=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

This links to this Knight-Ridder article which discusses how Chertoff, not Michael Brown, delayed the Federal response to Katrina.

For reference, this is the Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana which should've triggered the National Response Plan.

So we have a National Response Plan which should've been triggered by an 'Incident of National Significance' which was Bush's declaration of state of emergency on 8/27 (Friday).

But this didn't happen (note that Bush's declaration was before Katrina made landfall).

Two possible (that I can think of) conclusions:

1. The feds really don't know WTF they're doing.
2. The feds really do know WTF they're doing.

Either conclusion is disquieting, especially when you read this:

Bush says he may need more power in disasters

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday urged Congress to examine whether the White House needs stronger powers to deal with catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina.

Bush’s backing for the congressional inquiry raised the possibility that lawmakers might expand presidential authority to:

• Order mandatory civilian evacuations
• Dispatch U.S.-based armed forces for emergency search-and-rescue operations
• Grant wider leeway for active-duty U.S. military personnel to carry out law enforcement operations.

As some of ya'll will recall that right after 9/11 the feds pushed Patriot I through Congress which was supposed to make us safer - even though Ashcroft testified that there were no guarantees that the passage of Patriot I would actually enable law enforcement to prevent another terrorist attack.

Patriot I did succeed in giving the feds vastly expanded powers though...