Oh for sure. The alignment of FEMA with DHS was not thought through by those charged with, well, thinking things through.
The truth of the matter is the Bush admiin totally dropped the ball on Katrina. Totally.
For now Katrina will always be considered a stain on the Bush administration when no such thing is even remotely deserved. The whole Katrina mess was orchestrated by the opposition party with a little help from the opposition party that totally dropped the ball in New Orleans.
For instance, why, during one of the daily press briefings later in the week last week, didn't McClellan or whoever's running the show, make a big damn deal about the breaching versus topping thing?
Bush lets them get away with it too often and at some point not the general populace, not FreeRepublic, not Rush Limbaugh, can carry Bush's water for him.
I suppose there's too many things Bush feels he can't say. Like the re-organization, indeed the very creation of, this Department of Homeland Security is unwieldy and nought but another political ploy by congress critters for, not the greater good, but for retention of their own power. I suppose Bush doesn't want to say the locals during Katrina failed miserably.
It's like Weapons of Mass Destruction. The admin let them get away with it and now it's accepted as final.
I'm so weary of it all and can't fight the battles that at times, only the Man speaking from the bully pulpit can do.
PR and communications failures by this White House are legendary, and pretty well documented on FR.
Having said that, I don't blame President Bush for the Katrina problems. Old Media does, but old media blames President Bush for everything else anyway. It snowed, Bush's fault. The sun is out, Bush's fault. Your toilet's backed up, Bush's fault.