LETTERS: Country well-served by critique of president's disaster response

Dear Editor,

The reason everybody cares about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina is that this is what could be happening here. This is a telling indication of the kind of response we could reasonably expect if we were to suffer a natural disaster or terrorist attack here: dismal failure at all levels of government.

Defending the president from any and all criticism, especially when it is appropriate and well-deserved, serves the country poorly. To fix what is broken, we must see clearly what is, not what the Republican propaganda machine wants us to believe.