I'm a proud Louisianian who is sick and tired of watching the media create and perpetuate complete and utter fallacies concerning the events of the last week. Read on and get the REAL story, the facts from someone who is here, and pass them along to your friends.

Okay, I'm tired of the media trying to cover for our Governoress, Kathleen "Babineaux-on-an-election-year" Blanco, a Democrat, by shoveling the blame onto George Bush.

If you're thinking, "Here we go, another Bush disciple. . ." you'd be wrong. The President has done several things I don't like but given the disasters he's faced during the last three years- 9/11, the Columbia, the northeast blackout, Afghanistan, Iraq, hurricanes in Florida and now the mess on the Gulf Coast- we could all be standing in soup lines rather than enjoying a 4.9% unemployment rate. That didn't happen by accident. The man has to be doing something right.

Besides, I'm a Goldwater disciple.

You may have seen our Governoress on TV of late. She'd be the snivelling whiner with the bassett hound eyes and quivering lip. Not exactly Churchill during The Blitz or Giuliani during the 9/11 crisis. Just underwhelming, ineffective, robotic mumbling.

Having lived in Louisiana 10 years now, I can assure you that our State Government has known the levee/flood wall situation in New Orleans as well as coastal erosion has been a problem for decades. Hell, you don't need a ouija board to figure that one out. Plenty of money from the Federal Government, FEMA, Department of Homeland Security and a handful of other organizations was doled out to do something about it.

As usual, committees and focus groups were appointed, studies were carried out, recommendations and projections were made, cost estimates were submitted, all the usual government thumb twiddling. However, nothing ever got done. Big suprise, huh? So, they just crossed their fingers and hoped like hell the "Big One" didn't show up on their watch and that no one would ever ask just what the hell happened to all the money that had been dedicated to fixing the problem.

Just how the hell was George Bush supposed to know there was a weak spot in the 17th Street Canal levee? He's either in D. C. or over in Crawford and I don't know anyone who can see that far. The State should've known and done something about it. They had been given the resources to do just that and they failed.

Blanco's other failure was the complete and utter lack of planning along with the mismanagement of the National Guard. Instead of directing them to secure the city, she ordered them to carry out search and rescue operations. Apparently, the Governoress has never heard of Mogadishu. After rescue efforts collapsed due to thugs shooting at the rescuers the Governoress, after a couple of days of consulting and considering, finally told the Guard to secure the city.

Changing a military organization's mission ain't exactly like changing your socks. It takes time to switch gears and they shouldn't be faulted for a damn thing. These guys didn't expect to be going into combat. Again.

Which brings me to my last point and it's a dicey one. I hope like hell that the cities, including my own, don't regret that we've opened our hearts and wallets to help the survivors. I'm not lumping them in with the good people who actually need help but let's face it, the same thugs who have been shooting at authorities and looting in New Orleans are currently hopping off the bus in Houston and other Texas cities. They didn't just vanish like a fart in the breeze. We've thrown open our doors, don't make us wish we'd deadbolted them instead.

And that's that ya'll.