Nobody ever reads the instruction manual before plugging in the device.

The Department of Homeland Security is now saying: Sorry we let you all think -- and for a full 2 weeks -- that Director Chertoff declared Hurricane Katrina an incident of national significance on August 30th when the declaration was automatically triggered by the president's emergency declaration on August 27th.

Talking Points Memo explains, adding that some of the confusion about organization and protocol "makes the administration seem even more disorganized."

As reported on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees:

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the worst of Katrina, as survivors and victims piled up on the coast, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote a memo that is now raising questions. Did he use his department's extraordinary power to move as much relief as possible to the region quickly? Or did he delay decisions and lose precious hours, maybe days?
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FOREMAN: Chertoff sent his memo to other cabinet members on the Tuesday after the stormy Monday. In it, he declared Katrina an incident of national significance, a specific term that triggers the highest level of federal help. He appointed FEMA Director Michael Brown as the point man and Chertoff's team publicized the news.
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FOREMAN: But now, as critics ask why these decisions were announced four days after the National Weather Service said Katrina would be catastrophic, Homeland Security is saying its own announcement of the secretary's actions was inaccurate.

Now they say Katrina was officially an incident of national significant well before Chertoff wrote that memo declaring it. They say the storm automatically acquired that designation when the president declared a national emergency before Katrina hit shore.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yesterday I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana. And this morning, I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Mississippi.

FOREMAN: Another line in Chertoff's memo mentions the White House's Katrina task force. He writes, the Department of Homeland Security will be part of the task force and will assist the administration. The national response plan, which was designed to guide a federal response to disasters, pointedly says the Homeland Security secretary is to lead the federal response. The secretary's office says he was doing just that and the memo reflects only additional plans to help long-term recovery.

(on camera): In short, the secretary's office is saying this memo just doesn't matter. It was merely an administrative note to make sure all the departments knew what was happening.

(voice-over): Still, the national response plan so carefully crafted after 9/11, plainly gave Secretary Chertoff the most direct power over federal resources before, during, and after Katrina.

BUSH: And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility.

FOREMAN: And while President Bush is accepting blame for delays and FEMA Director Michael Brown is out of his job, it is not yet clear exactly how Secretary Chertoff was using his power during some desperate hours.