The Bush administration sent Blanco a memorandum Friday evening requesting the federalisation of the LA NG.
Blanco -- well, her keepers at least -- turned it down.
This is all well-documented, right down to the time-stamp:
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html
The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html
| Press Release |
| Date: 8/26/2005 |
-- it looks like what the staffer told the WaPo (if he really did say what the WaPo says he said -- and I know that is a big if), was wrong on that particular detail See Link
Nagin and Blanco were aware, I imagine, of this study:
Citizen Hurricane Evacuation Behavior in Southeastern Louisiana: A Twelve Parish Survey Released by The Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Taskforce July, 2005
Blanco Refuses White House Request For Federal Paperwork On Friday -- go to the near bottom of the Washington Post article and see how K. Blanco thought it better to avoid Martial Law declared in her state than to save the lives of her people. --and - she is advised by the law firm of Clintoon's ex, former director Witt in how to avoid a "takeover"
Hurricane Katrina: Don’t Blame Bush for Local Corruption and Democrat Incompetence --more--
There is a thread running right now that states that most of the federal moneys allocated for levee security were redirected by the corrupt mayor and city council and used to build CASINOS!
"The more I see, and the more I read, I am beginning to believe that BLANCO should be held CRIMINALLY responsible."
The evident incompetence of this woman is one reason the Democrats are loudly blaming Bush.
Bingo. The fools pi$$ed away their levee money buying everything BUT levees.
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Cached Katrina news reports BEFORE landfall (Aug 27-Aug 29) -- Thanks for putting this together. In light of the activity on Saturday the 27th, it is interesting that the New York Times ran not a single article on Hurricane Katrina the day before it struck (the 28th). This, despite the paper's editorial claim that "everyone knew [the disaster] was coming." I have the rather amusing details up on my blog.
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Katrina Live Threads, Part XV -- The good news is that this week, the conservative radio talk show hosts across the country will start getting the truth out there. They are the "ace in the hole."
OK, I thought I was nuts but I just confirmed it with my husband and our houseguest. We live in Eastern Kansas. I grew up in Texas and I know what the gulf smells like. I smell the gulf here once or twice a year depending on the wind and the weather and tonight, I smell Katrina. It's like the gulf only wet wood, and an almost rotten smell. It's not a smell I've ever smelled here. Our houseguest is from Switzerland. He says that they get sand from the Sahara once in a while so he believes me. So if you live in the midwest, go outside and think about it. Only a barbwire fence between here and there.
Blanco Only Asked Fed Money For 6 Shelters B4 Katrina. LA Now has over 75 Open 7 Days Later -- Coordination: $0
Technical and advisory assistance: $0
Debris removal: $0
Emergency protective measures: $ 9,000,000
Individuals and Households Program (IHP): $0
Distribution of emergency supplies: $0
Other (specify): $0
Trying to pin this on George Bush: Priceless""
Technical and advisory assistance: $0
Debris removal: $0
Emergency protective measures: $ 9,000,000
Individuals and Households Program (IHP): $0
Distribution of emergency supplies: $0
Other (specify): $0
Trying to pin this on George Bush: Priceless""
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Dan Langdon, of Bravo Company 2-4 Aviation, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, comforts a stray dog after landing his Chinook helicopter, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2005 in New Orleans. The Chinook crew is flying missions in support of relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and was waiting to begin their next mission.
6,795 posted on 09/04/2005 7:33:56 PM EDT by BurbankKarl (u)
He Held Their Lives in His Tiny Hands -- OK, so now we've got a 6 year old who was more resourceful and smarter than the frikin mayor.
"The resolution is in contrast to a recent trip by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to Cuba where she had a lobster dinner with Fidel Castro. Governor Blanco's meeting with Castro has come under fire by Louisianans for failing to meet with dissidents, call for democratic reforms, release of political prisoners, freedom of the press, and respect for human rights."
http://www.asambleasociedadcivilcuba.info/CPrensa/CANF.htm
http://www.asambleasociedadcivilcuba.info/CPrensa/CANF.htm
Release Date: July 23, 2004
I am happy to see that Sheehan witch and Aruba off the air - but would suffer through Cindy witch and Aruba a thousand times over if it would mean Katrina didn't swamp the Gulf Coast as she did.
Timeline:
Super Typhoon Tip had a diameter of 1350 miles while Cyclone Tracy had a diameter of 30 miles. Which one would cause more damage if it hit land? I bring this point up because Hurricane Katrina was more powerful than the general definition of a Category 4 storm. In fact it was the 3rd most powerful storm to hit the US since the listings were started and the fourth storm to be recorded as a Category 5 storm (about one every 30 years on average).
(Equivalent sizes if placed over the US)
It is important to consider this when we realize that New Orleans was designed to handle a general Category 3 storm. There was no possible way it could have handled a direct hit from a general Category 4 storm. But Katrina was not a general Category 4 storm. It is also important to realize that New Orleans expected a general Category 4 storm or higher to hit on average once every 300 years. For a storm the size of Katrina, it might only hit once every 1000 years
Seems to me that thousands of people owe their lives to the competence and compassion of President Bush.
| Why Was New Orleans Evacuated? Power Line, MN - ... Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low ... |
| Looters Take To Streets; Martial Law Declared New Orleans Channel.com, LA - ... Gov. Blanco said President George W. Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. ... |
| New Orleans Mayor Issues Evacuation Order Guardian Unlimited, UK - ... Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for the mandatory evacuation for the city, which sits below sea level. |
| Nightmare named Katrina bears down on New Orleans KTBS, LA - ... all flights. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying. |
Category 5 Katrina barrels toward New OrleansKansasCity.Com (Knight Ridder)National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield in Miami called Nagin at home Saturday night and told him: "Get people out of New Orleans. I could never sleep if I felt like I didn't do everything that I could to impress upon people the gravity of the situation," Mayfield said. "New Orleans is never going to be the same." |
An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State -- As God is my witness, I would not have sat stranded on a concrete island for five days hopelessly waiting to die without doing anything to help myself. I really don't get how people could not care enough to want to survive.
New Orleans Begins Counting its Dead (While Decadence Parade Held in French Quarter) -- And we are talking about rebuilding that cesspool? Once everyone is evacuated out of N.O., I'm really hoping Mother Nature will finish it off with another hurricane. That's right folks, I'm not the least bit interested in rebuilding that cesspool...
Is this a joke?
Nagin to Offer Free Trips to Las Vegas for N.O. Officers -- I've been told that 2/3rds didn't show up when the Mayor put out a belated all hands on deck. Michelle Malkin has an interview with a general who says more than two thirds deserted.
We need one reporter to ask Nagin, "If a 16 year old who has never driven a bus could take ONE of your buses and save 75 people, why couldn't you do the same?"
Officials: Its going to be 'ugly' -- On the seventh day, the mayor of New Orleans said he would surrender control of his shattered, nearly abandoned city --The Mayor lost control of his city the minute he chose to condone looting.
MSM: Blamestorming Under the Radar (More proof the NYT is concerned only with blaming Bush) -- Aug. 28th, CNN: Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
