Quote Originally Posted by Sasquatch
How was Katrina an embarrassment for Bush? The late response by the National Guard? No, that's under state control. FEMA? No, Bush doesn't really control that either. It was a complete failure, in nearly all aspects, on the part of the government of New Orleans, and even Louisiana, but there's not much the federal government was supposed to do, or could do anyway.
Bush could have, perhaps, staffed FEMA with competent experts in disaster management, rather than stuffing it with political hacks as thanks for campaign work. Or, he could take the role of the federal government seriously rather than intentionally undermining the ability of government agencies to operate successfully. You say the state and local governments sucked it up, and they did, but large scale natural disasters are generally beyond the scope of even the best state and local governments. This is exactly why its important to have a capable and trained federal organization to manage the response to such overwhelming disasters. You say Texas has handled their hurricane much better, but it hasn't hit yet, and we don't know what will happen when and after it hits. Time will tell. I certainly hope we can respond better.