Political patronage crippled FEMA, but Post story does not specifically delve into the qualifications of that dope in Louisiana who failed to get food and water to the folks in the super dome and the convetion center, and managed to leave thousands of others waiting for days on the freeway overpasses.

Leaders Lacking Disaster Experience: "Five of eight top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials came to their posts with virtually no experience in handling disasters and now lead an agency whose ranks of seasoned crisis managers have thinned dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
FEMA's top three leaders -- Director Michael D. Brown, Chief of Staff Patrick J. Rhode and Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks D. Altshuler -- arrived with ties to President Bush's 2000 campaign or to the White House advance operation, according to the agency. Two other senior operational jobs are filled by a former Republican lieutenant governor of Nebraska and a U.S. Chamber of Commerce official who was once a political operative."