It seems I owe some folks an apology.
Several days ago I urged folks to ease up on the criticism of President Bush for not ending his vacation prior to Katrina's landfall. I suggested that no one in the government could have known that a major hurricane would hit New Orleans, that the levees around Lake Ponchartrain would break, or that a substantial military presence would be needed if the disaster happened.
I was wrong. It is clear to me now that, in fact, many people warned of the real possibility of a devastating hurricane hitting the Big Easy. And it is clear that the Army Corps of Engineers warned Congress and those higher up in the Administration that funds to repair and maintain the levees were needed. And it is evident that military units in the general vicinity of the Gulf Coast were not rapidly called into service as a search and rescue, law enforcement, or stabilization force even after the scope of the disaster became clear.
I consider this to be a clear breakdown of leadership and a case of misplaced priorities. I am mad about it. The flooding of New Orleans could probably have been avoided. The massive looting and other despicable criminal conduct now haunting those trapped in that city could have been better controlled or eliminated before now. And a much more efficient and effective system for evacuating those without the means to get themselves out of the path of the storm could have been put in place before Katrina hit.
I am not a liberal Democrat. I am a conservative Democrat. I do not hate George W. Bush and I acknowledge that he is the lawfully elected President of the United States of America. But I expect better leadership from our President and I expect better decisions from our Congress. I am disappointed, I am angry, and I feel very sad for the many people along the Gulf Coast who may well have been further hurt by our government's negligence.
I apologize to those I criticized, because it seems that I offered those criticisms prematurely and without much knowledge of the facts.