The below-linked blog roundup has a bunch of interesting tidbits in it from the Sunday news show circuit.  Don’t miss the discussions of Mukasey and Iran.  But I’m commenting because I was perusing all the different sections when I hit this one and stopped cold:

Blog - Patrick O’Connor - Politico.com

News flash: The federal, state and local governments responded better to wildfires in California than the debacle that unfolded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. All right, so maybe that’s not big news, but members of the California delegation were much heavier on the praise than the criticism during an interview with ABC’s “This Week.” “I think things went as well as could be expected,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

Let me be quite honest with you: I’ve watched some of the coverage of the wildfires and was almost immediately bored of the whole affair.  I know, that doesn’t seem very empathetic of me.  But as I watched, I was almost completely devoid of any particular concern, for all that the media spent covering it like I should.  I am genuinely sorry that people lost their homes: there’s no loss quite as violating as such a loss.  But then, they did build in the middle of an area known for it’s wildfires, didn’t they?

Now, we’re expected to be impressed somehow with the fact that California acted quicker and more effectively than Louisiana did. . . ?  That a state with a 1.5 trillion dollar economy, saving the lives and properties of millionaires such as Kelsey Grammar and Mel Gibson, outperformed a state with a 140 billion dollar economy attempting to save. . .  well, can you name anyone affected by Katrina?  Really affected?

In fact, we would never have expected anything else, and that’s the whole point.  There’s nothing worth being particularly impressed by in California, it’s just a rich state doing what rich states can afford to do.  There’s nothing shocking when a disaster that affects People Magazine personalities turns out to have been handled expeditiously.  And whatever was meant by the gesture, Bush hastening to show up for a tour with the Governator, filled with looks of concern, just adds icing to the cake.

Technorati Tags: California, Wildfires, Katrina, Disaster, FEMA