Two Years On

Two years ago Katrina hit and still New Orleans suffers, says Douglas Brinkley in today's Washington Post. He concludes that the government really does not want to rebuild the Ninth Ward. And he acknowledges that the rebuilding of the area, which is below sea level, may not make "cold, pragmatic sense"; rebuilding the levees will be really expensive and will take almost a decade. However, he is furious that the administration is as forthcoming about its plans here as its plans in Iraq - that is, it is not forthcoming at all. He asks, "Why can't Bush look his fellow citizens in the eye and tell them what seems to be the ugly truth? That as long as he's commander in chief, there won't be an entirely reconstructed levee system."

Could it be that the decider is afraid that doing so will mean that he has to say the same thing to the wealthy who continue to build their mansions in areas that are also hurricane-prone?

Had the Outer Banks been hit the same way as Katrina, would it be in the same pickle as New Orleans two years after the fact?