Notice the political punch-line in the last sentence (of the quote)

Water Lifts Its Awful Veil on Landscape of Destruction.

It is unclear whether the neighborhood and others like it will ever house people again, whether they can ever be properly protected by a system of walls and levees and pumps that failed so spectacularly three weeks ago. Like so much of New Orleans, the Ninth Ward is unnatural. Its houses were erected over marsh stiffened by landfill.

"Can the Ninth Ward be protected - or can it ever be protected - by the levee system?" asked Lionel C. McIntyre, an associate professor in Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation who grew up in New Orleans....

Dr. Colten said the city should not attempt to rebuild in the most vulnerable areas. "The ideal use of those lowest areas would allow them to serve as flood-retention basins, so when the next flood comes, the water can collect in places where it won't harm people and property," he said. "We need to think very carefully about helping people relocate from those areas, transplant themselves and their communities into new locales that are less vulnerable."

Many others, including local politicians and neighborhood leaders, strongly disagree and have vowed to restart a community here.

And to whom will an "apres-moi-le deluge" President who is mindless of the future (except insofar as it might view him as a "heroic leader") pay most attention? Irony of ironies it will be "the local community."  Can't he ever get anything correct? Has he perfect pitch imperfectly tuned? Oh for a measured conservative not constantly trying-on costumes.