Staff tried to burnish Blanco burnished image

theadvocate ^ | 12/04/05 | MICHELLE MILLHOLLON and WILL SENTELL

[ncountylee]

As thousands waited to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina, the governor's top aides brainstormed on ways to make an embattled Gov. Kathleen Blanco look more "John Wayne" than "first lady." Thrust into the national limelight by the storm, Blanco was the target of much criticism for the breakdowns in getting flood victims to safe ground.

E-mails, memos and other records released Friday show how Blanco and her staff juggled thousands of inquiries and emergencies. But as the historic natural catastrophe spiraled into a public-relations nightmare, her aides spent more and more time polishing her image.

Their solution was to have Blanco appear stronger as she was criticized in the national media and by the Bush administration as weak and ineffectual.

The hurricane made landfall at dawn Aug. 29, later flooding the New Orleans area and trapping thousands of people. The situation quickly mushroomed into despair as looters armed themselves, the sick began dying and food supplies ran short. The stranded languished for days on rooftops and bypasses waiting for rescue that was slow to come.

The sluggish governmental response is the focus of an inquiry by the U.S. Congress. The Blanco administration on Friday turned over about 100,000 pages of her staff's internal communications to congressional committees.

The e-mails show the errors of spelling and grammar that could be expected of harried public servants hurriedly writing and replying to hundreds of queries. The records also show how they grappled with the disaster while trying to cushion the governor from blows raining down from the White House and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

[ncountylee]

Mann, who as communications director heads Blanco's public relations efforts, assured other administration officials that Democratic U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was "mobilizing big time to push back on criticism of the state" and the governor.

Plus MSM.

[SoCar]

The NY Times and some of the MSM has already taken this info and spun it into pro Blanco fighting the evil Bush regime. It did not take long.

[backhoe]

HURRICANE KATRINA- archive of links Click the picture:

[Joe Boucher]

If they reelect Blanco then I'll start calling Lousiana the Mass. of the south. A state that continues to reelect pathetic worthless criminal dems.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The e-mails show the errors of spelling and grammar that could be expected of harried public servants hurriedly writing and replying to hundreds of queries.

Really? Errors of spelling and grammar are more likely evidence of the functional illiteracy of cronies, bootlickers and hangers-on.

[cgbg]

This could be more fun than the Nixon Tape transcriptions.

The Lousiana crime syndicate aka state government probably used some very colorful language. :-)

[browardchad]

So, people were dying horrible deaths in flooded hospitals and nursing homes, while Blanko's staff was concerned with...what shoes she should wear.

Sounds about right.

May they all rot in hell.

[maggief]

Anderson (Johnny Anderson, Blanco's assistant chief of staff) was concerned about the Rev. Jesse Jackson's visit Baton Rouge even though state Sen. Cleo Fields assured him that Jackson's message would be "for peace and calm."

"I think that we need to manage his stay because he can cause more of a problem than helping if he is not controlled," Anderson e-mailed other members of the administration on Sept. 1.

Oops Johnny, oops Johnny ...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Oh, my.

[mewzilla]

E-mails, memos and other records released Friday show how Blanco and her staff juggled thousands of inquiries and emergencies. But as the historic natural catastrophe spiraled into a public-relations nightmare, her aides spent more and more time polishing her image.

You get what you vote for.

[TC Rider]

The e-mails show the errors of spelling and grammar that could be expected of harried public servants hurriedly writing and replying to hundreds of queries.

Could also be expected of the products of ineffective public schools, nepotism, cronyism and the absolute corruption of Louisiana.

[jmaroneps37]

There are a few problems for blanco mind in this situation.
First: The investigation is being run by a Republican Congress. This means the usual "the dog ate my homework" excuses for Democrat corruption and incompetence won't fly.
Second: If any of this was more than rathered "evidence" it would have been screamed from blanco mind and her gang from day one. N.B. Blanco mind is getting cute with her claims that she asked W to bring home a Louisiana Guard unit from Iraq. Even a nit wit like her would/should have known that was stupid.
Finally: The biggest problem is that the only people who would believe this pile of bull shiite have moved and are not coming back.

[LA Woman3]

You get what you vote for.