Mother Nature accomplished in a few hours what Al Qaeda could not do. Probably killed more Americans, disrupted the financial markets, and crippled the oil industry for good measure. Osama must be pleased.
In response to this "attack", which is at least the equal of 9/11, our President's first announcement is releasing oil from the SPR "to help out the refiners". I can't believe that's what he said, but he did. I saw his lips move.
So most parts of the country are susceptable to some kind of natural disaster, and government's response to a natural disaster takes pretty much the same resources as reacting to an un-natural disaster like a terrorist attack. If you are prepared for one, you are prepared for the other.
If we're serious about homeland security, we need to be prepared on at least two fronts: prepared to identify and stop terrorists and prepared to manage the result if disaster strikes.
Reasonable people could have different opinions about how well we've stopped terrorists in the US, but it's really clear we've done practically nothing to prepare for the consequences - natural or un. The levees in NOLA could have been blown up by a terrorist instead of a hurricance. They were certainly a well documented weakness.
But even knowing the storm was days away, apparently nothing was done to prepare to patch a levee break. What in the hell were people thinking?
George W. Bush, this miserable excuse of a leader, has cut budgets for police, sent the National Guard off on his own personal war, failed to enhance border security, and done nothing to increase preparedness. He's absolutely failed to protect the people of the United States. On the cusp of the disaster, his mind goes to helping oil companies.
What on earth have we done to deserve such shabby treatment?