This is a fascinating meme and I'll tell you why. 

    The original meme pushed by the media after things 
    started to break down in New Orleans was that FEMA, and 
    by extension the Bush administration, were supposed to be 
    first responders, and therefore they were responsible for 
    every mistake that was made.

    Unfortunately, this meme was out there for almost a week 
    because most conservatives, driven by a sense of decency, 
    didn't want to start pointing fingers while people were 
    still being rescued. 

    However, conservatives eventually started speaking up and 
    pointed out that the locals, not FEMA, were supposed to 
    be the first responders. Then, one screw-up after another 
    that had absolutely nothing to do with FEMA were 
    revealed. Nagin didn't follow the city's evacuation plan. 
    He didn't use city buses to get people out of New 
    Orleans. The state blocked the Red Cross from coming in 
    to feed the people at the Superdome. Blanco was slow to 
    call out the National Guard, etc., etc., etc.

    At that point, the media had a dilemma to deal with. 

    They had already spent a solid week screaming to everyone 
    who'd listen that this whole mess was Bush and FEMA's 
    fault and yet, as the days went on, it became 
    increasingly obvious that Blanco and Nagin were the root 
    of the problems in New Orleans. 

    Which brings us to where we are today. 

    If the liberal MSM were to correct itself at this point, 
    it would not only be embarrassing, it would require 
    shifting the "finger of blame" from the hated Bush 
    administration to two Democrats. Of course, that would 
    never do.

    So, what the MSM has done instead is shift the goalposts 
    and blame the Bush administration for not realizing 
    Blanco and Nagin were inept overwhelmed sooner. This is a 
    perversely brilliant tactic, because no matter what 
    happens, the Bush Administration is always at fault. Did 
    FEMA screw something up that was actually their 
    responsibility? Then FEMA gets the blame. Did Blanco or 
    Nagin screw something up? Then FEMA gets the blame for 
    that, too, because they should have immediately realized 
    that Blanco and Nagin didn't know what they were doing. 

    That sort of, "d*mned if you do, d*mned if you don't," 
    coverage for the Bush administration is typical of how 
    the MSM has handled Katrina's aftermath. For example...

    Bush was too slow to fly over to New Orleans? That means 
    he's a big jerk who doesn't care! Bush flies over New 
    Orleans? What good is a fly-over? He may as well have 
    just watched it on TV. Bush actually goes to New Orleans 
    and talks to people on the ground? Oh, he's just looking 
    to get some good publicity photos!

    It's as if the MSM's hurricane coverage started out with 
    a premise of "How can we use Katrina to stick it to 
    Bush?" and then they worked from there. You know, in 
    retrospect, even if they didn't start out with that 
    premise, would the mainstream media coverage have been 
    significantly different if they had? The honest answer to 
    that question is "no"...