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        As the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans unfolds and America watches, hour after hour, the sufferings and triumphs of the rescue operation, we see again how politicians and the media will use any means to further their causes, all the while truly expecting the American people to believe that it is for their benefit. Yet all Americans are really seeing is the "Agenda" game.

        The American people are responding in magnificent ways. And in horrific ways. Most Americans are opening their hearts, homes, and wallets to help the thousands of evacuees. But some American are exploiting the situation by looting, not for items they need to survive, but for television sets and beer. Some Americans are raising the prices of goods they supply to exorbitant levels, causing even more suffering for those who have lost everything.

        Yet while we see the best, and worst, in ordinary people in this devastation, we also see the "career" politicians, "out of touch" entertainers, and the "ratings happy" media at THEIR worst. Just like the general population, there are those who are genuinely trying to help and those whose actions are difficult to understand.

           Ellen DeGeneres, a New Orleans native, is raising $1.5 million for the Katrina relief fund. And she's doing it fairly quietly. This reporter has never been a big fan of hers, mainly because of her politics, but I have to admit that my opinion of her has changed somewhat because she seems to be trying to help the victims, not her career. Right now, let's count her among the "good guys."

           One of the "bad guys" is rapper Kanye West. During NBC's "A Concert For Hurricane Relief", West blasted President Bush and played the "race card." Comedian Mike Myers was paired with West for a 90-second segment that began with Myers speaking of Katrina's devastation. Then, to Myers' evident surprise, West began a rant by saying, "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food." 

        While allowing that "the Red Cross is doing everything they can," West declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, "They've given them permission to go down and shoot us." 

        After he stated, "George Bush doesn't care about black people. Please call _" the camera cut away to comedian Chris Tucker. In a statement, NBC said, "Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him, and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks. 

        "It would be most unfortunate," the statement continued, "if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person's opinion." Maybe the NBC employee whose finger was on the "dump" button agreed with West. But the damage was already done.

           Though her state had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina and thousands are believed dead in New Orleans, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco waited until DAYS after Hurricane Katrina to declare a state of emergency - in marked contrast to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, who both issued emergency declarations BEFORE Hurricane Katrina struck.  

        State and federal officials also told the Post that Gov. Blanco did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday (31 August 2005) - more than 24 hours after breaches in New Orleans levee system had flooded the city and killed thousands. 

        Gov. Blanco also refused to cede authority over rescue efforts to the federal government. "Shortly before midnight Friday (2 Sept. 2005), the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans," the Washington Post reported in Sunday editions. Gov. Blanco's office rejected the request, the paper said - concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.

        The primary responsibility for the disaster response lies with Governor Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and other local officials. Yet leading Democrats and their allies in the major media are clearly using this disaster for political purposes and ignoring one obvious fact.

        This fact – which needs to be repeated and remembered – is that in America, state and local governments have primary responsibility in dealing with local disasters. The founding fathers devised a federal system of government – one that has served us remarkably well through great disasters that have befallen America over more than two centuries. But if we believe the "left" then George Bush, FEMA and the Republicans in Congress are all to blame for the current nightmare.  

        Let's remember that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was created only in 1979. It was formed to coordinate and focus federal response to major disasters – to "assist" local and state governments. Common sense suggests that local and state governments are best able to prepare and plan for local disasters. With that in mind, let's call Governor Blanco one of the really "bad guys."

           Tim Russert, on his show "Meet the Press," tore into Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff. During his encounter with Chertoff, Russert did not suggest once that local government had any role in dealing with the disaster. Russert also asked for Chertoff's resignation. It wasn't until after the first 29 minutes of his show – 29 minutes – that Russert raised the question of local responsibility. And when he did so with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, he did so in a passing way. Broussard brushed off his question with a non-answer.

           Broussard began his interview claiming that the nation had "abandoned" New Orleans. That is nonsense and a lie. Broussard, who was never identified by "Meet the Press" as a Democrat, spent much of his time attacking the Bush administration. Broussard then ended his performance as he collapsed in tears with a demand: "For God's sake, just shut up and send us the money!" 

        His tears didn't wash with me. My sympathies lie with the tens of thousands of people who have suffered or died because local officials like Broussard and Governor Blanco failed monumentally at their jobs. Mr. Russert and Mr. Broussard, you can both go stand in the "bad guys" corner.

