no exit

That night, Mr. Brown said, he called Mr. Chertoff and the White House again in desperation. "Guys, this is bigger than what we can handle," he told them, he said. "This is bigger than what FEMA can do. I am asking for help."

These words, pleading the excuse of urgency, can be found on Michael Brown's winding sheet. He'll likely not be heard from again.

I would direct the gentle reader's attention to This American Life's show from last week. In the final 8 minutes or so of the program (the file is not broken down into segments), there's a report from the FEMA trailer park that was thrown together in Punta Gorda, FL, next to the county jail, in hasty response to Hurricane Charley.

A year later the trailers are still there, the people are there, FEMA is there, and the absence of an exit strategy alas, is still there.