Just heard about Brown's removal from management of Katrina response. If it's not the first step toward his firing, Bush will have even more to answer for. Brown won't have the decency to resign voluntarily; up until this moment, his public statements indicated complete obliviousness to the damage he's done, and absolutely no intention to leave: "I'm not going anywhere!".
What I said about the principle that "the buck stops here" is my basic position on the issue. No matter who gets thrown to the wolves, or whatever blame can be pushed on to state and local officials, I cannot fail to hold Bush responsible for the performance of his duties as President.
The formation of the Department of Homeland Security was a promise to the American people that we'd be safer if we trusted to the Bush Administration to protect America. The response to Katrina raises serious doubts about the competency of DHS to respond to terrorist attacks as well as natural disasters.
Bush swore an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States. As head of our government, it is his responsibility above all to execute the Constitution's fundamental mission statement:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Federal government's response to this disaster fails to honor its basic mission in our system of government. The domestic situation is anything but tranquil, we have not been defended, our welfare has suffered terribly, and we are not secure to enjoy the blessings of the American way of life.
You can continue to argue that technicalities exonerate Bush, but I won't stop arguing on the side of principle.