KEEPING THE RED CROSS OUT

Louisiana’s Homeland Security department won’t let them into New Orleans. Of course, the Bush team wouldn’t let them into parts of Abu Ghraib as well. A reminder: my criticism of the feds is not meant to imply that the local authorities performed well. They performed pretty badly, especially in not ordering mandatory evacuations earlier. But from August 27 on, the president had full authority to act. He failed. Thousands of Americans are dead – under horrible conditions – as a result. That would be a national disaster before 9/11. After 9/11, it’s criminal negligence.