Posted on 09/07/2005 3:35:54 PM PDT by NickatNite2003
Just heard on FOX that Blanco refused to allow supplies to be brought to the stadium, "Because they wanted all those people to leave, and they didn't want to create a magnet to bring others there, by bringing in food and water!"""
Bush, Blanco spar over military, visit
Blanco says Army brought attitude, not resources
By Bill Walsh Robert Travis Scott and Jan Moller
Staff writers
BATON ROUGE - Even as teams of engineers worked to patch ruptured levees in New Orleans, a political breach opened between Gov. Kathleen Blanco and President Bush over who is in charge of the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery effort.
One flashpoint came over the weekend, when Blanco said she rebuffed an attempt by the White House to seize control of the mounting military presence in Louisiana, including thousands of state National Guard forces under her authority. Then Bush made an unusual return visit to the state Monday, just days after surveying the damage - a trip that members of Blanco's staff said caught them by surprise and caused a certain level of consternation.
"We had no idea the president was coming," said Blanco's communications director, Robert Mann, adding that the governor was forced to cancel a trip to visit evacuees in Houston so she could meet with Bush.
snip
Blanco said that when the plain-spoken, cigar-chomping Honore showed up in New Orleans late last week, she thought that her worries about a lack of federal troops and resource were over. Honore quickly became a media darling and the take-charge face of the federal government in New Orleans, barking out orders to surprised National Guards members who aren't even under his control.
Blanco said she liked Honore's style, but was surprised that he arrived with only a few aides in tow.
"He didn't bring any resources," Blanco said. "I just kind of expected, based on my conversations with the White House, that we could be getting a surge of equipment, and we did not."
snip
Friday night, the White House moved to take charge of all the troops in Louisiana. At home, Blanco received a memorandum of understanding from the White House asking her to cede control of the National Guard. According to her staff, Blanco was asked to sign and return the document right away. Blanco consulted with her legal counsel, Terry Ryder, and then refused the request.
"They wanted to take over my National Guard," Blanco said in an interview. "A governor has to have the final say on what's going to happen."
Bartlett said the request was made for efficiency's sake to streamline the chain of command and improve the efficiency of the recovery. He dismissed suggestions that it was done because Blanco is a Democrat.
"We were in the same discussions with (Republican Mississippi Gov.) Haley Barbour," Bartlett said. "This was not about politics."
In what some saw as a not-so-subtle snub, Blanco over the weekend hired a former Clinton administration disaster response chief, James Lee Witt, as an adviser.
snip
Early Monday morning, Blanco was in Baton Rouge preparing to fly to Houston to meet with thousands of Louisiana refugees when she received news that Bush was on his way. Blanco Chief of Staff Andy Kopplin called the White House and got word from Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card that the president was planning to return to Louisiana in a few hours to follow up on his Friday visit.
The White House notified the media Sunday about the trip. But Blanco aide Bob Mann said Blanco was assured Sunday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that Bush was not coming. FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews said agency Director Michael Brown knew about the Bush visit but that many lower-level officials didn't, and that was probably why the Blanco administration wasn't notified.
Bartlett said "there was outreach" to the governor's office, "e-mails sent, messages left."
"We apologize if there was any confusion," he said. A Bush visit to Louisiana at a time when Blanco was out of the state would have been a major embarrassment for the governor. It could also have sent the message that Bush, who has been criticized for not moving quickly enough to help Louisiana, was in charge on the ground.
Blanco abruptly canceled the trip to Houston. Bush downplayed suggestions of a state-federal spat.
http://tinyurl.com/83uwt
this thread has gotten some steam.
What has bobby been saying?
I must admit I have not heard him say anything in 4 days. His website says he opened a temp office in Baton Rouge.
Bobby who?
Jindal lives here.
weapons-grade stupidity
you nailed it.
Interesting...and, if proves true....you're probably right on the money there. Have you read the letter written by Rep. Tancredo about his suggestion that the monies being be sent to LA be withheld from its government because of its proven corrupt political history?
He strayed off the plantation and I will bet a thousand bucks Blanco tied his hands in some way.
#####
Knowing little about LA politics until last week, I would agree with you. Apparently Nagin may have a D behind his name but he is not part of the club.
We have had a legislature doing everything they can to cripple our R governor - first R governor since Spiro Agnew - even if the decisions harm all of Maryland. It is truly despicable and in LAs case deadly.
She won the Cajun vote -- Jindal with Nagin's help did better than expected in New Orleans among black voters -- but Blanco did better than expected among Cajun voters.
