I caught this clip on Democracy Now!'s Monday show. The clip was from the Sunday Meet the Press hosted by Tim Russert. For some reason, it was the worst thing I had seen during this entire howling horror that has been the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I've seen the dead bodies. I've seen the people still being rescued. I've seen the shocked and tattered refugees. I've seen the dogs being left behind on rooftops because there's only room for humans in the boats. I've seen the city of my childhood submerged and close family members alive but displaced. Yet for some reason, the naked emotion on Broussard's face and in his voice twisted a knife in me. And I've seen a lot of naked emotion in past days on the faces of people from NOLA.

AARON BROUSSARD: Three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis. But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she's done and all her leadership. She sent in the National Guard. I just repaired a breach on my side of the 17th Street canal that the secretary didn't foresee, a 300-foot breach. I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National Guard and local parish workers and levee board people. It took us two and a half days working 24/7. I just closed it.

TIM RUSSERT: All right.

AARON BROUSSARD: I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees...

TIM RUSSERT: All right.

AARON BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses. And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.

TIM RUSSERT: Mr. President --

AARON BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.

TIM RUSSERT: Just take a pause, Mr. President.

AMY GOODMAN: Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard. Speaking on "Meet The Press" yesterday.