Now, I have been concerned, and critical, about aspects of the response to Hurricane Katrina.

However, I would like to present an open message to any who make claims like “Americans don’t care” (to paraphrase, although not by much, this piece from WaPo, not to mention people like Kayne West) or anyone who characterizes the overall response as a failure. The latter position is especially egregious, for while one can find any number of specific weaknesses in the response, it is impossible to characterize the overall response as a failure in any way.

Examples of caring are not hard to find: I spoke to my friend who has been involved in flying aid directly to small towns in Mississippi, and he told me that he and his colleagues have made at least 27 flights since the end of last week. Further, that he has encountered people stopping off at the Montgomery airport from a number of states (the only specific locale that sticks in my mind is Chicago) on their way to the disaster zone with supplies.

We know that there are thousands of volunteers on the ground, that millions of dollars have been given and that hundreds of thousands of people are being housed around the country.

And regardless of the imperfections that are present (welcome to reality) there are thousands of state, local and federal workers in these areas trying to alleviate the effects of the most devastating storm to his the United States in recorded history. Further, billions of tax dollars have been allocated to the relief and rebuilding with more to come.

So, please: criticize the evacuation plans, note the failings of FEMA, question the leadership of Nagin, Blanco, Brown and Bush—that’s all fair game; but don’t tell me that Americans don’t care, and don’t tell me that the members of government at all levels don’t care. Such pronouncements are as foolish as they are wrong.

Further, to those who wish to be absolute critics, try to get some perspective on this disaster. Have we been able to respond to the disasters as though it was an episode of Star Trek in which Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway/Archer (pick your “generation”) is able to cook up a solution to a problem of global proportions in 45 minutes via the evocation of technobabble? Sadly, no.

But, are we ultimately doing the best we can in the face of an almost incomprehensible natural disaster?

Yes, I think we are.

I will note that this disaster does two things that should give both extreme ends of the political perspective something to chew on. First, this disaster underscores the human need for government. Government, for all its imperfections, is a good. Second, government cannot do everything, even if one spends gigantic sums of money. Government is not, for all is importance, omnipotent.

h/t: OTB for the WaPo piece. James also correctly notes that is a highly questionable proposition that the US response (warts and all) to this event could in any way be matched by any other country on the globe.

Update: Some minor corrections have been made after the initial posting, and one significant one: the completing of a sentence that I left hanging and forgot, initially, to return to.