Katrina, Real Point of View

Two paramedics from California were attending a conference in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. In this excellent write-up, they offer us a very real description of how they were treated as refugees, how the local police response was inept, and how they eventually escaped to Texas.

The Bush administration is currently trying to shift the blame of what happened in Katrina's aftermath to the local and state governments. The evidence is strong that screw-ups were across-the-board at all levels of government, but that does not mean Bush can "pass the buck". In almost every instance, the local and state police would have handled the siituation better had the Federal government been more prepared and provided them with support during the first two days of the disaster. I don't blame Bush for the failures of federal emergency response in the days following Katrina, but I do blame the "old boy network" that allowed someone as incompetent and unqualified as Michael Brown to be appointed director of FEMA. And that, unfortunately, describes most of the Bush administration to a tee.