Peter Preston, writing in the Guardian, points out some of the deeper reasons for Washington's sloth over Katrina:
Cheney, a supposed foe of bureaucracy, has steered his pupil in weird directions here - including the creation of a monstrous homeland security department, run by counter-terrorist hands, that has all but swallowed up poor Fema, the designated disasters agency.......
Blame Bush? Naturally. This shambles is on his watch. But don't fail to ask the more difficult questions either. Does free-market scorn for public services and its salary structure make for third-rate public servants? Do election-related democratic upheavals of administrative tenure every four years bring expertise or confusion? Does our solitary superpower boast a superpowered administrative engine - or an old banger in need of total refurbishment?