Bush, Blanco spar over military, visit - Blanco says Army brought attitude, not resources (absurd)

NOLA ^ | September 06, 2005 | Bill Walsh Robert Travis Scott and Jan Moller

[Former Military Chick]

BATON ROUGE - Even as teams of engineers worked to patch ruptured levees in New Orleans, a political breach opened between Gov. Kathleen Blanco and President Bush over who is in charge of the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery effort.

One flashpoint came over the weekend, when Blanco said she rebuffed an attempt by the White House to seize control of the mounting military presence in Louisiana, including thousands of state National Guard forces under her authority. Then Bush made an unusual return visit to the state Monday, just days after surveying the damage - a trip that members of Blanco's staff said caught them by surprise and caused a certain level of consternation.

"We had no idea the president was coming," said Blanco's communications director, Robert Mann, adding that the governor was forced to cancel a trip to visit evacuees in Houston so she could meet with Bush.

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In the game of political maneuvering for control between Blanco, a Democrat, and Bush, a Republican, the biggest chess pieces are the 13,268 National Guard troops from 29 states under the governor's command - with another 7,845 on the way - and the 7,000 active-duty troops who began arriving Monday under command of the regular Army and the president.

- - -

Blanco said that when the plain-spoken, cigar-chomping Honore showed up in New Orleans late last week, she thought that her worries about a lack of federal troops and resource were over. Honore quickly became a media darling and the take-charge face of the federal government in New Orleans, barking out orders to surprised National Guards members who aren't even under his control.

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[madison10]

When does Blanco's term expire?

Not soon enough. The military saved their butts & Blanco has the audacity to complain. Can't the President bring her up on charges, or something? Start impeachment procedings, anything.

[gov_bean_ counter]

"Attitude"!!!???? Governor Blanco, have you ever even shook the hand of the Louisianan, General Honore, who organized and commanded the greatest American civilian rescue evacuation ever undertaken in 24 hour period?

Perhaps the Governor is from a part of LA that doesn't care too much for the General's heritage.

[madison10]

General Honore' was awesome! Love his accent, too. ;)

[MamaB]

In other words, what did she know and when did she know it?

[Prophet in the wilderness]

" Army brought attitude... " and also the rest of the military, the CAN DO attitude, and not the " I DON"T KNOW " or " WHAT ARE WE TO DO " ineptitude by the mayor and gov Blanco ( BIMBO ).

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Blanco and the Democrats biggest concern is who will dole out the dollars for reconstruction. and will they get to line their own pockets with Gold from the hurricane relief money and aid.
I have now doubt, that when the city ( if ever ) gets back to normal, and rebuilt, they are going to have tons upon tons of surplus supplies from the hurricane aid, and they ( local, or state officials ) will either use it for personal use, or sell it off at profit.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Sorry for the typo
Correction:

Blanco and the Democrats biggest concern is who will dole out the dollars for reconstruction. and will they get to line their own pockets with Gold from the hurricane relief money and aid.
I have no doubt, that when the city ( if ever ) gets back to normal, and rebuilt, they are going to have tons upon tons of surplus supplies from the hurricane aid, and they ( local, or state officials ) will either use it for personal use, or sell it off at profit.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

It's called : Biting the hand that feeds you and protects you.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Your half right.
Another reason is that they ( Nagin and Blanco ( BIMBO ) ) are both Democrats, they get a free pass, and they put the blame on President Bush and the Republicans.
I hope the issue of the 500 buses that could have been USED BEFORE the hurricane hit becomes the BIGGEST issue of the Congressional hearings, because, ( I HOPE ) most of the country has seen those pictures of those flooded out buses that Nagin and Blanco ( BIMBO ) could have used, and they ( the Congressional Democrats can't hide that BIG GLAIRING FACT.
We need to write to our congressmen, and senators and make sure that the issue of the buses, and them( Nagin and Blanco ) dragging their feet BECOMES ( THE ) ISSUE during the congressional hearings.

[Joe Boucher]

Maybe I just think too much.
Any bozo can see how poorly these two have preformed.

[CitizenM]

" Army brought attitude... " and also the rest of the military, the CAN DO attitude...

And...for the people stranded, starving, in New Orleans...the Army brought an attitude of HOPE!

[Johnny Crab]

Just another DIM shooting their foot with their mouth. It should be interesting to see BlankO and NADAgin get grilled with the timelines and facts later.

[Johnny Crab]

This BS is the thing I NEVER miss about moving to Texas 16 years ago after 30+ years in NOLA. Some things don't change.

[pitinkie]

She is a useless lying twit.

[Former Military Chick]

Meg, you keep up the good fight. I shall include you in my prayers. I do not think they have the ability to be fair or objective. I am at least willing to wait out the hearings etc of went right and what went wrong.

I may be in the minority though.

WTG, GF.

[Former Military Chick]

It is nuts. Glad you found the article informative ... filled with lies I am sure .. but what should we expect?

[No Longer Free State]

Blanco says Army brought attitude, not resources

This is an example of a headline writer getting sensationalist, making statements not justified by the text of the article. The headline makes it read like the Gov made one statement complaining that she didn't get help from the Army. While she's not exactly complimentary, I don't see where the two unrelated statements attributed to her justify this sub-head.

I'm pretty sure by now that she understands a General doesn't show up with an infantry battalion tagging along behind him. He only needs a few aids to pass his instructions on to his staff and commanders, who then make stuff happen. And, of course, you're right. They did bring both. Plenty of resources and a 'Can-do' attitude.

[Phsstpok]

When does Blanco's term expire?

I agree with those giving a short (or already expired) date on her tenure.

I give her about 72 hours, and Nagin another 48.

I'd say criminal charges follow about two weeks later.

Charges will be filed in the Netherlands Human Rights Court by November (of course, they'll include Bush, but for not having arrested them sooner).

[reg45]

Phooey! And I have all this Halliburton stock.

[jscottdavis_for_48th_district]

That is basically what I said. Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, was slow in calling in the national guard. I myself am a veteran of the armed forces, as well as, a veteran of 2 hurricanes. I would have been all over that scene anticipating a worst case scenario.

In addition, the City of New Orleans failed to deploy their arsenal of school buses to help evacuate people prior to the storm hitting.

President Bush is not to blame.