Given the fact this was sandwiched between Nagin and Specter it would be easy to over look this, but this puts the incompetence of the Bush administration in perspective.
This is from a discussion between Russert and John Barry who wrote about a flood in 1927 which also devastated New Orleans.
MR. RUSSERT: As we try to rebuild the city, you heard the mayor saying people from New Orleans should do this; in effect, "We don't want outsiders." But it is an opportunity to rebuild the first new American city in the 21st century. How do we go about that? Who should be involved? And how do we get it right in terms of making sure the city is responsive to all its people?
MR. BARRY: Well, first, I don't think outsiders can or should dictate to people anywhere, in New Orleans or anywhere else. Obviously the money comes from outside, but there has to be some mix of this. And to go back to what you just asked a second ago about a federal agency taking over, in 1927, all the railroads were underwater. The roads were underwater. Air travel was not adequate to carry enormous freight, and yet they were able to supply these 700,000 people with fewer problems than they did today. And the one thing Coolidge did right was he put Herbert Hoover, then secretary of Commerce--and this made Hoover president, 'cause he handled it so well. Hoover was in the chain of command in the military. So Hoover could actually order the secretary of War and everybody in the military to do something and he was quite ruthless in the orders he issued, and things did get done very, very efficiently in 1927, far more so than today.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9240461/Think about this. 78 years ago, when my grandmother was 15, they were better able to help people than FEMA is today. That should put this in a perspective that nothing else can.
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