IS IT JUST ME OR BAD LEADERSHIP

It's truly a shame what's happening with the fires in California. Many people's lives have been disrupted and we now learn it may have been started by arsonists and fanned by nature. The already bad housing and credit market will only compound the misery for some.

That said, watching cnn around the clock shows a massive, coordinated efficient effort to provide basic necessities to those affected, even down to providing entertainment for the kids to get them thru this tragedy. I never once heard the media refer to them as refugees. Not only the National Guard are supplementing efforts but active duty military. I remember when Florida had severe hurricanes, again the people were well cared for during the emergency and FEMA was throwing money at people whether they lost their homes or not.

So my question is - what happened in Louisiana during Katrina - an event that was predicted. The surprise was how quickly the levees devastated New Orleans but even that was known ahead of time, that they would never sustain a major hurricane. We all saw the bloated bodies floating down the street and people on rooftops begging for help, the thousands sequestered in the SuperDome without food, water or toilet facilities and the head of FEMA said he didn't know but got "you're doing a great job Brownie" from the president.

Maybe I'm being too cynical but the disparities appear blatant to me. Is the difference leadership in the different states, but what happened with the federal government's response? New Orleanians are scattered throughout the US or living in toxic trailers and there still is controversy about reconstruction, not to mention they hoards of people who either did not have insurance or did, but were not reimbursed thru loopholes. I've heard Californians interviewed in the last few days who've stated they had no insurance but I'm sure we'll never know 'the rest of the story.'