Summer Is Over For America

I rarely find myself agreeing with Pat Buchanan, but this time he gets it right.

In New Orleans, those who relied on government -- the New Orleans police, the mayor, Gov. Blanco, FEMA -- suffered most. Those who relied on themselves for food, water and safety from marauding mobs of rapists and looters, with guns in their homes, fared best. Ultimately, U.S. and Guard troops had to provide the security before government agencies and volunteers could do their rescue work.

But hour-by-hour coverage of the damage done by Katrina to an area of the South as large as Britain must bring home the truth: We are a self-indulgent nation and an overextended empire.