Incompetence has been the word used the world over to describe the rescue from Hurricane Katrina. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency and its parent, the new, giant Department of Homeland Security, did not respond fast enough. Worse yet, President George W. Bush did not respond fast enough. This, the from the commander-in-chief who wages lightning wars?

The critics are right on one point. There was hesitation. That hesitation at times represented incompetence. But it was also something else: what we might call the Federalist Pause.