most people on this side of the pond wonder how to reconcile the apalling lack of government (both local and federal) support with the claim that you are such 'an amazing and successful country'.
You can be successful because you are lucky - just don't confuse luck with skill...
What is the environmental impact on the Gulf Of Mexico from pumping millions of gallons of heavily polluted water into it (and does anyone care)?
People care, but what are the options? New Orleans is THE most vital port city for our heavy industries, agriculture and energy imports and exports. Since we are an major exporter of basic foodstuffs (grains, beans etc), the fate of New Orleans is of interest to much of the world. Hindsight is 20/20, and there's no question that political and budgetary maneuvering created a much larger disaster out of what would have been pretty bad anyway, but what's done is done, and it is in the
world's best interest that New Orleans is brought back to life as soon as possible. It may well be plain old arrogance that exacerbated this disaster - now let's see if we can learn from it and move on!