Today's episode of Democracy Now! featured a short investigative piece revealing the ongoing cronyism, secrecy, and irresponsibility in Katrina recovery plans. The full context was not provided, so there may be more to the story, but the documentary raised alarming questions that suggest the Bush pattern of incompetent, unaccountable leadership has remained comfortably in place (despite a better FEMA head) even in the area of probably the president's most avoidable large-scale failure. Alas, I would not be surprised, at this point, if this pattern has been perpetuated here.

More broadly, the anniversary provides much-needed coverage of the undeniable, ongoing failures of FEMA adequately to support the transition to normalcy of those affected by the storm. But this story, despite the reportorial and analytical difficulties raised by the diaspora of Gulf Coast residents, really needs year-round coverage, because the unaddressed need is so massive and the mechanisms to meet it are so underdeveloped to date.