           (The man in this picture is carrying stolen beer out of a burning Winn-Dixie. Hardly "survival" supplies.) Some of the worst "bad guys" in this tragedy are the looters and hooligans. Not the people who stole to survive but the ones who stole for "profit," the ones who shot at rescue helicopters and rescue workers. The ones who shot at police, the very people who were there trying to help by restoring order.

        Press reports said police made little attempt to stop the swarms of looters, who vastly outnumbered them, as the looters filled trucks, shopping carts, and bins with clothing, electronics, jewelry and anything else there for the taking. 

        An editorial in the Montgomery Advertiser called it "unconscionable for anyone to attempt to take advantage of the misfortune of others in their communities following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina." The editorial said authorities should deal harshly with the looters: "In other words, it's tempting to just suggest that police shoot looters and be done with it."

        Bill Hanna of Knight Ridder newspapers described the looting scenario this way:

        As dumbfounded hotel guests Tuesday watched from balconies and police officers stood several hundred yards away, brazen looters began ransacking flooded storefronts along New Orleans' famed Canal Street.

        "We're so screwed," said one New Orleans police officer just before officers put on a show of force, brandishing shotguns and using batons to clear the growing crowd off Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district.

        An amazed Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, snapped pictures of the frenzy in the French Quarter. "It's downtown Baghdad," the homemaker said. "It's insane. I've wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not."

        Newspapers around the world carried accounts of the looting, including the Irish Examiner, which quoted a witness to the looting, Mike Franklin: "To be honest with you, people who are oppressed all their lives, man, it's an opportunity to get back at society," he said.

        One looter filling a shopping car at a ransacked Wal-Mart in New Orleans described the situation as "fate." Another looter reportedly asked a police officer if he could borrow his cruiser to get his loot home. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store. "No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store." Profit looters = "bad guys."

           Rev. Al Sharpton said that looters who terrorized flood-ravaged New Orleans acted out of anger that the services paid for with their taxes were not available.

        "The ones that are looting are people there that work paycheck to paycheck, [who] paid their taxes for an infrastructure that collapsed on them," Sharpton told MSNBC's "Countdown." "People in that kind of environment are responding in all kinds of insane ways," he explained. "It doesn't justify TVs being stolen, but clearly to get water and to get food and to get milk for babies, even though it is not refrigerated, certainly, you could [not] call that looting."

         The firebrand agitator blamed President Bush for the looting, saying much of the unrest took place while the "pharaoh diddled in his suburban Rome in Crawford, Texas."

         "The president stays on vacation, comes back a day late and a dollar short? I mean, this is an outright . . . " he complained, without finishing the sentence.

        Not one word about what the Governor of Louisiana was doing while Katrina roared through. But that wouldn't fit Rev. Sharpton's own "agenda." Maybe he plans on running for President again ? Rev., you're one of the "bad guys." Again.

           Some of the "good guys" are the United STATES of America. States all over the country are offering money, space, and supplies for the evacuees. Texas alone has taken in an estimated 250,000 evacuees. Other states are doing just as much.

        Aid centers will be set up at airports in Houston and Dallas where incoming refugees can be given food, water and medical care before they are flown out. The governor's office said those flights began Sunday.

           The Texas National Guard will coordinate the air operation. Texas Governor Rick Perry said American, Continental and Southwest Airlines, all of which are based in Texas, have agreed to help.

        Perry's office has been in contact with several states, including Utah, Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, New York, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, about providing shelter for Louisiana evacuees. West Virginia is sending three C-130 planes to Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio to help move refugees.

        The governor's office said arrangements also were being made to bring cruise ships to Galveston to house Louisianans left homeless by the storm.

           Amarillo, my hometown, is doing it's part also. Cedric Godfrey raised his arms high in the air as he came through the door of the Amarillo Civic Center. "Amarillo!" the New Orleans man shouted, hugging each person standing there to greet him. "God bless you all!" he said. "God bless you all!"

        Godfrey figured it should be obvious he was happy to have finally arrived at the Amarillo shelter for New Orleans evacuees. "Am I glad to be here? Look at what they've got me in," he said, pointing to a pair of silky shorts. Soon, he had a new pair of jogging pants. 

        Godfrey was among over 400 New Orleans residents who are now Amarillo's guests at the American Red Cross shelter in the north end of the Civic Center.

