If the residents of a city below sea level do not evacuate in the face of an oncoming hurricane, that’s a failure of personal responsibility. If the mayor of that city proclaims “Where is the government?”, that is a huge failure of leadership. If the governor of that state doesn’t mobilize The National Guard for days, that is an epic failure. I have my issues with Pres. Bush, but Katrina was a LOCAL failure.
Agreed. Fortunately, 80% of the population of New Orleans and untold numbers from the outlying areas, had enough of that personal responsibility to leave before all hell broke loose. Had that not been the case, the death toll would have been much, much worse.