Katrina Coverage Bias

Here are two opinions that run counter to the standard "Bush (something that rhymes with 'died'), people died" cry coming from the left.

The first is a point that I've made in other posts and have been savaged for by commenters: the press isn't getting the story correct. Included in it is a link to an article that purports to show that FEMA's response to this crisis was no worse, and in some cases better, than in other crises--ones in which the President's head was not called for. Again I ask, what didn't happen here, at least in Louisiana, that did happen in Florida last year?

Quoting Ben Stein:

They used the storm and its attendant sorrows to continue their endless attack
on George W. Bush. Wildly inflated stories about the number of dead and
missing, totally made up old wives' tales of racism, breathless accounts of Bush
neglect that are utterly devoid of truth and of historical context -- this is
what the mainstream media gave us. The use of floating corpses, of horror
stories of plagues, the sad faces of refugees, the long-faced phony accusations
of intentional neglect and racism -- anything is grist for the media's endless
attempts to undermine the electorate's choice last November. It is sad,
but true that the media will use even the most heart breaking truths -- and then
add total inventions -- to try to weaken and then evict from office a man who
has done nothing wrong, but has instead turned himself inside out to help the
real victims.

The second is a firsthand account from an Instapundit reader.

Update: Here's a response to the President's speech--actually, to the responses of the victims/survivors who were interviewed by ABC News. Complete with video!