Hurricane Katrina: Columnists Criticize Leadership

Bob Herbert

"Neither the death of the chief justice nor the frantic efforts of panicked White House political advisers can conceal the magnitude of the president's failure of leadership last week. The catastrophe in New Orleans billowed up like the howling winds of hell and was carried live and in color on television screens across the U.S. and around the world."

Paul Krugman

"Each day since Katrina brings more evidence of the lethal ineptitude of federal officials. I'm not letting state and local officials off the hook, but federal officials had access to resources that could have made all the difference, but were never mobilized....As many people have noticed, the failed response to Katrina shows that we are less ready to cope with a terrorist attack today than we were four years ago."

David Brooks

"Authority was diffuse and action was ineffective. The rich escaped while the poor were abandoned. Leaders spun while looters rampaged. Partisans squabbled while the nation was ashamed....We're not really at a tipping point as much as a bursting point. People are mad as hell, unwilling to take it anymore."