As horrific and chaotic as 9/11 was, we must be reminded that it affected a relatively small part of a very wealthy borough of NYC.  On the vast majority of Manhattan, the power grid and transportation systems were working effectively.  The first responders were in place to respond. Rudy could drive into or walk into the affected area, and while we can all praise his leadership, there is no question that the almostly completely intact infrastructure provided him with a base totally unavailable to Ray Nagin in submerged New Orleans. 

 I don't want to excuse Mayor Nagin or Gov. Bianco from questions--such as `Who set up the checkpoint outside the convention center?' that was prominently mentioned by Shepard Smith in the now famous Hannity and Colmes show where Hannity lost control of his reporters, or `why couldn't the school buses have been mobilized?'  At the same time, it is clear Bianco called the emergency in advance, recognised the potential for devastation, and asked for help. 

Indeed, we cannot forget that this enormous storm afected a large region of the country, and that without effective involvement of the federal government and its vast resources this disaster was inevitable.

So when the comparisons, explicit or implicit, are trotted out and the Rovian blame game thrown at local officials, I hope all of us will do our collective best to smack it down.  It is far too easy for the Lou Dobbs of the world to take pot shots, for the ``balance oriented'' media to say, well, yes maybe local officials should be looked at, and to lose focus on the fact that when this happened Bush and most of his key players were on vacation.  Don't let the media forget!