Posted on 12/03/2005 11:22:02 AM PST by Raebie
Blanco's office scrambled to spin Katrina
E-mails detail effort to ensure feds took blame for slow response
Saturday, December 03, 2005 By Jan Moller Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the Bush administration were locked in a pitched political battle to shape public opinion about the response to Hurricane Katrina at the same time they were trying to manage the rescue operation, documents released late Friday by the governor's office show.
E-mails turned over by the state to the congressional committees investigating the hurricane response show that the governor's senior staff was deeply involved in trying to preserve the governor's political standing and make sure that the White House was blamed for the slow pace of the initial response.
"We need to keep working to get our national surrogates to explain the facts -- that the federal response was anemic and had been shortchanged by budget cuts and avoiding responsibilities like protecting Louisiana levees and wetlands," Chief of Staff Andy Kopplin wrote to senior staff on the morning of Sept. 4, six days after Katrina made landfall.
At the same time, however, the governor's staff was sensitive to any notion that the federal government was taking control of the response from state officials.
"(Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael) Chertoff is now saying that the federal government 'is in control of New Orleans,' " Blanco Communications Director Bob Mann wrote in response to Kopplin. "(Brig.) Gen. (Mike) Fleming (of the Florida National Guard) is ready to say at the 11 a.m. briefing that that is not correct. The LA Natl Guard is in charge."
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Not. Only her own political career. Shocking.
And this is surprising?
Why do people keep voting for do-nothing, incompetent Democrat bums?!
Shouldn't the voters pick the best person for the job?
Are all the candidates Democrats have........ fools and bums?
Nope. But it's nice to see it getting press.
The difference is that Blanco and Nagin were directly and immediately responsible for all relief/rescue efforts. The feds come in after the local ask for their help. No amount of spinning can change that.
Well, it can certainly change the public's opinion when one side is doing the spinning and the other side is apologizing and firing people.
I heard that song for the first time on October 2nd while I was driving through Lafayette on my way to Houston.
Between this, coming as it does from the local papers, and the little notice that came from Blanco's office the other day about delaying elections..............
Nagin has been away from town more than he's been there, Blanco and the Dimrats keep madly spinning and don't do much but keep digging holes that they then promptly step in and the MSM tries to cover it all by regurgitating stories that were dismissed as "Set on stupid" when they first wrote them.
Payback is SUCH a delight, especially when it takes time to come to full bloom.
I heard that song for the first time on October 2nd while I was driving through Lafayette on my way to Houston.
Pretty Blonde, look at what you've done ...
LOL
It's pretty well established that the LA and NO govts were criminally incompetent during Katrina (and all other times). The question now is what will be done about it. I'm cynically betting "nothing".
Nagen is here in Atlanta this week, begging for his voters (er, New Orleans loyal citizens) to come back and vote for him and Blanco.
"Why do people keep voting for do-nothing, incompetent Democrat bums?!
Shouldn't the voters pick the best person for the job?"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1518679/posts
What makes you think they do? Start here...there is more.
Oh, in Louisiana, they do plenty ... it just is not what they should do!
LOL
No; the majority of them are dishonest opportunists who depend on fools and bums for their continued existence.
Jolie Blonde, 'gardez donc, quoi t'as fait ...
Does national surrogates = MSM?
That's the last thing she wants to do, but now we are getting a glimpse of what was pretty apparent from the get go.
PATHETIC!
They are still trying to shift blame...
HOW ABOUT FIXING THE CORRUTION THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEMS YOU NINNIES! Let's start with BLANCO!
How dare she try and blame the person with the task of trying to save the people from the very disaster that SHE REFUSED to avoid! They cause the dang crisis and then blame the ones that try and help? SICK OF IT!
YAAAAAAAAAARG!
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