You are quite right. A lot of the people who dumped on the President were totally uninformed about what had transpired (I also count Cal Thomas, Laura Ingraham, and Susan Collins in this group. Probably others if I search my memory long enough.)
All of these critics got their ideas on what was possible and whose fault the mess-up was from hysterical Geraldo and Shep Smith, neither of whom gave anything other than soap opera fiction about what was happening in New Orleans.
People who paid attention knew what the problems were and who was primarily to blame, and it wasn't President Bush.
To me, that Newt is criticizing the President over Katrina more than a year later is a sign that he is opportunistic AND uninformed. Pfui on him!