Sluggish Government?

There have been complaints that the Federal Government has been sluggish in responding to the needs of hurricane ravished Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. I know that GWB declared the area a disaster area before (Sunday?) Katrina made landfall on Monday so that there would be no delay in FEMA responding.

GWB was on vacation in Crawford and waited for two days after the storm before returning to Washington. I didn't know that when he went to Crawford he was completely cut off from the rest of the world. Well, shoot! That 'splains it all. He's on vacation, didn't turn on the TV (he probably thinks there are teeny tiny people living inside it waiting to talk to him), and of course, he's too stupid to read the newspapers. And there were no reporters within a hundred miles to tell him about the hurricane. He didn't meet with Cindy Sheehan because he didn't know she was out there waiting! He left Karl Rove in charge in Washington and everybody knows that Karl wanted NO destroyed so that Halliburton could come in a make a killing on rebuilding. Or maybe he was in on the plan with Rove to destroy NO and Louisiana. You know that he personally caused Katrina to hit the Gulf Coast, don't you?

My question is, why didn't GWB rush right to NO and stick his finger in the break in the levee? Surely that's all that was needed. And what a photo op!

Governor Blanco of Louisiana refused to turn over the National Guard to Federal jurisidiction. I can sure understand why Blanco doesn't want to ask for help. Louisiana and New Orleans authorities have done such an outstanding job of handling the recovery operations. Oh, and don't forget the marvelous job they did of evacuating people from the area. There were hundreds of buses lined up waiting to ..... oh, wait. No, they were parked in a parking lot that is now under water. Well, Governor Blanco declared a state of emergency prior to...oh..no...wait. She didn't.

Then there's the mayor. He ordered the buses to evacu...oh...those are the buses that are now under water. Why didn't someone write a disaster plan to use in the event of a storm or other disaster. Oh, you say there was a disaster plan in place?

The hard-working, dedicated police department of New Orleans stayed on duty hours on end to protect .... oh, wait. I've heard that many of the NOPD quit, walked off the job, or just stayed home to protect their own property. I've also heard that NOPD officers were involved in some of the looting and other crimes that took place. But...that couldn't be, could it? Isn't the NOPD known for their integrity and dedication to duty?

Like I said. An outstanding job of preparation and recovery.

Update: here's a link to the City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan