>>The religious volunteer organizations did a terrific job. As did the Coast Guard. You're right, it wasn't an across the board disaster. For that, the federal government was needed ;-(
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>FYI, EPA is a Federal Agency (as is the Coast Guard), and our part of the response was exemplary as I pointed out. For the response debacle, you get to spread that out across all levels of gov't, including the State and New Orleans gov'ts.

Point take about the Coast Guard. (For some reason it doesn't seem like part of the federal government. Maybe because it's not one of the deskbound agencies?) And there was plenty of blame to go around among government agencies at all levels, as "When the Levees Broke" amply showed.

Before I say another word, do you work for the EPA? I vaguely recall that you do, or did.