The Lousiana oil rig failure...

[Aramike]

Well absolutely, and that's exactly my point: these aren't equivalent situations, they don't require equivalent reactions. New Orleans warranted immediate, national concern given the scope and nature of the disaster.

No one is saying that they do. What is being said that, should the Bush Administration have had a similar lack of urgency in response, they would have been hammered for it.

I happen to agree with that assessment.