Posted on 09/03/2005 7:52:14 PM PDT by jmc1969
Bush administration officials blame state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management.
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 had sought control over National Guard units, normally under control of the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request, noting that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. State authorities suspected a political motive behind the request.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Those are good arguements for it. If Bush is advised that it would be best to do that, I think he will. Right now I believe he is trying to take control under the radar.
I don't think the mayor or the governor are a driving force in this effort.
Taht's what I've been telling liberals for days now...It was at the state and local levels he was talking about.
A triple ding PING!!! The Governor screwed the pooch!!! The Supreme Court Chief Justice was on his death bed and the Mayor had to be threatened to get him to call for an evacuation... and they have the GALL to try to frame-up the President and try to make HIM look bad!!!
Treachery ABOUNDS in these sorta United States!!!
Strike "...is trying to take..." and insert "has taken"...
SAT
He even had the memo/document written up for her and still refused
Nagin was much "calmer" after he talked with the President.
Sounds like he got his behind chewed and is now behaving much better.
Meanwhile, it looks like the feds took over anyway, they brought in active duty military and started airlifting the people out on military choppers. Maybe it isn't quite "legal", and the administration wanted to make it more legal by getting the governor to sign.
But the governor wouldn't sign? Because she was afraid it would be used to blame her?
I think what it MEANS is that the governor realised that if she signed something turning it over to the feds, it would be an admission by her that she couldn't do her job. NOT that the administration would then blame them.
The headline writer took her spin on this and made it into the headline. They like to do that.
I used to care, now I don't. I figure it gets a few liberals to READ the articles, and maybe they get to the paragraph where their hopes are dashed.
"Bush administration officials blame state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management."
This first sentence is pure BS. Anyone who has been watching this tragedy unfold since last Monday can tell you that the failures occurred on the local and State level. The only people who have blamed the Fed are the news media, led by the New York Times. So what is there to shift? I'm utterly fed up with the news media, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, and can only hope that they go out of business.
"This proves the opposite of their freeking title of the article"
Huh? The "Bush should have sent in the National Guard sooner" refrain is untrue?
Whoa! So much for the left saying the president didn't do anything to prepare for this.
LOL..
Case closed.
It was the fault of the NO Mayor for not being prepared for worst case scenario's in his city. It is not Washington's responsibility. It is the Governor's responsibility for Lousiana. They had plenty of notice to request any and all emergency help to be on standby prior to the storm hitting.
The President even declared it a disaster area PRIOR to the storm, by I believe 48 hours. Don't blame Washington for what is clearly the local and state authories ineptness.
I agree with you. To me it proves the governor is incompetent, and the president knew there was no way the NOLA officials were going to be able to handle this. For the good of the people of LA, she needs to resign by noon Friday and take the mayor with her.
The states are sovereign. Bush has no authority to "federalize" any state. Personally, I for one don't want the federal government federalizing any state for any reason whatsoever.
Sounds like the Friday they mean is yesterday, 9/2. And it sounds like Gov. Blanco had an attitude all along, not just a CYA attitude either, but a psychological case of projection as well. She perceived that the federal govt wanted to cover itself and prepare to lay blame on her state govt, so she responded in kind and tried to do what she could to make the feds look bad. In other words:
"If they want authority, they just want it to blame me and my people. Therefore I'll withhold it so I can blame them."
Trouble is, she never bothered to consider that they might be trying to do the right thing for the welfare of the citizens in the path of Katrina.
Blanco's mindset is one that has been sedulously watered and nourished by the far left. If we didn't know it before, we have seen now: these ideas have consequences.
The far left is pouring poison in people's ears, and blood will result.
Not true. Active duty troops were deployed the first day, including nearby naval assets. The Coast Guard, now under command of Homeland Security, deployed immediately. The governor of the state is CINC of the National Guard troops assigned to each state, including those brought in from other states for disaster relief. The President told the governor a week ago to initiate a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. They did not listen and waited until the next day to do so. The President if his actual words are to believed by the Washington Compost, yesterday suggested a temporary federal takeover of NO. Perhaps this was a CYA move, but I believe it was done because of the frustration of the Pres. with the lack of response of the authorities on the ground in NO. Other than complaints about getting relief supplies in quicker, I have heard no such complaints outside the NO area, as in Mississippi and Alabama. There the local authorities still seem to be in control, as they should be. I am not in favor of the Feds. taking over any city outside of Washington, D. C. The USA has a Republican form of government and it should stay that way.
French. She wanted to surrender to the hurricane, in hopes that it would go attack some other state.
The truth will eventually come out, and the vile, sniveling liberals who tried to politicize this tragedy for their own gain will lose yet again. I can see the Democrat party disappearing as a national party in another three or four election cycles if the libs keep this insanity up.
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