From Newsweek: an account of the Administration's internal response to Katrina. Beyond politicking, beyond opinion, beyond viewpoint, this is deeply and profoundly unsettling. Having a President who trusts his gut is not a bad thing, in and of itself. We just need to remember what happens when his gut is wrong.

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less "situational awareness," as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

The article goes on to document incompetence and oversight at all levels -- local, regional, and national -- but the bit above summarizes what I find chilling.