        Throughout the day, hundreds of volunteers and city employees worked to alter the setup of the shelter to accommodate more guests than predicted - and possibly more with fragile medical conditions. Workers dismantled 84 tables for eight in a dining area in the South Exhibit Hall and moved them to the Heritage Room in less than 50 minutes to make room for a larger medical triage area.

        Ryan Fowler was sitting at one of those tables by evening, polishing off a plate of food. Fowler, 37, rode out the storm with co-workers on the second floor of Olivier's Restaurant in the French Quarter. "We were probably the only 10 blocks that didn't get any water," he said. But the hurricane blew out the first-floor windows, so Fowler stayed behind to guard the place, only feeling comfortable enough to leave when law enforcement presence in the neighborhood grew stronger. Fowler said he conserved his food, drinking things like the eatery's canned evaporated milk. "It was like 'Survivor,'" he said.

        Fowler left the restaurant as little as possible, describing treks through the city as "apocalyptic." "Cars were parked, like they were burned out. Everything's smashed. It's a ghost town," he said. "New Orleans was noise and neon. Now at night, it's silence, shattered by the occasional gunshot or explosion. "I tromped through that nasty water home to get my cat. Then I disinfected as best I could when I got back. I've had that cat 11 years."

        The cat is safe with Amarillo Animal Control until Fowler leaves for Colorado, where his girlfriend's mother lives, he said. His girlfriend evacuated, as did his mother, whose home "is under 15, 20 feet of water" in St. Bernard Parish. Next time, he will evacuate, too, he said. "I think everyone only stays once. Everyone only stays once for a big hurricane," he said. "That's all it takes."

        But Fowler said he plans to return to New Orleans, where he was born and raised. "When the city's ready to go again, we'll be back for sure," he said. Amarillo seemed to have impressed him upon his arrival. "It's great," he said. "I love it. Everyone's so nice."

        In the North Exhibit Hall, Ronald Schexnayder looked for clothes through a donation collection while volunteer Carolyn Price Miller fixed his 4-year-old daughter, Rochelle, up with clothes, a pink princess pillow and other goods. "Those are pretty!" Rochelle said of the pink shorts and "love bug" shirt Price offered.

        Schexnayder had to walk out from his flooded Uptown area home, carrying Rochelle on his shoulders through chest-high water. "I worry about her mother," he said. He hasn't heard from Eartha Collins since the hurricane hit, he said.

        In the registration room, 7-year-old Artnisha Gibson dug through her family's belongings as her mother, Michelle Gibson, waited to check them in. "Is this regular Texas?" Artnisha asked.

        Michelle Gibson, 34, said her family lived in a third-floor apartment and had food and warm running water that they boiled. Gibson said the family wanted to stick it out, but officials made them evacuate by boat because of concerns about her 10-month-old daughter. Gibson said the evacuees' arrival in Amarillo had gone "very smoothly."

           Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt visited the Heritage Room to greet diners. "I just feel blessed to be a part of this," she said. "Everybody wants to help." McCartt complimented those who had put out the food. "It's a bountiful harvest, isn't it?" she told volunteer Merry Ann Darrah. Darrah joined others, such as the Williams family, in arranging snacks, taking great care in all the details.

        "The children will recognize 'Nemo,'" Darrah said, carefully placing packages bearing the image of the cartoon clownfish.

        Many volunteers said their emotions ran high as they met the evacuees. "I bet everybody at one time teared up - just incredible emotions," Civic Center Manager Kris Miller said.

        Texas officials estimate 100,000 Louisiana residents are staying in hotels and motels across the state and an additional 123,000 are being temporarily housed in 97 shelters throughout the state from the Houston Astrodome to El Paso.

        Mass. Governor Mitt Romney said Sunday that 2,500 refugees from Hurricane Katrina will arrive in the state within the next 72 hours.

        Romney said he was told by the federal government to prepare to accept displaced people from the hurricane. He said the evacuees will be temporarily housed at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod. It was not immediately clear what state they would come from, though the governor said he expected they would arrive from Texas.

        Romney said that Otis was preferable to other suggestions of where to house the evacuees, such as Boston's convention center, because the base comes equipped with beds, a school, medical facilities, a movie theater and other amenities for the evacuees.

        He had no estimate of the cost, but said that it would be shared with the federal government and that "cost is not one of our considerations." He, people, is one of the "good guys."

