That was a bit fuzzy. He said that, as a sovereign
state, the governor has to request Federal help ..
the President can’t just go in UNLESS there is
insurrection. And, as you know, the reports at
the time were full of stories of looting, shooting,
guns everywhere, etc.
She made the situation 1000 times worse ..with pure
incompetence and despicable politics in a catastrophe.
“I think it was a bad idea to recommend that a governor claim insurrection when there is none.”
I totally agree it would have been a bad idea, but that’s not exactly what happened.
WWLTV excerpted President Bush’s statement. What he said was: “By law, the president cannot send federal troops to conduct law enforcement without a declaration of insurrection and/or a request from the governor.” It is my understanding that a declaration of insurrection is a Presidential prerogative, but that a governor can ask for assistance without there being a declaration of insurrection.
Actually, Bush acknowledged that claiming insurrection would have been a bad idea, although for different reasons. He wrote in his book, “If I invoked the Insurrection Act against her wishes, the world would see a male Republican president usurping the authority of a female Democratic governor by declaring an insurrection in a largely African American city. That would arouse controversy anywhere.”
I think it was a bad idea to recommend that a governor claim insurrection when there is none. That would set a bad precedent for the future. I can see where this could be abused.
It helps when people cite the whole quote rather than shortening and leaving out rather important parts of the meaning. Here is a quote of the entire sentence from W, with probably the most important part of the quote left in:
“Everybody’s blaming everybody else so I said to the governor, ‘Governor, give me the authority to send in federal troops,’” President Bush says. “By law, the president cannot send federal troops to conduct law enforcement without a declaration of insurrection and/or a request from the governor.”When you consider the quote in its entirety, it is pretty clear that Bush wasn't saying she should declare an insurrection but should avail herself of THE OTHER provision for sending in federal troops - which is a request from the governor.
I think you misunderstood what President Bush said. He said, accurately, the President has no authority to send armed troops into a state unless there is an insurrection to be put down.
In all other cases, governors make a formal request for the National Guard to come in and assist with such and such. Since the Governor is giving permission for the troops to be active in the State, then the law allows it.
This is why you see most governors making disaster declarations as soon as possible -- one, to get federal disaster funds and two, to allow the National Guard to come in and help.
This governor, Blanco, was so dumb and incompetent in leadership that she didn't know, apparently, that she had to give permission for the National GUard to take part in the disaster response.
It's done so much by governors, it's almost like a formality now in disasters. But it's still the law and the law must be followed. Blanco was just too dumb or too partisan to do her job correctly.