There is a shot where Blanco is being set up several days ago for a TV interview, and her press secretary is helping her adjust her mic. They’re having a personal conversation, but the cameraman catches it! In it, she kinda jokes to her press secretary something like “yeah, well I guess I really need to ask for troops,” and a couple more things she says. A bit later in the segment she gets into a semi-argument with CNN reporter Miles O’Brien, and he’s pointedly asking her exactly WHEN she asked the President for troops. She gets frustrated and says she didn’t even know what day it was, she was confused, but Miles presses her. -- Hat tip: Reader LadyCop
NOTE: "Some... limitations were built into the Constitution's limits on federal powers. President Bush could not nationalize the Louisiana National Guard without the consent of Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, which was not immediately forthcoming. The Northern Command of the U.S. Army, set up specifically for homeland defense three years ago, also was prevented from acting immediately because the Posse Comitatus Act (circa 1878) bars the army from conducting police activities on U.S. soil without a waiver. The best army in the world was ready, with equipment and men in place, but was left waiting for orders." -- George Melloan, WSJ, 9/13/05, http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112657951035438991,00.html?mod=opinion%5Fmain%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs