[DouglasKC]

While the thread is slow, allow me to make a comment. While prayer is vital, Blanco's call to prayer Wednesday morning, the morning after the levee burst, seemed a sort of resignation. A moment of prayer, certainly, then---"Everyone evacuate", "Stop the looting or we will shoot you," "Moblize the boats and helis that are staged but can't come in due to shots being fired at them", and on and on. Decisive action was required, and Blanco asked the citizens to spend the day in prayer... Yes, thankful you survived, at that point, but the fight for survival was just beginning

Yup, and the point we need to keep pounding is that she has 30,000 Louisiania National Guard troops under her direct command. She didn't have to wait for Bush. She could have sent in these people to restore order and take back the city. When she requested additional help (not till Wednesday) the city would have been secured and they could have because evacuations in earnest.

[XEHRpa]

> A moment of prayer, certainly, then---"Everyone evacuate",

I heard on other threads (or was it earlier on this one)that she still hasn't declared an "emergency", which would have enabled the Feds to eliminate a lot of the middle-man bureacracy. Some speculate that it is to preserve the patronage function of the NOLA party hacks for letting contracts down the line.