One thing I strive to do in this blog is to not only complain about current events, but also inform my readers. I recently had a conversation with my father concerning how many Americans believe the federal government failed to immediately go into New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, which gave me the idea for this blog. I am sure there are many out there who think the President failed in his duties, but this is simply not true. Now hold on to your seats, because I am about to turn someone's world upside-down by explaining something that they may have never been told or heard before.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 was designed to limit the President's power to send in federal troops to stop lawlessness without first gaining the consent of the state. The goal of the act is to place the first respondent power to stop lawlessness on the state and city governments. This was done to protect the state's rights and keep the federal government from gaining too much control over the states. Now, it is clearly documented that the President wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act, but Governor Blanco initially refused it. Thus, allowing the situation to degenerate into chaos, and only when the situation was completely out-of-hand did Governor Blanco conveniently "hand off" the situation to the President to solve and take the blame. However, in 2006 Congress changed this act to give the President broader powers to respond.

The Insurrection Act was changed in September of 2006 to give the President broader powers to send in federal troops when he determines that local authorities are incapable of maintaining order.Surprised? Don't be because it is yet another failure of the media to tell the whole story. This act was clearly changed to protect citizens from the gross incompetency of leaders like Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin, as they were clearly incapable of handling the situation created by the hurricane. But were these the only things tying the President's hands? No, there was also the Posse Comitatus Act.

Does Posse Comitatus make anyone think of the posses from the old west days? If not, it should. Everyone can recall a western movie where the local sheriff calls up the "posse" of citizens in the local community to hunt down the wrongdoers. The local sheriff was exercising Posse Comitatus by being the first responder in maintaining law and order. Thus, the term "posse" came into existence. Many states still have laws on the books that allow the local sheriff to utilize Posse Comitatus "posses" as a means of hunting down wrongdoers or maintaining law and order, but the act is rarely used.

On June 18, 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act was mainly devised to prevent federal troops from supervising the election in southern states. However, its broader scope prevents federal troops from acting in a law enforcement capacity without the direct consent of Congress. As lawmakers learned after the Civil War (1861-1865), it was not the best of ideas to let the military enforce law because many people received a crack to the head or face from rifle buttstockes. Therefore, the PosseComitatus Act of 1878 was passed into law by the Congress.

One thing you will not hear mentioned by the Congress or the media is that under the Posse Comitatus Act, the Congress could have granted the President the authority to go into New Orleans without the consent of the governor in order to maintain order, but this did not happen. Why did this not happen? No one knows for sure, and the Congress isn't saying. However, the Bush Administration has also done a terrible job of communicating with the American people. Especially in matters that would have defended the administration's stance on such issues, which leaves ignorant Americans no other choice but to believe what the media is saying.

It should now be clear why the President did not just simply go into New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He couldn't under current law! But why didn't the media and Congress explain this to the American people? Was it politics or ignorance? Perhaps both, but either way the American people should have known better and should have been able to see through the "smoke and mirrors". That is assuming they know their history and their laws. And for those of you who will say that the President should have just gone in anyway, I kindly refer you to February's article titled "Rule by Law vs. Rule by Majority".