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The federal government should be quicker to respond, but the initial emergency response which includes law and order is the local and state government's responsibility. Was it the federal government first on the scene at the world trade centers? No, it was NYFD and NYPD with volunteers from all across the nation. In any disaster, the local government is in charge, with the state stepping in if needed.

None of that happened in New Orleans. The mayor and governor abandoned our fellow Americans in that city. It was bad enough to live in a bowl below sea level, it was exacerbated to horrendous levels by the inaction of the local and state government. The state and local should have tried to get a handle on things until the resources of the federal government could get on site.

Do you realize how unprecedented it is to have a president not only issue a disaster area proclamation before the disaster hits, but a president having to call a governor to get her to act in the face of danger? It's insane that a governor completely shirks her duties and leaves it up to the federal government to come in to take care of her problems. There are responsibilities the state has. It's why it's called a state. If governors defer all responsibility to the federal government, what's the point of having states at all?

The fact that today people are being helped, that people are being airlifted out, that control is being exerted is proof that the federal level did not fail. It was just that period of time before the federal level could get assembled and on the scene.

That mayor and governor both need to resign in shame. They need to apologize to those poor people they abandoned.