Local, state, and Federal: Whats going on?

I can understand why CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, John Stewart, and all the other left-wing liberal media that hate President Bush tainting certain facts. Hopefully, partisan politics are not getting in the way of getting these facts straight. Bush declared a state of emergency before the storm, and then the federal government suggested assistance immediately after the storm. The federal government does not have the authority under U.S. law to commit or send troops or National Guardsmen to any locale until the governor requests and/or approves such assistance. But the assistance was delayed for days by an indecisive governor Blanco.

Is it the Bush administration's fault that every New Orleans school bus now sits under water, unused to evacuate citizens who, either by their own choice or by their inability to evacuate, remained in the city after the storm? Where does the responsibility of the mayor of New Orleans lie in this? Mayor Ray Nagin has been parading around on television networks complaining about the government, but he couldn’t, and still can’t enforce a mandatory evacuation. Is it the Bush administration’s fault that people did not evacuate (nor still have not) when “ordered� under mandatory evacuation?Is it the Bush administration’s fault that the governor of Louisiana did not activate her National Guard in a timely manner? The National Guard is under direct state control, and it appears that the governor of Louisiana did not activate it in mass force until 2½ to three days after the storm hit.

Is it the Bush administration’s fault that up to 400 New Orleans police officers left their post and ran away from the recovery process, some being a part of the looting process? I wonder if New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass has started an investigation into his officers and himself, and the actions during and after the hurricane. And to make things worse, Eddie Compass is still the chief trying to maintain law and order. If he couldn’t do it then, then why should we trust him now? When is this man facing re-election?

Pretty soon we will be reading that the Bush administration is to blame for the hurricane hitting the U.S. mainland. I believe that the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana showed very poor leadership and let their constituents down. It is easy to blame the federal government for all the ills in our society. The majority of the left-wing media would lead us to believe that. Yes, assistance was much too slow than should be acceptable for a host of reasons. FEMA did not respond as it should have and yes, in the end, there will be plenty of people to blame, much finger pointing will be done and department/agency managers will be held accountable.