[Torie]

There was a massive governmental F up at all levels, from top to bottom. Those that deny it are in denial. Bush's lack of engagement is sad. He seems to not have the passion for this one. When the locals are failing, one needs to pick up the slack. This storm turned out more mild than anticipated. It had appeared to be a monster killer, and by luck, a dry wind at the last moment degraded it to a stong Cat 3 and deflected it a bit away from NO. Absent that, and it would have blown NO away, with wind, and then with massive surge floods, neither of which happened. It needed to be a national emergency as of Sat AM. I am giving them ALL a failing grade. I am an equal opportunity flunker.

That is how I see it and call it.

[BurbankKarl]

This post is pretty sad.

[Kryptonite]

Bush's lack of engagement is sad. He seems to not have the passion for this one.

Pulleaze, uninformed, hyper-reality, Cindy Sheahan, DU troll-type BS.

[Steve_Stifler]

I get your frustration, but I think it's more one of perception than reality. The sad fact is, the President could've given a speech and two press conferences today and it wouldn't have gotten any media saturation. Yesterday (Tuesday) was going to be all Irwin Allen/James Cameron disaster coverage no matter how hard any Republican tried to inject his message into the mix. Much better to let the story go for a day, coordinate your actions with your message and then go full-out.

As for the preparation for the storm, that's a local matter. The responsibility for being lackadaisical or negligent in that matter rests solely with New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

[Howlin]

Lack of engagement? What ever do you mean?

Do you realize he has to be INVITED in to the state by the governor?

And Haley Barbour's already told him NOT to come.

He declared a disaster before it was so he could send all the staging stuff as close to NO as he could get it to send in the second they can.

What else would you have him do?