Happy Mardi Gras! And don't mind the mess.

Today in the big easy revelers are celebrating fat Tuesday as they have for years. Well, it's almost the same as it used to be. Just ignore the devastation blocks away from Bourbon Street, and it's just like Katrina never happened. Perhaps FEMA, perhaps the Department of Homeland Security, perhaps the administration would like to look at it that way. But the citizens of the Gulf Coast know different.

They know that when the partying is over, they'll have to go back to what's left of their homes (if anything). They'll have to wait patiently for the government to make good on all its promises. They'll have to slowly but surely put the pieces of their lives back together. Six months to the day since Katrina made landfall, and still the citizens of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities have to face the aftermath with little or no assistance from the government of the richest country in the world.

It's an outrage. It's a travesty. And in the end, it's more proof that we have an administration with little of no competence to deal with national security, natural disasters, and the general welfare of the people of this country. We've heard people in the administration admit to the failings in their initial response to Katrina. Great. That's admirable. But it's six months later. What are you doing NOW?

Where are the thousands of trailers that were promised for the residents? In Arkansas? Yeah, they'll do alot of good there. Apparently the administration is not only ethically challenged, it's geographically challenged as well. Where is the massive clean-up effort? Why six months later is very little being done to remove the debris and prepare for rebuilding? The time is over to mourn. The time is over to spin the story. The time is over to lay blame. It's time to do something.

Corruption. Criminal negligence. Dereliction of duty. Obstruction of justice. Take your pick. In my opinion, they all qualify as "high crimes and misdemeanors." It's high time for Bush & Co. to pay the piper.