The people of New Orleans probably would like to know when their city will again become the jewel of the Mississippi delta.

The people of this nation probably would like to know that their government can fulfill one of its duties and successfully respond to disasters.

So former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown's remarks to a Senate committee last weekend that he "probably" spoke to someone in the Bush administration about the nightmarish situation along the Gulf Coast are worrisome.

Brown's testimony was so staggeringly bothersome because it highlighted the White House and FEMA's inept response. Brown testified that rather than notify his superior, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, he preferred to call upon the White House for assistance, noting that disaster relief had become the "stepchild" within the Department of Homeland Security because terrorism has overshadowed it.

Outwardly it seems like good policy that the FEMA director should carry enough heft to compel the White House to act, but upon closer scrutiny, Brown's testimony brings some glaring internal problems to light -- namely the communications breakdown within the bureaucracy that contributed in large part to the government's failure.

Now citizens of New Orleans can only sit back and watch as blame is volleyed back and forth among White House and DHS officials, Brown, and the state and local governments. This in itself is another national tragedy. The purpose of Brown's testifying before the Senate committee was to prevent another debacle like the one visited upon the people of the Gulf Coast. We certainly hope that a slipup of that magnitude occurs again, but...

Citizens probably should not hold their breath.