I would suggest that the post 911 response to shore up US homeland security harmed much more then it helped. That will surely come clear over the next many months. So will the answer be more or less expansion of federal government power?

New Orleans may be able to stage events such as Mardi Gras and Jazzfest, and provide parking, crowd control and adequate toilets for millions of visitors, but its hurricane plan was more rudimentary:

"Get people to higher ground and have the feds and the state airlift supplies to them - that was the plan, man." Mayor Ray Nagin said in an interview yesterday.

Steve