...looks like blanco's going for the gold...starting to crank on the military...they will wind up carrying her away with no powder burns either soon...
Doogle
Blancos two ding bat things.
First, she when asked about people being in the water in NO said something like "it's just water, I don't know what is under it" when everyone knows what is in that water.
Her second was a prayer service Wed after the storm during which people were dying. While she made a charade of a prayer service. She never heard "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition". One doesn't have a formal church service whilst others are dying from lack of food and water and help.
We will do it for them. Since Dems don't really care who votes, as long as we get out the vote, we can all get several absentee ballots and vote her out. We also need to make sure we vote more times than there are people in LA, just to make sure.
NJ would elect a cardboard cut out if it was a Democrat. NJ govt has been a family run Dem business for over 70 years. I know , I live there. BEYOND CORRUPT..
The Red Cross Blocked
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1479745/posts
Sorry, but Nagin had too many opportunities to make things right.
Beginning with the buses, then putting off the mandatory evac. till the last minute because he was afraid of lawsuits, tells me he doesn't have the right stuff.
Finally, he was whining just like the others about lack of Fed help. He made a lot of noise but never did anything.
Time for Reid, Hillary, and their cohorts in the MSM to STFU.
Interview here http://www.radioblogger.com/#000967
Wednesday, September 7
Explosive revelation by Fox News' Major Garrett.
On the Fox News Channel just a little while ago, Major Garrett, one of Fox's star reporters, and author of The Enduring Revolution, broke a very disturbing story for those on the left that want to play the blame game regarding the reaction to the Katrina. Here's his interview with Hugh Hewitt moments ago:
HH: Joined now by Major Garrett, correspondent for the Fox News Channel, as well as author of The Enduring Revolution, a best seller earlier this year. We talked about that. Major Garrett, welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show.
MG: Hugh, always a pleasure. Thanks for having me.
HH: You just broke a pretty big story. I was watching up on the corner television in my studio, and it's headlined that the Red Cross was blocked from delivering supplies to the Superdome, Major Garrett. Tell us what you found out.
MG: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdom, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?
HH: And the answer is?
MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.
HH: Now Major Garrett, on what day did they block the delivery? Do you know specifically?
MG: I am told by the Red Cross, immediately after the storm passed.
HH: Okay, so that would be on Monday afternoon.
MG: That would have been Monday or Tuesday. The exact time, the hour, I don't have. But clearly, they had an evacuee situation at the Superdome, and of course, people gravitated to the convention center on an ad hoc basis. They sort of invented that as another place to go, because they couldn't stand the conditions at the Superdome.
HH: Any doubt in the Red Cross' mind that they were ready to go, but they were blocked?
MG: No. Absolutely none. They are absolutely unequivocal on that point.
HH: And are they eager to get this story out there, because they are chagrined by the coverage that's been emanating from New Orleans?
MG: I think they are. I mean, and look. Every agency that is in the private sector, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Feed The Children, all the ones we typically see are aggrieved by all the crap that's being thrown around about the response to this hurricane, because they work hand and glove with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When FEMA is tarred and feathered, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are tarred and feathered, because they work on a cooperative basis. They feel they are being sullied by this reaction.
HH: Of course they are. Now Major Garrett, what about the Louisiana governor's office of Homeland Security. Have they responded to this charge by the Red Cross, which is a blockbuster charge?
MG: I have not been able to reach them yet. But, what they have said consistently is, and what they told the Red Cross, we don't want you to come in there, because we have evacuees that we want to get out. And if you come in, they're more likely to stay. So I want your listeners to follow me here. At the very moment that Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans was screaming where's the food, where's the water, it was over the overpass, and state officials were saying you can't come in.
HH: How long would it have taken to deliver those supplies, Major Garrett, into the Superdome and possibly the convention center?
MG: That is a more difficult question to answer than you might think. There were areas, obviously, as you approached the Superdome, that were difficult to get to, because of the flood waters. And as the Red Cross explained it to me, look. We don't have amphibious vehicles. We have trucks and ambulance type vehicles. In some cases, after the flood waters rose as high as they did, we would have needed, at minimal, the Louisiana National Guard to bring us in, or maybe something bigger and badder, from the Marines or Army-type vehicle. They're not sure about that. But remember, Hugh, we were transfixed, I know I was. I'm sure you were and your listeners were, by my colleague, Shep Smith, and others on that overpass.
HH: Right.
MG: ...saying, wait a minute. We drove here. It didn't take us anything to drive here.
HH: Right.
MG: Why can't people just come here?
