SOS2008 said:
Yes, everyone was at fault on some level--the state and city government, and even the residents. Let's not forget that many were poor without transportation or a place to go even if they had transportation. What about the sick and ederly? And let's not forget that in the wake of 9-11 we had a large investment in something called homeland security. In regard to the alpha male, well I prefer not to consider us all just a pack of dogs, but rather the buck stops here:
What a bunch of crock.
The biggest problems had to do with communication. Communication was a problem because of lack of equipment. Equipment was in short supply because of the war in Iraq. True, the enormity of the disaster should be kept in mind. But this was the best that the most powerful and wealthy country in the world could do? Pitiful! Who sleeps at night feeling safe and warm? Not me.
I don't expect much from the government, except to screw the pooch.
On the average, we're still ... average, not superhuman.
What we can expect is that our own expectations , on average, of what gov't can and should do for us will render what gov't actually can do for us forever and always seem like a cluster**** in comparison.
The solution, I don't think, is to throw yet more innefficiently expended(ie, ultimately based on cronyism)money at it to build an even bigger uberGovernment, atempting to do yet more for us. ie, to attempt do what we irrationally demand it attempt to do. But, that is all we do, no matter what party of power is in there.
As well and for our endless entertainement on boards like this, all the party out of power endlessly has to do is point out the latest cluster****s, then count on the default assumption that the cluster****s would be in any way different if a different frat house full of glad handers was running the toga party.
We're at the point where it's not necessary to turn over rocks, break down doors, or even so much as shine a light on cluster****s to expose them; all that is required is to say, "look at that," and barely that.
So, when do we finally conclude, whatever 'it' is, make 'it' smaller?' I'm pretty sure, never. It's this all the way until the gears are all ground to the knubs.
Some federal things worked extremely well in Katrina. The National Hurricane Center, before the fact, saved lives. Our military, after the fact, moved in and saved lives.
What didn't work so well was the giant universal 18" soft landing Nerf blanket that we expect the gov't will deploy in face of every conceivable catastrophe, natural or otherwise.
Some of our expectations/dissapointments persist, in that we still believe that the Universal 18" Nerf blanket is a possibility, if only we throw enough money at it, or if only we have the right frat house full of glad handers running the toga party.
On average, those expectations will never go away. So, on average, we're basically ****ed.
Don't be sad or defeated in this conclusion, however; I'm not. Such sadness would only be based on an unrealistic expectations for a species that on average, will forever be average.
It is what it ****in' is; undeniably average. So the more 'it' acts and is evaluated as a massive, monolithic federal 'it,' with massive group actions, the more 'it' approaches the not so Golden norm.
The whole of which has no sex-sell appeal for our insatiable 24/7 news media, whose job is to pick throught the pile of average and glean the odd anecdote of exceptionally bad and exceptionally good with which to shock and amaze the masses with, for whatever end, be it shape their political perception or sell them Toyotas.
The myth of a myriad of strings all leading back to the AlphaMale/Maximum Leader in his multimillion dollar/multimedia command bunker with instantaneous massless response from our bloated bureacracy is just entertaining fodder for the party in power/party out of power dance around the base of the volcano.
So, 
