Defending The Federal Government.

There is a whole lot of heat coming from the Mainstream Misleaders about the reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

A couple of things. Before Hurricane Katrina came ashore President Bush declared the Gulf states a disaster area. Friday the President was urging Governor Blanco to federalize the LA National Guard. Of course we have the picture of the busses adding to the mess instead of helping out.

Powerline passes on how the NYT editorialized against flood control on the Mississippi:

Anyone who cares about responsible budgeting and the health of America's rivers and wetlands should pay attention to a bill now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The bill would shovel $17 billion at the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and other water-related projects - this at a time when President Bush is asking for major cuts in Medicaid and other important domestic programs. Among these projects is a $2.7 billion boondoggle on the Mississippi River that has twice flunked inspection by the National Academy of Sciences... [snip]

Source: National Review's Media Blog - NY Times Ed Board: Fairweather Flood-Control Fans

Now, without reading more of that NYT editorial I am not certain the work they were talking about was in Louisiana, for all I know it could have been proposed work up in La Crosse Wisconsin and that would be silly. However, there is much wenching going on that is just out and out silly. In fact, reports indicate the levee that broke was the most recently reinforced levee.

Also, we have Mary Landrieu talking about punching those who criticize the local officials in Louisiana. Hey Mary here is my e-mail, contact me and I will give you my address and I will give you a free shot!. What good is that? Certainly, I hear you, what is needed now is unity and working together there is plenty of time after the mess is all cleaned up to analyze how things can be improved (as opposed to finding out who was at fault). The problem is, President Bush and the Feds are being blamed for every inaction, every poor decision, every missed opportunity.

It wasn't the President's job to pull those hurricane plans out of the drawer and to start executing them (the now soggy plans, probably still in their file drawer in the NOLA townhall). It wasn't Michael Chertoff's job to order those busses to high ground and to be ready to roll for evacuation purposes. It wasn't the President's job to call up & release the National Guard troops to federal control. In fact, the President and the Feds were begging Louisiana state officials to release those troops to Federal control.