Jack Shafer discusses the (invisible) issue of race and class in the news of Katrina.

Also, see Amardeep's post about the AFP pictures with blacks "looting" and whites "finding". Just disgusting.

Speaking of looting and finding. I think if I were in one of these devastated places I might find some dry clothes or food however I could.

And, also, the idea of the Bush administration making poor choices prior to this disaster. What did we know about New Orleans?

1. New Orleans is below sea level and meteorolgists, geographers, and others have been warning about what a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane would do (level the place).
2. Hurricanes have been more active in recent years, especially in those years of the Bush presidency. Global warming, which the Bush adminsitartion has done less than nothing about (it has actually regressed on envirnmental stewardship) has been cited as a probable cause for this increase in hurricane activity.
3. FEMA lost a director that was an experience emergency management professional for a political crony.
4. FEMA's budget was decimated by Homeland Security. The projects that needed to be built or improved where cut from the federal budget.
5. The Iraq War took away the backup plan of calling in the National Guard in case the preparations didn't hold.