"My first thought was, he lied in every word"

I don't typically share in the political side of these discussion as that's how I feel about every politician I've ever encountered. Nagin, Blanco, Edwards, Roemer, Morial, Bush, Clinton...names change but lies and spin seems to be the only consistent things. I first registered to vote in New Orleans so my cynicism is well founded and I feel like some finger pointing is due me too.

During the Northridge or Loma Prieta earthquake or Mount St. Helen's eruption, how fast was response by state and federal authorities? Or on the other coast, after Hurricane Andrew wiped out Homestead, how quickly did the various agencies show up? What is done for disaster planning in other areas prone to natural disasters? What are FEMA responsibilities vs what are local authorities' responsibilities and when? Help me understand what was supposed to happen after the levees breached.

It boggles my mind that the New Orleans mayor and the LA governor did not have this scenario as priority number 1? The city is surrounded by water on 3 sides making relief efforts difficult if not impossible in the event of a direct strike. The city is 8 feet below sea level and Category 3 surges at 9-12 feet above normal. You do the math.

Since 1965, the Army Corp of Engineers and anyone who picked up the Times-Picayune knew even a Cat 3 hurricane stalled over the city would breach the levees. Federal funding for levee improvements? It would have taken 10-15 years to raise the levees. Why wasn't this an issue 15 years ago, when it would have made a difference?

Then someone tell me what was supposed to happen before the levees breached??? I ask because I am obviously missing something here. I've listened to the Nagin sound bite. I read the Anne Rice editorial that Loren posted. I keep coming back to the question. Why are state and city officials not being painted with the same brush as Bush and FEMA? They deserve it, doubly so.

How the hell do you have 20% of the people living below the poverty line and not have a plan to get them out of the city? How could there not have been a contingency plan by local and state officials to evacuate people who had no means to do so themselves? Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation order on Sunday with a Cat 4 hurricane a day away. Every study that I've seen says it takes at least 72 hours to evacuate the 400,000+ residents of New Orleans. Please hold on to those "Nagin for President" bumper stickers. They'll be as valuable as those "Vote for the Crook. It's important!" ones.

When I moved from New Orleans in 1997, the hottest political topic was not hurricanes or that the city was sinking, but instead speculation over who hadn't bribed who in the closing of the new Harrah's Casino. A long line of politicians abandoned New Orleanians years before Katrina made landfall last week.

The people of New Orleans did not ask for or deserve what happened, regardless of who they are or where they lived. I'm sure that they will rebuild, much like people in San Francisco or Pensacola rebuilt but I truly hope that their memories are long.