The Daily Reckoning:

A friend writes from New Orleans...

"... one of the greatest tragedies in the history of our nation has been visited on my little corner of the world."

Don't let the shrieking headlines fool you - the vast, vast majority of the people being affected by this disaster are good-hearted, hard-working people. The salt of the earth, as they say. A small number of hoodlums have tarnished the reputation of the greater, better whole, and this has only been made possible by the treasonous inaction, utter disregard and disdain of the federal authorities.

"Imagine if you spent a harrowing day or two trapped in an attic or, if you were lucky, baking on your roof, in 95 degree heat and 95% humidity. And this after losing everything you owned. Now you're corralled with hundreds of others on a hot street, and told to wait because buses, boats, food and water were on the way. One day passes. Then another. And nothing comes.

"In the meantime, people are literally dying around you. Bodies are floating by. Your children's cries are growing more faint. And, somewhere beyond your little hell, politicians are elbowing each other for face time in front of the cameras, figuratively standing on the bodies of your friends and loved ones to further their petty ambitions."