Posted on 09/06/2005 1:49:06 PM PDT by HAL9000
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour got a hug. Gov. Kathleen Blanco was lucky to get a hello.The friction between state and federal officials has been brewing for the past few days and bubbled to the surface with President Bush's visit to Baton Rouge on Monday.
In fact, Blanco did not learn Bush was coming to Louisiana for the second time in three days until informed by an Advocate reporter late Sunday night.
The news prompted Blanco to scrap her plans to visit Houston on Monday with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, her spokeswoman, Denise Bottcher, said. Blanco asked three of her daughters to fill in for her.
Meanwhile, the governor's staff spent much of the early morning hours securing an invitation from the White House for Blanco to accompany the president and his wife, Bottcher said. Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told The Associated Press that the White House reached out to Blanco's office Sunday, but didn't hear back, and White House staff in Louisiana spoke with Blanco early Monday.
Blanco met the presidential party at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, carrying a letter to Bush which showed she's not budging on the issue of federalizing local law enforcement and the state's National Guard, which the president had attempted to do Friday.
"I write to ask you to work with me in developing a long-term plan for the rebuilding of the Louisiana economy," Blanco says in the letter.
From the airport, Bush and Blanco went to visit hurricane evacuees at Bethany World Prayer Center in Baker, where the two leaders kept their distance.
Later that day, Bush flew to Mississippi, where he warmly greeted Barbour.
Waves of National Guard soldiers from other states help quell widespread looting in New Orleans and evacuate thousands stranded by rising flood waters. Their arrival also prompted debate over whether Bush or Blanco should coordinate their efforts, three elected officials said.
The Bush administration on Friday asked Blanco to give the president control of local law enforcement and the Louisiana National Guard that now answer to the governor. Blanco refused.
Blanco said, when asked about the issue of federalizing state troops, that the issue involves the hurricane recovery organizational structure, not how rescuers are deployed.
Blanco said she needs flexibility to run the Louisiana National Guard.
More National Guard soldiers are needed in "Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Shreveport ... all the parishes receiving people," she said.
U.S. Rep. Richard Baker said he didn't want to do any "Monday morning quarterbacking." That includes not weighing in on whether or not Blanco should relinquish more control to the federal government, he said.
Baker said the Bush administration's goal isn't malicious, but to facilitate a more immediate response on resources, such as getting planes loaded and landed.
State and local officials last week complained that the federal help didn't come fast enough, with bipartisan criticism leveled at Bush himself.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Metairie, said that during Bush's visit to New Orleans on Friday, Mayor Ray Nagin asked Bush and Blanco to hash out their differences. While on Air Force One, the president's plane, Bush and Blanco spoke privately.
"The rest of the delegation waited," Jindal said.
Later that day, Bush administration officials sent Blanco a legal memo seeking to federalize Louisiana law enforcement under the Insurrection Act, which is used to suppress civil disobedience that threatens to turn into anarchy. The act would clarify the chains of command of local, state and federal agencies with the president in charge.
Rather than cede control, Blanco on Saturday morning named James Lee Witt, who ran the Federal Emergency Management Agency under Clinton, to help run relief efforts.
In Bush's weekly radio address Saturday afternoon, he said the hurricane strained local and state capabilities, leading to people in New Orleans not getting the help they needed.
The next day, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu threatened to get violent.
"If one person criticizes them (local and state government) or says one more thing -- including the president of the United States -- he will hear from me," Landrieu said on the ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "One more word about it after this show airs and I might likely have to punch him. Literally."
After Bush's visit to Baton Rouge on Monday, Landrieu said that state, local and federal officials are now essentially on the same page, working as a team.
"The governor's leadership and the president's leadership, pulling these things together is excellent," Landrieu said.
Bottcher, Blanco's spokeswoman, refused to make a copy of the memo public. Blanco's team spent much of the day detailing the events that unfolded during the weekend, provided that their names were not used.
Asked directly and on the record, Bottcher refused comment.
After Monday's meeting, Blanco said Bush is satisfied with the organizational structure. "We are partners in this effort," the governor said. "We are a team. I want to say it again. We are a team."
The counter headlines from the republicans has to be: "incompetent state and local leaders."
Since it's true, it should be easier to sell.
That was a funny statement. The announcer grimaced and said (In my own words). What the hell did you say? and what the hell do you mean? (It made absolutely no sense). But hey, that's Hillary when she opens her mouth, YA KNOW!!
Annnnd, the more they lie and delay, the worse it gets for them.
It's sort of like the flood waters gathering and rising behind their own flawed levee of lies. All they had to do was to be honest and forthright in the first place.
Democrats are just too irresponsible to be put in positions critical to public safety and national defense.
Nothing much to say about all this crap. It is just that crap. And with the total cooperation with the majority of world news media they will hit below the belt as much as they possible can. That is the nature of the beast.
I would have thrown a rock at her.
hahaha... could you see the President step off the plane, reach down to gather up any rock he could find and start chucking?
I figure that a LOT of federal money that was supposed to be used for emergency preparation was pocketed or used for other areas of government. I'm sure that if the fed took over and had access to resources, or rather, could not find resources, it would mean serious trouble for the state and its elected officials.
The it could be just a complete distrust of the President due to the extreme left wing moonbat contingent that has taken over the democrat party.
I really don't think the storm of calling Nagin and Blanco to account would have started (or at least it wouldn't have been so acrimonious) if the left hadn't started right out of the gate with "Bush caused global warming which caused Katrina" which mantra held them until they came up with the "late" response, encouraged by Nagin and Blanco.
Maybe it would have come to this anyway, but maybe more progress could have been made faster in cleaning things up if it had held off.
My first thought as well, then I realized that she's not that clever. I suspect she had been coached through this whole thing.
>>>The 'idiots' got it loud and clear before many "conservative" voices.>>>
You are giving too much credit to Rush for that. The internet had ALOT to do with that situation.
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