New Orleans
It seems that the city of New Orleans have always had a great situation, but a horrible site. This is apparently common knowledge among those who study hurricanes for a living.
I have read some arguments to the effect that people shouldn't be living in a place like that. I saw this rather interesting map someone has drawn in response.
The shifting rationales for the horrendous quality of governmental response are disgusting. Today's Washington Post says it could be because so many senior officials were on vacation. The absence of local National Guards in the Iraq war theater may had hurt relief efforts too. Newsweek has a more balanced story. There is certainly enough blame to go round.
The guy in charge of Federal Emergency Management Agency was a manager of horse shows in Colorado. He is a political appointee who was apparently let go from there because of supervision failures. (Update: The rest of the gang doesn't look so hot either.)
What were also laid bare were the racial fault lines of America.
It was heartrending, disgusting and completely unnecessary.
A BBC commentator suggests that the US media may have redeemed itself over the past week. I am not so sure. Because Russ Baker is right
As we take stock of the true costs of the failures surrounding Katrina, journalists should note their own role as collaborators. We, too, have been complicit in this.