HH: I also have to conclude from what you're telling me, Major Garrett, is that had they been allowed to deliver when they wanted to deliver, which is at least a little bit prior to the levee, or at least prior to the waters rising, the supplies would have been pre-positioned, and the relief...you know, the people in the Superdome, and possibly at the convention center, I want to come back to that, would have been spared the worst of their misery.
MG: They would have been spared the lack of food, water and hygiene. I don't think there's any doubt that they would not have been spared the indignity of having nor workable bathrooms in short order.
HH: Now Major Garrett, let's turn to the convention center, because this will be, in the aftermath...did the Red Cross have ready to go into the convention center the supplies that we're talking about as well?
MG: Sure. They could have gone to any location, provided that the water wasn't too high, and they got some assistance.
HH: Now, were they utterly dependent upon the Louisiana state officials to okay them?
MG: Yes.
HH: Because you know, they do work with FEMA. But is it your understanding that FEMA and the Red Cross and the other relief agencies must get tht state's okay to act?
MG: As the Red Cross told me, they said look. We are not state actors. We are not the Army. We are a private organziation. We work in cooperation with both FEMA and the state officials. But the state told us A) it's not safe, because the water is dangerous. And we're now learning how toxic the water is. B) there's a security situation, because they didn't have a handle on the violence on the ground. And C) and I think this is most importantly, they wanted to evacuate out. They didn't want people to stay.
HH: Now off the record, will the Red Cross tell you what they think of Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin?
MG: No.
HH: Will they tell you what they think about FEMA director Brown?
MG: No.
HH: Will they tell you any...will they give any advice of how to make sure this doesn't happen again?
MG: Well, there is something, Hugh, that I think we have to be honest with ourselves about. New Orleans is a situation, because of its geography, utterly unique in America. We don't build cities in bowls, except there. This complicated the Red Cross efforts, and the FEMA efforts, from the start. In the mid-90's, the Red Cross opened a shelter in South Carolina that was eventually flooded. And there was a big controversy about that. After that, the Red Cross made a policy decision that it would never shelter, or seek to shelter, any evacuee from any hurricane, anywhere where flooding was likely to occur. High ground is where they were going to be, and where they were going to go. Well, that basically rules out all of New Orleans.
HH: Sure. Does the Red Cross, though, assist in evacuation, Major Garrett?
MG: Not under the state plan in Louisiana. And not very many other places, either, because again, the Red Cross is a responding private charity. It is not an evacuation charity. It does not assume, as you can well imagine, Hugh, the inevitable liability that would come with being in charge of evacuating.
HH: How senior are your sources at the Red Cross, Major Garrett?
MG: They're right next to Marty Evans, the president.
HH: So you have no doubt in your mind that they have...
MG: Oh, none. None. And I want to give credit to Bill O'Reilly, because he had Marty Evans on the O'Reilly Factor last night. And this is the first time Marty Evans said it. She said it on the O'Reilly Factor last night in a very sort of brief intro to her longer comments about dealing with the housing and other needs of the evacuees now. She said look. We were ready. We couldn't go in. They wouldn't let us in, and the interview continued. I developed it more fully today.
HH: And the 'they' are the Louisiana state officials?
MG: Right.
HH: Now any in the 'they'...is the New Orleans' mayor's staff involved as well? Or the New Orleans police department?
MG: Not that I'm aware of, because the decision was made and communicated to the Red Cross by the state department of Homeland Security and the state National Guard. Both of which report to the governor.
HH: Do they have any paper records of this communication?
MG: I did not ask that. It's a good question. I'll follow up with them.
HH: I sure would love to know that. And if you get it, send it to me. We'll put it up on the blog. Major Garrett, great story. Please keep us posted. Look forward to talking to you a lot in the next couple of weeks on this story. Thanks for breaking away from the Fox News Channel this afternoon.
End of interview
If you really want to get to the bottom of what really happened after Katrina, and you want to get caught up in the blame game, you will eventually discover that blame in Louisiana is spelled B-L-A-N-C-O.
Yeah Oprah, be sure to demand an apology from the Governor, not that you ever would.
I'm getting the picture in Oz and what I see is far from pretty, no wonder the aussie tourists who escaped are telling the press horror stories...it's like they were caught in a gang-war in a third-world country they say.
I know it is happening. The spoils are going to be divided up and Jeff Parish is going to be left out. The people there are salivating at Jeff being the new NO. As are the people in BR.
But the new NO will belong to other interests who will reward Blanco and Landrieu handsomely.
I know these people. Bottom line is money and real estate.
Not to mention all the empty liquor bottles they found at the Superdome and the Convention Center...
Dems want you to behave "their" way, even if it kills you.
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