"what would have folks done to the President had he enforced mandatory evacuation from NO by the federal government"

In my opinion ... and I realize it's ONLY my opinion ... evacuation prior to an event should be the responsibility of the local government, not FEMA or any other federal agency. Help after the event might well fall to FEMA.

It's the city of New Orleans that should have known there were people who chose not to evacuate, and also people who could not evacuate for financial reasons or other. And it was New Orleans responsibility to identify these people and give them assistance in getting out ahead of the event. At least call for help AHEAD OF TIME in meeting this need. My take is that the city massively failed in this. Evacuation before the event would have been a cinch compared to trying to drive hundreds of busses through 10 feet of water down destroyed highways afterwards. If the people were gone, New Orleans would have still been destroyed, but it certainly wouldn't have been the human tragedy we're seeing now.

I see the New Orleans mayor in the news screaming at others and blaming them for lack of help and it makes me angry. Yes, the after-the-event response might have been better, but it would not have been so urgent if the locals had done their job in the first place. I can't imagine how anyone can hold the feds accountable for not barging into their city and forcing the people out before the storm. On the contrary - I imagine the mayor would have been screaming bloody murder if the feds had even tried.