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You're right. A lot of the coverage at this point is pointing fingers as to the poorly executed rescue effort. At this point I think it's better to get people safe, fed, and housed (in some way) and worry about what was done wrong later.


On the contrary, I think one of the media's most important functions is to point out to the readers, listeners, and viewers when crappy things are happening, to draw attention to them, and thus motivate the decision-makers to get off their duffs and do something about it. The media themselves can't help directly, except for lending a satellite phone here or a kiss and a hug there. So, if they're going to be there, they might as well call attention to the things that need attention.

For instance, tonight on CNN, the head of FEMA was being asked some tough questions about why the rescue/relief effort has been so slow in getting started. During the interview, he basically admitted that what was happening was unacceptable, and that they were going to need to speed things up, even if they take some more risks than they seemed to want to take.

The federal agencies have obviously been trying to hide behind the logic that they needed to plan things out first, make sure resources are distributed properly, etc., but it just doesn't wash. The people down there are in desperate need of food and water *NOW*, and it doesn't take much to throw some supplies on a plane and drop them down there. If we can scramble F-16s within two minutes if planes are heading for the White House, it's just not acceptable for this situation to go on for more than two days and not have more of a federal presence in the relief efforts.

Yes, I know this is a HUGE expanse of geography that's affected. Yes, I know that the storm's path changed, and that there were questions about how bad it was going to be, and that a lot of those in trouble now were people who didn't evacuate, or got caught at the last minute. But these are the things our government is supposed to plan for. Even if they didn't plan for it, it doesn't take much leadership from the top (and I mean the very top) to say "get some food and water on some big-ass planes and drop the s**t down there."

Katrina's aftermath has all the makings of a humanitarian crisis in our own country, and it didn't have to be this bad. WIth better leadership, we could have at least the beginnings of a handle on the situation now. I just hope that in a time when there's zero accountability in the federal branch, someone finally has to answer for their failure to do their job.
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- Tony C
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