Posted on 09/07/2005 8:08:10 PM PDT by mhking
The Red Cross has confirmed to Fox News Channel's Major Garrett that they had requested permission to take food and medical supplies to the Louisiana Superdome in the hours immediately after Hurricane Katrina's landfall. That request was denied by none other than Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
Garrett appeared on Hugh Hewitt's syndicated radio program this evening to discuss the shocking revelation.
MG: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdom, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security is directly under the command and direction of Governor Kathleen Blanco. The same Kathleen Blanco who has whined and blamed the federal government from her perch in Baton Rouge throughout this entire crisis. The same Kathleen Blanco who has stared at cameras with deer-in-headlight-glazed eyes since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The same Kathleen Blanco who, after being asked about federal help prior to landfall said, "No." The same Kathleen Blanco who rescinded Mayor Ray Nagin's order to completely evacuate the city due to dangerous conditions just today.HH: And the answer is?
MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.
HH: Now Major Garrett, on what day did they block the delivery? Do you know specifically?
MG: I am told by the Red Cross, immediately after the storm passed.
Was Kathleen Blanco's goal the death of as many of those in the Superdome as possible?
It could be the State level of HLS
The press doesn't see to want to separate the 2 and makes if sound like it all the Feds
To assert that she is in charge. Since this began she has rejected solutions other than hers: the Mayor's, Bush's, the Red Cross and others. This seems to be the biggest issue for her in all of this--her authority.
...
None of this is President Bush's fault. But I want certain facts nailed down legally before I commit to blaming Blanco for stopping the Red Cross. I want proof. And I want credible justification for doing so. If there is proof that she stopped the Red Cross, and there is insufficient justification, then she needs to resign or at least answer to Congress.
Can anyone check to see how much property her family owns in NO? How much she has to benefit personally? Can help but think of something a friend said years ago about NOLA...That HUD and the politicians were intertwined. Housing was almost uninhabitable, but rents were high. That the tax payers were picking up the tab and politician were bringing in the dough.
Stupidest, Doc. And you get the prize after 7 years at this site. Democrats wanting to kill poor voters? Incredible.
Cat's out of the bag; the DNC will send a new spokesperson in tomorrow. This is getting way out of hand.
There is a thread with the Garrett interview. You can listen to it.
Blanco also turned down Fema coordination.
I don't think that this was her intention.
I believe that it was just that she and the mayor are totally incompetent and unable to make rational decisions.
Why does it ALWAYS take Governor Blanco 24 hours to make a decision? Who is REALLY making the decision? I am thinking that perhaps her husband really runs things, and she has to go to him for instructions on what to do.
Another thought...the Saints were talking about leaving, or getting a new stadium. Where was that stadium supposed to be built? Could it have been at the site of the Desire Housing Project?
What role do casinos have in this fiasco. Those people seem to be awfully quiet, especially when we realize that Bally's was trying to renogtiate the terms of its loan from one of the levee boards.
Finally, I think that you have raised an excellent question, Mike. Given the situation, its pretty hard not to think that she had all of those people herded into the Superdome (dangerous in itself) and then denied them food and water (documented by Major Garrett's quotes above).
You know what this reminds me of? Nazi experiments during WWII. I am not one to throw around that aspersion, but honestly, what is one to think of this?
Not nearly the stretch that the attacks against Bush are.
I won't tolerate Jesse Jackass and his cronies making racist smears against President Bush.
As disgusted as I am with her misfeasance in office, I will not tolerate YOU making racist smears against Governor Blanco. Incompetence? Certainly. Genocide? That accusation is beyond the pale, and you should be deeply ashamed for making it.
You owe Gov. Blanco an apology for publishing this smear, and you owe FR an apology for using it as a vehicle for racist paranoia.
The Dems don't care about blacks anyway. Only about black votes. But I can't believe there was a conscious effort to torture these people.
Terrorists in Gitmo were treated better.
I think she conciously didn't want Bush to be regarded as a hero as with 9/11 and blocked him. I don't think she intended on there being so many deaths, but once it came out how many were dying, she went into CYA mode and tried to pin it on Bush anyway.
It's definitely control freak behavior. Goes against all recommendations regardless of merit, just to demonstrate that it is she who is "in control". The death toll doesn't matter, what matters is that she is "in control". And if anything goes wrong, well, it's Bush's fault!
I have run into too many managers like her.
The Governor is simply not capable of leading, and the Mayor is even less of a leader
What I think is happening is that the woman was getting direction from someone in the DNC, who was telling her not to lose control of the situation and provide another 9/11 success for Bush. The woman didn't know how to do that and everything that she did was wrong. Note, that the Clintons sent their FEMA director to try to bail out Blanco, but it was a little late. You can guess who might have been directing her not give Bush the political advantage of bailing out NOLA.
My admittedly UNEDUCATED guess is this:
In watching the white-knuckled contortions this woman goes through to retain her power, it strikes me that she does not want to relinquish her authority because along with it would go the authority to conduct criminal investigations.
I suspect that a close look at post-Katrina New Orleans will expose a rat's-nest of corruption that will be prosecuted, and that is her greatest fear.
That's JUST my guess. But I keep asking what her motivation might be for not ceding authority, and this makes the most sense to me.
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