Make no mistake. Our national response to Hurricane Katrina has been a complete and utter failure. Even so - thank God - there is cause for hope.

Our government clearly failed to adequately plan for the storm before it came. Why wasn't there a public evacuation system for people who didn't have the means to leave on their own?

We failed to react quickly and effectively to the disaster's aftermath. Why in the name of mercy did it take days for food and water to be airlifted to the people stranded in the city? Just dismal.

We have failed as a people to recognize the depth of poverty that grips so many corners of America, particularly those corners that are black or brown. How could you watch CNN and not wonder if anyone cared if a few thousand black people died? If our brothers and sisters in need were pulled out of poverty and had a solid foothold on the success of our society, thousands more people would have lived last week. They would have had the means to leave the city and the city would have known how best to deal with them.

If you picked up a shotgun and started shooting, you have simply failed as a human being. I don't care about folks breaking into a few stores, but shooting and raping your fellow victims or the people trying to help you is just stupid.

The media has failed to give our people any sort of perspective on these kinds of disasters. After crying wolf over so many previous "storms of the century, is it any wonder the media was so widely ignored this time? Asking tough questions to hold accountable those responsible for or embarrassing national response only begins to atone for the media's contribution to the disaster.

Our president is a complete and shameful failure. He didn't end his vacation for days while Americans were dying in flooded streets. After getting back to work, his compassion has been tepid and his command of the government's response has been non-existent. He has been a complete and shameful failure.

Finally, our electorate has failed in its basic job to select competent leaders. We have allowed ourselves to be so frightened and divided that we have simply ignored urgent needs because they didn't involve funny-looking people blowing us up. It is our national disgrace.

In the face of all this, it is easy to have your spirit broken. But today, even though all the news is not good, we are seeing proof of Bill Clinton's famous axiom, "There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America." For the first time in days, I have some small reason for hope.

This morning, I flew to Seattle as planned to attend a music and arts festival. At 6:00 AM, the security lines at National were inexplicably huge. I was annoyed until I learned the local TSA was short staffed because they sent a team down to New Orleans to help. Finally, it seemed like someone, somewhere was actually trying to help.

During my layover in Phoenix, I learned that the National Guard had finally delivered food, water, and the promise of rescue to victims dying in the god-forsaken Convention Center. The delay is unforgivable and the situation is still dire, but finally, these suffering Americans were getting something...anything.

Finally, at the concerts tonight, I was struck by how nearly every musician publicly recognized New Orleans as a magical center of American music an culture. They all urged donations to the strategically placed Red Cross boxes throughout the festival grounds. The honest and heartfelt sorrow expressed allowed me to join my fellow countrymen in grieving. Sad, but inspiring.

Any community that can make so many people happy by brining us together to sing and dance - even 3,000 miles away - has a powerful, powerful spirit. The past week has been an awful, awful tragedy. In trying to make sense of such senselessness, I can only hope that we will learn from our catastrophic failure, try to fix the problems, and begin to heal as one nation. I can only hope.