The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s idiotic attitude.

Also on Meet the Press, the head of Jefferson Parish (which includes part of metropolitan New Orleans), Aaron Broussard, broke down and wept on national TV. A very impressive moment that would actually make anyone uneasy. What he said (whose transcript is available here) was quite revealing though:

We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA — we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday — yesterday — FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice.