Nice try Ace, but Dear Leader Chimpler McBushalliburton is still to blame (for everything). After 9 months in office he should have been able to completely rebuild the 350 miles of levees around N.O. and mud jacked the whole city up above sea level. If he would have signed the Kyoto Accords Katrina would have been tropically depressed and unable to realize her full potential, too. So just wait till 2006 mister because everybody in Amerikkka knows these things and will vote out of office every red state Zionist Republican right wingnut red diaper baby and at long last we will have our Utopia of sealed borders and secured ports and free health care for everyone.

This segment from NPR's Morning Edition (with interviews of experts) makes it clear that the levee failure had nothing to do with budget cuts; it was the result of planning decisions stretching back to the 1960s.

Scarey must read http://subpariq.blogspot.com/2005/09/nostradamus-of-new-orleans.html

CNN's Miles O'Brien is going to blow a gasket on camera.

The level of mismanagement prior to and after the landfall at all levels has been astounding. Looking at this from a purely local perspective - why the hell didn't the City of New Orleans stockpile some food, fuel, and water at the Superdome and the Convention Center.

That doesn't need a Federal Pass to do.

And, ironically, this whole disaster would be more readily managed if it happened overseas. The active duty US Military could have stepped in and orchestrated relief efforts rom Day One and rather than the 'who's doing what?' fiasco that's developed.

Bush should have said "Screw it - the General here is going to manage this event until the people are safe and the property secure."

Bush should have said "Screw it - the General here is going to manage this event until the people are safe and the property secure."

BumperStickerist, I see where you're coming from, and deep down agree on the response. But can you imagine the uproar the crazies would have been in if Bush had done that? Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. That being the case, however, I would have hoped he would have erred on the side that would have gotten help there a little more rapidly.

Any of you con law types out there that can illuminate for me whether this fiasco is somehow tied up with federal and state confusion and sensitivity about the applicability of the Posse Comitatus Act?

That Nostradamus of New Orleans article is great. A couple of excerpts:

If it were left to residents and city officials, the status quo would prevail. One city official says of the flooding and subsidence, "We are below sea level and we do get floods sometimes, but it's not a real serious problem. You can still purchase flood insurance." Another city official expressed faith in the current levee system.

Experts conclude that it would take about 72 hours to evacuate the city should such a hurricane hit New Orleans.

So the mayor ordered the evacuation, what, 30 hours prior to the landfall?

I think the way Bush did this would be important.

The scale of this devestation is unprecedented, it cuts across state borders and affects the economic security of the United States, therefore I am going to federalize the National Guard and direct them to take whatever action is necessary to ensure the safety of those that survived, to find the dead and give them a proper burial, and to help secure the property. Once that is complete, I will give control of the National Guard back to the Governors and direct whatever help I can to assist. or some such.

I think if either (or both) political parties announced their intention to hold their 2008 convention in New Orleans, that would be a good thing - both for the city and for the politics.

Any of you con law types out there that can illuminate for me whether this fiasco is somehow tied up with federal and state confusion and sensitivity about the applicability of the Posse Comitatus Act?

When us con law types read questions like the above, we run for the hills!

Rocketeer -- Upon request of the governor, or perhaps on his own initiative, the president can use the federal military by invoking the Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. §§ 331-34). What’s happening in NO could reasonably be called “insurrection” or “rebellion.” Even without this step, courts have held that the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385) does not apply to the Navy (U.S. v. Yunis, 924 F.2d 1086 (C.A.D.C. 1991)) and the Coast Guard (U.S. v. Chaparro-Almeida, 679 F.2d 423 (5th Cir. 1982)), both of which seem to be more useful here. Seriously, it seems to me like nobody without boats can provide any serious logistical or enforcement functions in NO.

And a streetcar named nuatalus trying to keep it from sinking

Cedarkos's anti-Bush statement is so anal, that no one should waste time replying to it. To say that it's one persons fault when the problem has been building over many decades goes beyond reason and common sense. The potential plight of New Orleans is probably better docmented in this Scientific American article http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=00060286-CB58-1315-8B5883414B7F0000 and I'm sure that articles predating this one have been published in scientific journals. The Army Corp of Engineers http://www.usace.army.mil/ is hard on the job to help correct the situation. Note that the Corp article states that "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is aggressively battling the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans District\342\200\231s 350 miles of hurricane protection levees. Built to withstand hurricane Category 3 storms, Katrina exceeded the design of the authorized hurricane protection system that resulted in several breaches. "

Water

Here comes JESSIE JACKASSON and carrying his soap box and with a band of violins playing right behand him