Not Getting It

The epidemic of not getting it at the federal level continues apace. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers just held a press conference in which they insisted that not only was there no delay in getting troops and other military assets to New Orleans, but the department actually anticipated what FEMA would want before the agency even asked for it. The gulf between federal officials' statements about the situation and the reality of what occurred and what is still occurring remains alarmingly wide.