           When the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated many nations across Asia in December, the United States rushed to the aid of victims by pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance – just as it has offered aid whenever a natural disaster strikes in another country. Now the U.S. is facing a catastrophe of its own from Hurricane Katrina.

          Though the U.N.'s own top official, Secretary General Kofi Annan, has called Katrina one of "the largest, most destructive natural disasters ever," shamefully only a handful of nations – at last count less than 15% of the 191 countries in the United Nations – have come forward to offer assistance.

        And almost none have offered what America has so often provided: money. And the aid so far offered by foreign nations amounts to a drop in the bucket considering the anticipated multi-billion-dollar cost of dealing with the immediate crisis and the reconstruction to follow.

        President Bush has urged Americans to send cash donations to private relief organizations rather than in-kind contributions such as clothing and food. The same could be applied to foreign nations, most of which have been on the receiving end of massive financial assistance from then U.S. over the years.

        President Bush said: "I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. "We would love help, but we're going to take care of our own business as well, and there's no doubt in my mind we'll succeed."

        Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has decided that "no offer that can help alleviate the suffering of the people in the afflicted area will be refused."

        The offers of assistance so far pale in comparison to the aid pledged by the U.S. for tsunami relief, including $346 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Defense Department for their relief efforts, $339 million for reconstruction and $168 million to help victims with food, shelter, housing and education. In addition, a private fund-raising campaign led by former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton brought in more than $1 billion for tsunami victims. In fact, at least one-third of American households have donated money to an aid group in tsunami-hit nations. 

        Now the U.S. is trying to deal with the "American tsunami." U.N. Secretary General Annan acknowledged the extent of the disaster, saying through a spokesman: "The damage is far worse than any of us imagined at first. The American people – who have always been the most generous in responding to disasters in other parts of the world – have now themselves suffered a grievous blow."

        But he went on to add: "Of course the United States is also the country in the world best prepared to cope with such a disaster." While Annan has not spoken directly with President Bush, he did meet with America's U.N. ambassador John Bolton to convey the U.N.'s readiness to help. While it is true that America indeed is a wealthy nation, a sentiment of help and support would be appropriate and courteous. Apparently, most nations do not believe in courtesy.

        Of the nations that have offered assistance to the U.S., few have offered money. China, for example, presented $100,000 to the American Red Cross. Russia has offered boats and aircraft. On Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin offered to send a group of military special forces specializing in search and rescue to the region. That offer was rejected by the State Department.  

        Japan has promised tents, blankets and generators. Even France offered a fire brigade. Germany is willing to provide communications equipment. Israel, which receives $2.2 billion in U.S. aid each year, has offered to send doctors, nurses, technicians and other experts in dealing with natural disasters, as well as field hospitals and medical kits.

           Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a vocal critic of the U.S., made a mocking offer to send cheap fuel and relief workers to the stricken area. At about the same time he used the disaster as an opportunity to attack President Bush, calling him a "cowboy" who failed to manage the disaster. Humm, must be a Democrat.

        Other nations that have offered some form of aid include Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Honduras, the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, Colombia, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. "They're the most powerful, wealthiest country in the world, but when something like this strikes, the poor and the vulnerable are the same all around the world," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

        One nation on the "good guys" AND "bad guys" list is oil-rich Kuwait, which owes its very existence to America's liberation effort following Iraq's invasion. Kuwait is donating $500 million in aid. But a high-ranking Kuwaiti official has said Hurricane Katrina was sent by Allah, adding that "disaster will keep striking the unbelievers."

        No matter how much foreign aid does arrive in the U.S., it's clear that America will have to shoulder almost all the financial burden in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

           The last, and possibly the worst of the "bad guys," are the Bush bashing, liberal Democrats. With congressional elections fast approaching, Democrats who are out of power in every branch of the federal government know they need to change the tide quickly. They have apparently seized on the Katrina disaster to harm the president politically. 

        Criticism of the federal government's response is fair and warranted. But putting full responsibility for this disaster on the Bush administration is way over the top.

        Real responsibility for this disaster remains with local officials like New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Louisiana Governor Blanco, not President Bush. In one example of local incompetence, 2000, yes, TWO THOUSAND buses sat unused in New Orleans while the evacuation was going on right after Katrina. These "dedicated" Democratic local officials, while crying foul towards the Bush Administration for not helping immediately, let them sit there until they were under water and unusable after the levee broke.

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