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In fairness to Aaron Broussard, in the same or another interview, he completely broke down in describing the death of the mother of one of his officers. The poor woman called her son day after day begging for rescue, and the son told her again and again that rescue was on the way. Finally, when the son went to rescue his mother himself, he found her dead by drowning.

Multiply such tragedies by the dozens if not hundreds, among people whom one knows and is responsible for, and one cannot be anything other than emotional, bitter, and inclined to find fault. Katrina was not an earthquake striking suddenly in the night, but was as well-advertised in advance of arrival as any Hollywood blockbuster; and New Orleans' vulnerabilities were better known than even the pre-9/11 declarations of Islamic terrorists that we were their targets.

With a record cat four hurricane and a deadly storm surge on the way, did any public official anywhere say something like: "Get at least five miles away from the coast and out of low-lying areas even if you have to walk to do it. If you do not, get ready to die. Call your family and tell them goodbye because you will be dead within hours." All of that was true, but no public servant wanted to be held responsible for a panic, which is another way of saying that the weak, slow, and inattentive were expendable.

Why did New Orleans and state government ignore their own emergency plans and not use municipal and school buses to evacuate people before the storm arrived? Why wasn't there a stockpile of john boats ready for use on flooded streets? Why weren't food stocks and essential supplies commandeered and used by police and local officials before or immediately after the storm?

Why weren't people allowed to keep their pets and a few possessions so as to better coax them into evacuation? Surely enough portable pet carriers and plastic boxes could have been bought or commandeered. Why not take over hotels for the temporary shelter of the most vulnerable after the storm? Even without power and water, with windows blown out, they would have been out of the sun and more secure than on the open street or in the menacing, criminal infested crowds at the Super Dome and Civic Center.

Why not deputize responsible looking citizens, give them armbands, and use them as auxiliaries to help gather and distribute supplies, keep order and rescue people? Would it really be all that hard for even a white guy in army fatigues or with a badge to pick out solid looking Black men with wives and kids and ask them to help? Why not use food, beverages, battery powered TVs, radios, and CD players to pacify the restive crowds sheltering in the Super Dome and Civic Center?

If you do not want to shoot looters, why not grab them and cuff them to a heavy or anchored fixture? Not enough cuffs? Use jail restraints and chains and padlocks. Even wandering loose, a looter with ten pounds of chains triple padlocked around him will not be very energetic or inclined to further mischief.

All of those things and much more would have occurred to police, national guard, and other authorities on the scene, but potential leaders failed to act because they did not have orders. In modern, bureaucratized, litigation happy, welfare state America, you can get fired, sued, or even prosecuted for disobeying orders or acting without orders, but you do not get fired or prosecuted if you follow orders or wait for orders and let people die.

Fully warned, and technologically and materially equipped as we were for Katrina, frontier America and the America of a generation ago that still cultivated self-reliance and individual responsibility would have dealt far more effectively than we did with a severe hurricane and its aftermath. Abstract thought is the domain of educated elites and often leads them astray, but practical action is a nearly universal human ability. Yet, over the last generation, we Americans have diminished our collective capacity for practical action even in the most severe crisis.

Immediately after the storm, did Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, FEMA head Brown, or President Bush go on TV and say anything like: "This storm has done terrible damage. Government at all levels is moving quickly to help, but no one with authority or resources should wait for orders if that is all that you are waiting for. Saving lives is the first priority. Do not wait. Act now."

In addition to the fault that is attributable to state and local officials, Bush must bear blame for hiring as head of FEMA Michael Brown, a poorly qualified crony of a crony. Just how does 11 years running a judging program for show horses qualify one to become head of FEMA?

Despite being eventually fired from that gig for supposed incompetence, Michael Brown found high positions in FEMA at the elbow of college roommate Joe Allbaugh, Bush's chief of staff as Texas Governor and his 2000 campaign manager. Promoted to head FEMA when Allbaugh departed for the 2004 campaign, Michael Brown now looks like another Bernard Kerik, waved through the background check despite easily findable flaws. Hiring cronies and loyalists at top positions in government is an acceptable, even essential practice, but they have to be capable and free of politically disabling personal and career blemishes -- or at least that is how it works for Republicans.

Bush's public comments and attitude have also been off the mark in regard to Katrina, with his trademark halting, casual, even lackadaisical manner on view. Too often, Bush's good qualities are obscured and he seems to be coasting and passive, with a built-in smirk that suggests arrogance.

At high levels in politics, every public appearance is the equivalent of a first date, with seeming flaws and lapses judged harshly. There is no changing that by saying that the news media are being shallow and unfair, as they almost always are to Republicans. In large part, that is because the public is shallow and unfair and the media use that to further their own biases and program.

Bush at times seems to not fully grasp the nature of his office and what the public expects of him. Bush often sounds like the federal bureaucrat-in-chief instead of the public's representative against bureaucracy. Where Reagan, even as president, used to tell jokes denigrating the federal bureaucracy and government programs, Bush seems to want to cuddle and tout their virtues, a dutiful son praising the family line of work.

No matter the stakes involved in evacuation and rescue in a disaster, FEMA is a federal bureaucracy. Unless it beats the odds and has exceptional leadership, good planning, adequate budget, and luck, it will falter and people will die as a result. That seems to have happened here, as even Bush and Republican officeholders on the scene have been driven to admit.

In the end, despite the unnecessary loss of life, Bush will probably and foolishly stand by Michael Brown, just as he kept George Tennet in place at CIA after 9/11. Hearings and likely a commission will spread blame around so as to diminish public anger against government lapses. As with any con, government must keep the marks distracted lest they start to think for themselves.

Conservatives ought not to expend much effort defending FEMA the Bush administration as they are fully capable of defending themselves. Instead, we should press the larger point again and again: after failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks, to fully warn and evacuate before a major hurricane, to maintain order, and to timely rescue the survivors, why should anyone with a lick of sense trust large bureaucracies to deliver the mail, fund and deliver health care, educate children, "save" social security, defend the borders, or accomplish anything else important?

We are often -- no, far too often -- forced to fund and depend on dysfunctional and predatory government bureaucracies of one sort or another, but we are fools to ever genuinely trust any bureaucracy. When something important is on the line, such as your life, or the life of someone you care about, fend for yourself. Any help from government is a lucky something extra.

When the water is rising -- and this is an era of rising waters -- do not be like Aaron Broussard's officer or so many thousands in New Orleans thinking that FEMA or anyone else in government can be counted on to rescue you and your family. Be vigilant. Be prepared. You and yours are on your own.

In fairness to Aaron Broussard, in the same or another interview, he completely broke down in describing the death of the mother of one of his officers. The poor woman called her son day after day begging for rescue, and the son told her again and again that rescue was on the way. Finally, when the son went to rescue his mother himself, he found her dead by drowning.

In fariness to truth, that is an unverified story Broussard is telling about his emergency manager. I can't find anyone has heard this story from the Emergency Manager of Jefferson Parish.

I am not prone to believe someone that spouts off about forming his own country of Jeffersonia.

Very well put.

On the local TV talk show I host, I interviewed last week the head of our county's emergency response department.

He said that the rule of thumb is that in a widespread diaster citizens should be prepared to take care of themselves for the first 72 hours, and should not expect rescue before then.