Ok, I'll bite. If everything is handled properly after Gustav I'll be happy that the Bush administration has learned it's lesson.
However, I'm still appalled that after three years the debris from Katrina still litters some of the streets of New Orleans. Whose at fault for that? I don't know, but I've seen our country go into foreign countries after a national disaster and spearhead cleanup efforts. Also, after three years, the repairs haven't been completed on the levee system. That's a federal program. I'm interested in seeing how that plays out. It may have been a moot point even if the repairs were finished as almost all independent scientists and engineers are saying that the levees, the way they were and are being designed, are not adequate.
I don't blame Bush for the botched evacuation before Katrina. The fault for that lies squarely on the heads of the local and state government.
What I do blame him for, and frankly will never forget or forgive, is his complete disregard for the people of New Orleans in the first days following the flooding of New Orleans. I watched people dying on my television. I watched them herded like cattle to places without food, water, adequate shelter, or bathroom facilities. Yes, it was the local government that told them to go to the convention center, but once there they had nowhere to go and it was televised for the world to see. I was, in my living room in upstate NY, aware of what was happening, when Bush told Brown "Good job Brownie!"
I was aware when reporters were asking the Bush administration what they were doing about these people and they acted surprised and uninformed about the situation on live television. It was on every news station for crying out loud! It's their job to be informed! Then when the excuses started to fly I was disgusted. "Well, the governor did call and say that people were dying and that they needed help, but they didn't specifically ask for help from the federal government, so our hands are tied." Please! I expect better! While people were suffering and dying on national television, Bush was going to parties. His excuse was that he didn't know. Again, Please! He's either lying to cover his shamed and embarrassed butt, or he's too stupid for words.
That is what I'll always remember and what I will never forgive him for. I will be happy if the current and future situations are handled better, but I and many others will never forget the past.
