Posted on 11/06/2005 10:21:06 AM PST by caryatid
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco has taken a lot of heat since Hurricane Katrina devastated southeast Louisiana in August, leaving her with arguably the biggest challenge that any modern-day Louisiana governor has ever faced.
Caught between overwhelmed local leaders and a federal bureaucracy that was simply not prepared for the size of the catastrophe, Blanco was criticized for her response during the crisis by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and deposed FEMA Director Michael Brown. She has been the target of various pundits who have commented on everything from her appearance to questioning key decisions she made as the state's largest city was engulfed in floodwaters.
After the immediate disaster subsided, the criticism did not wane. Blanco was perceived as too indecisive about how to begin the process of rebuilding the New Orleans area. She waited seven weeks after Katrina hit to name the membership of a 24-member "recovery authority," although supporters noted that the governor also had been dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, which slammed the southwest corner of the state a month after Katrina.
Some of her allies in the state Legislature had joined the chorus of complaints that the administration needed to be more aggressive, scoffing at Blanco's initial pronouncement that the legislative session that begins today would mostly deal with legal technicalities.
In recent weeks, Blanco has changed gears .... Her call for the special session, which delineates the topics that can be discussed, is expansive, allowing discussions of business tax cuts, the state takeover of most New Orleans public schools and figuring out how to fill a budget hole expected to be at least $1 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Au contraire!
Didn't she request, and receive, the kid-glove treatment when questioned by Congress?
Mike Brown should've done as much the previous day.
Mike Brown is/was the designated scapegoat. Perhaps that is why he is still on the FEMA payroll [or so it was reported].
Hey Blanco...still trying to wash the blood off your hands?
sure enough...she's going to be a liberal hero.
Just as a contrast to Blanco, I heard on the news this morning that the Indiana governor reported that the Indiana National Guard has been mobilized and is in (or about to be in) the area devastated by that tornado, that FEMA had responded within an hour of the tornado, and that all of the local and surrounding areas' police and fire were there as well. This tornado was something totally unexpected (unlike Hurricane Rita which the weather forecasters had been warning about for a week or more), and yet the local and state government got everything mobilized very quickly after it hit. Now, granted, this tornado was much more localized and was over quickly, but still this shows a very quick and decisive response. Oh, by the way, the Indiana governor is a Republican.
I'll be damned...pictures without her crying...
"sure enough...she's going to be a liberal hero"
Of course she is. She is a complete and utter failure. Further, she cries and she is weak.
Actually, I think not, she is simply to dumb to survive. A one term Gov, if she is lucky.
Sorry, folks ... the last image appeared to be attached when I hit preview ... now, it does not pop up for me on the thread. I cannot explain that ... I hope y'all are getting the image ... Gov. Memaw actually had her eyes open ... LOL
Just think of how much more ably Bobby Jindal would have handled Katrina.
Okay Freepers. This is what I heard last week about Blanco from folks in LA but can’t verify. When she was told that Katrina was coming, she hit the bottle for several days. Hence, (was it Brown?) who said something like “LA was dysfunctional.” This is why they couldn’t get a response from Blanco for several days until it was too late.
Anybody else hear this?
She, more than any other single person, is directly responsible for the inadequet response to Katrina. She got a pass while the tertiary providers were excoriated. With that kind of willful delusion being prescribed, no good thing can come from anything done in New Orleans. A predicate of delegating blame to the wrong person or entity is like a surgeon saying you have cancer, so here is some cough medicine. It is delusional and certainly no solution.
"In recent weeks, Blanco has changed gears .... Her call for the special session, which delineates the topics that can be discussed, is expansive, allowing discussions of business tax cuts, the state takeover of most New Orleans public schools and figuring out how to fill a budget hole expected to be at least $1 billion."
Calling a special session is easy. Let's wait to see if she can actually get anything done with it before saying that she's changed gears.
A real tragedy for Louisiana ... and those who may have "helped" Blanco's narrow victory should rot in Hell for it.
Are we sure that eyes are being turned toward Governor Blanco...or are other anatomical parts being turned toward her?
Prayer for new leadership in Louisiana is need. It is time for the citizens there to shuck the history of infamously dirty politics.
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