By last Thursday, President Bush had displayed his leadership in action by quickly flying to the scene to stage some handshakes, pose for photos and reassure the good people of California about their situation by eating lunch with a few firefighters.

“We’re not going to forget you in Washington, D.C. ... to the extent that the federal government can help you, we want to do so,” Bush said at his “I’m here for you – look, I’m even standing on rubble!” speech.

FEMA officials still remember the public outrage at their terrible response in Louisiana. While it’s great they’re doing things quicker and more efficiently this time around, such a phenomenon is no reason for surprise. FEMA, like every other disaster relief agency out there, should learn from every disaster they handle and continuous improvement should be expected, not be a reason for lavish praise from locals and the media alike. Plus, they couldn’t really have done any worse.

“It’s phenomenally better,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said of the difference in federal response in California. “ ... we have been planning and preparing and training together for the last 2.5 years.” Sure, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is doing a better job in San Diego than in New Orleans, but they deserve little recognition compared to the phenomenal, timely response from state forces. Even the people of California have sent praise to the national response, but it’s much less stressful to wait in the acupuncture line than it is to wait in the bread line.

Many of the areas struck by fire last week were thankfully only sparsely populated, while hurricane winds and floods hit a metropolis city with only one direction out. And let’s not forget that it’s much easier to evacuate an area in a four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle than it is to leave on a federally funded bus, especially when that bus also is underwater. And the state response? Again, while the firefighters and police officers did an exemplary job during the wildfires, it’s much easier to mobilize forces when those forces aren’t fighting for their own lives.

While certainly not everyone who lost their homes in Southern California is wealthy or capable of rebuilding, fire is a standard part of homeowner’s insurance — flooding is not. Also, California requires insurance companies to pay for a homeowner’s temporary living expenses. Insurance companies and FEMA also had a much lighter burden to carry this time around, since so far about 2,000 houses have been destroyed this week in California, compared to about 300,000 destroyed by flooding in Louisiana.

The wildfires in California were tragic disasters in their own right, and it will be years before the area is completely healed. However, it is unfair to categorize this as a “lesser tragedy” compared to a hurricane two years ago, and it’s irresponsible to praise the federal government for a job well done when such successes should be expected.