This is not the time for political attacks. It is a time to help people who need help.

But that doesn't mean some things aren't obvious. Any relief expert will tell you that the first 72 hours after a disaster are the most important. As of Thursday morning--72 hours after Katrina rolled through Louisiana and Mississippi--tens of thousands of people remained trapped in New Orleans.

Bush Administration officials say the death toll will be in the thousands. Many of those perished as the storm wailed and the flood waters rose. But a large number of people, a number which may well edge into the thousands, died (and will die in the coming days) because they weren't reached in time.

This much is obvious: The experiment to move FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security was an utter failure. Instead of moving swiftly to get trucks and buses into the New Orleans area, where the great majority of those in need were trapped, FEMA officials argued with their bosses at Homeland Security and local officials. When they didn't get what they wanted from the locals, they did things like turn back water trucks for the refugees and cut off emergency communications to the city government.

The question isn't who should be fired. It's who should be going to jail.

If it's true that the Prez and his pals didn't have any idea that the levees around New Orleans could fail, then they're either stupid or they simply weren't paying attention. Their own studies--not to mention a well-publicized series of programs and articles in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, New York Times and National Public Radio that were published and aired three years ago--are quite clear on the subject: A category 4 or 5 hurricane would devastate New Orleans. In fact, a government study published in the last two years estimated at least 60,000 deaths if a category 5 hurricane were to make a direct hit on the city.

In fact, the only thing the Prez and his pals have done well is blame everyone except themselves for the problems in the relief effort.

Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week," Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu said , "If one person criticizes them [local officials] or says one more thing--including the president of the United States--he will hear from me. One more word about it after this show airs and I might likely have to punch him. Literally."

It's not every day a U.S. senator commits a felony by threatening the president on national television. But she had good reason. Her state, and the largest city in her state, were literally sinking while political appointees in the federal government played petty games.

I'm not going to argue about possible motives for the government's failure in the wake of Katrina. Could it be racism or payback for folks who happen to belong to another political party? I guess, but that assumes the Prez and his pals know what they're doing.

I don't think they do.

Incompetence has been a hallmark of this Bush Administration. If not for the (admittedly necessary) strongman tactics of Rudy Giuliani, 9/11 would have been a massive disaster for the Prez. The war in Afghanistan reduced an inconsequential, but somewhat functioning, country to one ruled by warlords. The war in Iraq is merely the greatest foreign policy failure since Vietnam. The vaunted tax cuts have been largely ineffectual, unless you count the spectacular budget deficits. No Child Left Behind has brought "teach to the test" to every classroom in America and, in addition, foisted one of the largest unfunded mandates ever upon the states.

Never mind the ideological issues many of us have with some or all of these things. When you get right down to it, the real question is, "Do they work?"

No, they don't.

Eventually, New Orleans will be rebuilt, which is more than can be said for many of the smaller and less-known communities in southern Louisiana and Mississippi. The people will return, Mardi Gras will go on and life will become somewhat normal again. By and large, even incompetent people in government can get things sorta right if they spend enough money. But our government failed the people of New Orleans last week, and nothing we do as a nation can ever make up for the lives lost due to official incompetence.

Let's just hope there isn't a run on Presidential Medals of Freedom after all is said and done with Katrina, as there was in the post-9/11 days. The Prez has already cheapened those trinkets almost beyond repair. To hand them over to people whose criminal negligence caused the deaths of untold American citizens would be unpardonable.

Yes, we need to do all we can to help. But we also need to keep an eye on what went wrong. The Prez promised that we would be prepared for whatever disaster might strike after 9/11. He was wrong.

As usual.

Jon Worley would trade all of his vitriol to save the life of one person--even the Prez.