To all those screaming: Do you not understand the meaning of "worst case scenario?" On Monday we all thought that NOLA had been spared destruction, as Katrina moved slightly east. But the fact is that on Tuesday the levees failed. If the hurricane had hit directly the same thing would have happened. The city would not have filled with water twice or even twice as fast. We got the worst possible event.

I'm sorry I keep saying the same thing, but I'm watching Lou Dobbs right now and I'm trying not to throw my chair at the TV. He's trying to bait Mel Watt into making charges of racism. Fortunately, Watt didn't bite.

Here's a statement from an official involved in disaster planning with FEMA last year:

After the drill, FEMA concluded that progress had been made, and that hurricane planning would continue.

But one of the drill participants, Col. Michael L. Brown, then-deputy director of the Louisiana emergency preparedness department, told the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper that, in a worst-case scenario, there would be only so much government agencies could do.

"Residents need to know they'll be on their own for several days in a situation like this," Brown, who is not related to the FEMA director, told the paper.

That's pretty much what's happened. It's not easy to watch suffering, and the overwhelming media coverage makes it hard to avoid. I'm not surprised people are angry and I'm aware that the Natl. Guard probably wasn't moved in fast enough or in large enough numbers to maintain security. But short of that I don't know what could have been different. Everyone is screaming "not enough is being done" and some are saying they're ahsamed of our government. I'm watching people work tirelessly to try to deal with an impossible situation. I may find reason to criticize in the future, but I'm not the least bit ashamed.