While I agree with almost everything in this post, I must be the only Freeper that thinks Bush did not act quickly enough. I may also be the only one that thinks that FEMA was screwed when they were reorganized into the DHS and when a lawyer was appointed to head that subagengy. (You just will have to forgive my opinion of lawyers.) Once Bush did act (and it was not immediate as the comments about how long it takes to deploy troops would imply) he did it with force. He did kick a$$ finally and you can see the result. My opinion is that did not happen fast enough and 1.)lives were lost, 2.) we who suport him have taken and will continue to take a beating in the court of public opinion. We can afford neither. Flame away but I cannot opine otherwise, even if I am the only one with this view. It is what it is, and it will sort out, and we will see if this could have been managed better from the federal level. (Clearly the local and state levels both executive, NOPD, and LANG screwed up big time. Reacting to that reality quickly was THE imperative)
Bush had to overcome both the hurricane and the incompetent Louisiana state government. Which one was more difficult is hard to say. I don't think he anticipated the level of incompetence of the Governor and the Mayor. An understandable mistake, but hopefully one that won't happen again, live and learn.
Since nothing is ever perfect, I'm sure the Federal Government could have done incrementally better. But do you know what it takes to stage transportation and supplies for the number of people that remained behind? There were many more people stuck in NO than there would have been, had the pre-hurricane evacuation effort been more effective and complete. Add to that the need to precede the help with a crime suppression effort that also was way more demanding than it would have been had one third of the NO police not abandoned their responsibilities.
If relief had been haphazardly rushed in and resulted in spotty application and significant inequity and confusion, the left and the media would now be criticizing the administration for the mess and would say that it should have waited another day to properly organize and stage the relief.
We seem to have lost our ability to appreciate exceptional efforts and results on the part of just about anything and anybody. We waste zero time in criticizing the crap out of everything, usually from a position of zero or minimal knowledge. The media help that along by focusing and dramatizing isolated sad cases and fail to offset that with the many positive cases. We should be all more objective in understanding that dynamic and realize we are being treated to 3+ sigma stuff on TV and to unscrupulous political opportunists who paint the bleakest pictures. Let's actually listen to a pro like LTG Honore, who tells it like it is.
The federal agencies doing this sort of thing are extremely disciplined in doing constructive lessons-learned exercises after each event. Let's give them a chance to do that in a few weeks and months and stop our uninformed carping.
However, that the LA and NO authorities failed to implement lessons learned from Ivan is documented and a disgrace. Those people should learn a few lessons from the feds and the equivalent FL organizations who have shown that they can actually execute effective operations to the point where relief efforts after a typical hurricane are hardly reported on anymore.