday afternoon. It takes time for those things to happen, but it is Chertoff's job to know how long it really takes and to communicate that reality to the media and (if any could find out) the victims.

[bobwoodard]

Don't forget on Tuesday it went from relief (since the levees were intact) to evacuate/rescue to relief/evacuate/rescue in a matter of 24-48 hours. Just how nimble can any agency be to respond to those types of dynamics?