Not only don't they get it, they don't WANT to get it

It's not difficult to figure out what went wrong with the federal government's ineffective response to Hurricane Katrina.

In order to have an effective government that responds swiftly to disasters (and plans for them in ADVANCE), you have to have people in charge of that government who believe in governing, not just doing an endless series of PR moves.

Instead, the governing philosophy of the Republican Party has shifted over the last 30 years from small, but WELL-MANAGED government, to taking power and destroying the government itself through incompetence, so as to create the impression that the market always serves people better than government.

That, of course, reminds me of the legendary TWILIGHT ZONE episode where aliens visit Earth, stating that their favorite book is called TO SERVE MAN, only for Earthlings to discover in the end that it's a cookbook.

When Grover Norquist stated that he wanted to reduce the size of government to the point that he wanted to drown in a bathtub, he had no way of knowing that he would get his wish. As the link above indicates that Bush is still protected from ANY disturbing images that might shatter the warped idea he has of this country, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast suffer due to his incompetence, and that of others with whom he has surrounded himself.

If the Democratic Party fails to seize on this incompetence in the 2006 elections, then it deserves to die and be cast out to sea. The very future of this republic depends on whether the Democrats can convince people that we can govern, and BE governed.