Hurricane Katrina swept away a lot more than much of the gulf coast. It swept away a lot of the facades, charades, and masquerades that the left have been hiding under.
As the media continues to expose the left's criticism of the handling of Hurricane Katrina, it becomes patently clear what the left are demanding: they are demanding dictatorship, and nothing less.
Of course, the right's not entirely without blame on this: years ago, they should have mounted a PR campaign exposing the left's agenda for what it is. When education became federalized, causing a minor earthquake in Arlington, Virginia as many of our early leaders began rolling in their graves, the Republican response could have, and should have been, that such legislation was outside the authority given the president of the United States.
Our government was meant to be stronger at the state and local levels than at the federal levels for several valid, well reasoned purposes. You see, a federal government in a nation of nearly 300 million people simply cannot govern in the best interests of all 300 million without infringing on the interests of others. A Road Construction bill in Baltimore that uses federal funds potentially taps funds that could have been used for an irrigation project in Phoenix. A Farm Subsidy that benefits Iowa corn farmers ignores residents of the Mississippi flood plain who would have preferred to see the money used for flood control within their district.
But more important, individual rights and liberties are sacrificed because of the sheer magnitude of numbers. In our federal government, you constitute 1/300 millionth of the population. In a state government, you become a larger but still insignificant fraction. At the county and local levels your significance increases, and, since government response is based on your significance in the "big picture", you're more likely to get a response.
Going beyond that, let's look at what the left demanded. They DEMANDED that Bush federalize the Louisiana National Guard, a move that, while not without precedent, is a rarely used power. They DEMANDED that Bush strip Louisiana governor Blanco of her power and bring in federal troops despite her insistence that they weren't needed. They DEMANDED that he appropriate money and human resources that were beyond his consitutional authority to appropriate. If he had done all that they asked, it almost certainly would have been grounds for impeachment due to his abuse of power.
But perhaps that was their goal all along.