The president called North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad on his cell phone during
a news conference in Bismarck on flooding problems there and in Fargo. "If
there's anything more that we can do, we will do it," Obama said after
Conrad held the phone up to a microphone. "

My daughter was at that news confernce and her stories were used by
the ND congressional delegation to make story boards for a request to
Obama for disaster aid, which they got immediately.
The federal aid has been tremendous, including the use of 400 lbs of
C4 to blow an ice dam in Bismarck, saving further flooding. The
locals thought they would need twice as much, but the fed experience
helped. It has been a well-reasoned and porportionate response, with
a combination of federal/state team management and volunteer work.
Just how these things should work. Where the locals didn't have the
materials the fed did. One of the things the fed responders brought
in was an "instant barrier" that the military uses to make walls and
bunkers. Fill it with sand and it becomes a great way to hold back
flood waters, much quicker than filling sandbags by hand (you can use
skip loaders to install this wall).
So, you ask, where's Obama? Right where he should be. Standing back
and sending the professionals in to do what they're supposed to do.
In the military, we call this type of information "ground truth." Its
when you have eyes on target that can tell you the real story so you
can sort the words of those with an agenda from what is really
happening.
Shack
Frank Reid