The Nation: The Disaster President

The spending squeeze that delayed the strengthening of the levees in New Orleans--despite repeated warnings from experts--reflects this Administration's skewed priorities: money for war and occupation in Iraq but not for protection of life at home. With one-third of the troops and half the equipment of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard in Iraq, Americans saw stark evidence of the domestic price of the war this President has chosen to fight on credit. And the chilling scenes of calamity visited on the most vulnerable exposed to the world America's reality: a country ever more divided by race and class.