Web Letters: New Orleans: The City That Won't Be Ignored

From reading this article you would think that Democrats had no contribution to the problems of New Orleans during Katrina and that President Bush was solely responsible. However, the facts no not confirm this. New Orleans was run by a Democratic machine with Mayor Ray Nagin and the state had a Democrat governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. What the writer lies about is that President Bush contacted both Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco before Hurricane Katrina hit, asking if they needed any help. Both refused. And since the state is sovereign with its own defined responsibilities, the federal government could not help unless asked to.

As for the infrastructure, why did the writer not mention that the Clinton Administration gave New Orleans money to fix and build up the levees, yet this money was stolen or wasted by the New Orleans Democratic machine? A further lie is the so-called racism. Why did the writer not point out that the majority of deaths during Katarina were white senior citizens whose minority caretakers left them to fend for themselves?

I am aware that Ms. Klein has "Bush derangement syndrome" and hates Christian conservatism, but that is no reason to lie or fabricate the historical truth.

Robert Exton

San Francisco, CA