President Bush claimed earlier this month that “the American people can be rest assured this administration understands the task, and understands the challenges, and understands our obligation to protect you, to protect the American people.”

The administration’s failed response to Katrina proved this to be false. In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the White House did not appreciate the gravity of the situation, did not show leadership in a crisis, and demonstrated how incompetent they would handle future emergencies unless dramatic changes are made.

Congressional investigations into Katrina are bringing to light how incapable the White House is. From today’s New York Times:

The White House was beset by the “fog of war” in the crucial days immediately after Hurricane Katrina, leaving it unable to respond properly to the unfolding catastrophe, House investigators said Friday after getting the most detailed briefing yet on how President Bush’s staff had handled the events. ["¦]

“We are left with a picture of a White House that was plagued by the fog of war,” said David Marin, the Republican staff director to the House committee investigating the government’s response to the hurricane. “The committee is likely to find a disturbing inability by the White House to de-conflict and analyze information “” and that had consequences.”

But even now, the White House is stonewalling the investigation with claims of executive privilege. The stonewalling means “it will be hard” for investigators “to pinpoint where failures occurred within the White House.”

We may never know where things went wrong before the next crisis hits.

Hats off to the Washington Post for its editorial yesterday on the White House’s politicization of the NSA warrantless wiretapping story. The silence of editorial boards since Karl Rove decided to make a sensitive national security program the subject of a national campaign has been deafening.

But there’s an important question that hasn’t been asked: Has Karl Rove been briefed about this sensitive program?

If Rove has been briefed about it then the White House has more questions to answer. Why does someone who is currently under investigation for leaking sensitive information have access to a program so sensitive that the President is refusing to consider a change in the law because doing so would “tell the enemy what we’re doing“? Why was Rove breifed and not elected members of Congress that serve on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees?

If Rove has not been briefed on the program – and there is no reason why he should have been briefed – then you have to wonder: why is he urging people to spend the next 11 months campaigning about a program about which he knows nothing other than what has been in the press? (Right-wing unity is legendary, of course, but I wonder if they will sign up for a campaign about a program that the President won’t even tell them about.)

These are questions that the White House will be very reluctant to address. But that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t ask.

– Denis McDonough