The home-team advantage?

In anticipation of Hurricane Rita, the White House has declared an emergency declaration for the entire state of Texas. Not just the areas nearest the gulf coast, but every last square inch of Texas, including 600-miles-away-from-the-storm Amarillo.

Okay, okay, After the fiasco that was Hurricane Katrina, I can't blame anyone in the Bush White House for being extra-sensitive about this and not wanting to take any chances (though my inner cynic wonders if this will open the doors for FEMA to funnel unnecessary relief funds to companies "fixing" undamaged communities, like what happened in Florida in 2004).

Of course, that does beg the question of why the Bush Administration wasn't so cautious last month, when Hurricane Katrina was on the horizon (both figuratively and literally). As Bob Harris reminds us, the pre-Katrina emergency declaration for Louisiana only covered parishes that were far inland, while ignoring high-risk areas -- like New Orleans -- that were actually on the front lines of the storm.

Is the difference due to excessive ass-covering now, or excessive stupidity from last month? My own theory is that -- as in Florida -- Bush's concern for the safety of Americans only gets raised when there's a Republican governor and prominent fund-raiser involved...