It’s a tale of two storms, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. The two storms are similar in devastation; however, in terms of media coverage, response and government assistance they are anything but.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. Ray Nagin , the mayor of New Orleans, ignored evacuation warnings and gave the federal government false information, resulting in emergency vehicles and responders being left outside of the area that needed help. Evacuation buses went unused as the levees broke, flooding the buses and surrounding areas making it impossible to evacuate. President George W. Bush took the heat for the devastation that ensued, as well as the deaths that were a direct result of the destructive hurricane.

The media, as well as the left-wing progressives, blamed President Bush for the hurricane. They claimed that President Bush did not respond quickly enough.

“I’m not telling you that President Bush was a racist or what have you. But I think race and class and politics played in just about every aspect of this disaster,” Nagin told Matt Lauer.

Kanye West, a rap musician told a live audience that, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Rapper Jay-Z defended West’s comment on the Howard Stern Show.

“It was bad timing, but it was absolutely an honest emotion,” Jay-Z stated. “We all felt like that. We didn’t feel like Katrina was a natural disaster; we felt like it was an attack on black people. All you saw was black people on the roof with ‘help’ signs.”

Fast forward to Oct. 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy hits the tri-state area causing wide-spread damage, perhaps more severe than Katrina, and yet no one criticizes Obama. Instead, polling data, as well as the media, felt that Obama responded to Hurricane Sandy in a timely manner, which showed great leadership. Many have stated that his response was a deciding factor in his re-election.

MSNBC Chris Matthews went as far as to say, “I’m so glad we had that storm last week. ‘Cause I think the storm was one of those things. No. Politically, I should say. Not in terms of hurting people. The storm brought in possibilities for good politics.”

It made for a good photo-op for Obama. Walking arm in arm with Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, Obama surveyed the damage while being photographed. Shortly after, Obama was back on the campaign trail as if everything was under control.

From the time that Hurricane Sandy made landfall, to the election on Nov. 6, the mainstream media, the Obama administration and the left-wing progressives used the storm to their political advantage. Every chance that they had to promote Obama, they did by linking the news of the hurricane’s devastation to Obama’s impeccable leadership ability.

Now that Obama has been re-elected, there is no need to cover stories regarding the storms that wreaked havoc on the Eastern sea coast. The Obama campaign was able to keep the public from seeing the real effects of this storm, as well as the lack of leadership, compassion and empathy toward fellow citizens.

FEMA was praised for their work with storm victims under Obama’s directions. However, when FEMA finally arrived, they had run out of everything including bottled water. People needing assistance were told that they needed to wait until the weekend for FEMA to replenish and restock. To add insult to injury, the second storm, which packed high winds and snow, added to the destruction. Those who needed help were directed to FEMA stations that were set up around the area. Unfortunately, FEMA offices were closed due to bad weather.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army were just as lacking in assistance as the government was. Borough President James Molinaro called the Red Cross an “absolute disgrace.” Millions of dollars are collected to be used during disasters and yet there was no help on Staten Island, where it was badly needed.

With the massive power outages, many were left in the dark and there are still more waiting for power to be restored. Not only is there a lack of heat, but also many of the buildings have over 15 floors and no electricity, thus preventing elevators from running. Many disabled people were left stranded in their apartments with no food, water, heat, utilities and no means to get out on their own.

Another major area of concern to those trying to salvage something from their lives prior to the storms is the darkness and what it brings with it. Looting and violent crimes have been on the rise since the storm knocked out the power.

Prior to the storm, Twitter was ablaze with those who were organizing mobs to steal anything and everything. Local gangs, as well as those from outside the area, had taken to lifting televisions, jewelry, sneakers and so on. Many of the items stolen during the blackouts were put on sale on Craigslist. People who have lived in these cities and districts have formed neighborhood groups, gathering anything they can find as a weapon just to protect themselves from the thugs invading their neighborhoods.

The looting and the increase in violence is directly due to the entitlement mentality. There are those in our society that believe they should be able to take whatever they want without consequences. There is a real lack of respect, values and morals in our country. The media remains silent to the devastation and real neglect of our own citizens. They had no problem blaming Bush for Katrina, and yet no one holds Obama accountable.

President Obama is giving the country the old “sleight of hand trick.” While the press is covering the sexcapades with General David Petraeus, those affected by Sandy are swept under the rug.