Blanco s declaration seems to have invested all authority and responsibility in herself. When did she, the state of LA, request federal aid?
could it be Wednesday?
The whole point of the article is that she hasn't yet declared a state of emergency that results in a request federal aid.
She, at Bush's urging, declared a state of emergency of the type that permits the governor of the state to assume various local powers, activate the local Guard, and then request federal assistance. She appears to have done none of these things - while Nagin is a flake and an incompetent, he clearly wasn't getting any help from Blanco even when he requested it; she didn't have many LA NG in and obviously wasn't letting either them or the cops shoot; she didn't ask Nat. Guard aid from other states until Weds.; and she still has not asked the Federal government for aid, even though it was obvious days ago that the local and state structures and authority had broken down.