Operation Blame Blanco
Check out thew transcript of this interview with Hannah Storm Gov. Kathleen Blanco gave on the morning of August 29:
“STORM: Have you addressed the concerns of flooding in the New Orleans area, and particularly this possibility that it might become, as one expert put it, a toxic cesspool? A lot of pollution concerns.
Gov. BLANCO: Well, flooding, of course, is our main concern. That would–that would create an untenable situation in the city of New Orleans if the levees were to be breached. That would be our biggest problem. We would just deal with that situation. We will evaluate it as soon as this hurricane fury has blown over, and we’ll deal with what we have.
STORM: With the president, in advance of the storm hitting, declaring a state of emergency, how has that specifically helped your efforts?
Gov. BLANCO: Well, Hannah, it allowed FEMA to come in here early. We’ve set the stage for a lot of help for evacuation help, and the federal government is standing by. The president called. He was very supportive of our efforts. He was encouraging evacuation. He was very concerned. We appreciate his concern.
STORM: And what do you have available specifically, in terms of troops and supplies, as soon as this hurricane rolls through, to go in and assess and take care of the damage?
Gov. BLANCO: We’ve got National Guard members standing by, we’ve got airplanes ready to go in and do early assessments as soon as the back of the storm moves further inland. We’ll be knowing in a few hours what we’re dealing with. I know the low-lying areas are going to suffer the brunt of it–the early brunt of it, and we’ll do search and rescue, if necessary.”
So, to summatize…
1. President Bush declared an EMEGENCY before the storm hit.
2. He was “supportive” of the Governor’s ewfforts BEFORE the storm.
3. FEMA was on the rgound, ready to go.
4. Gov. Blanco and her adisors were PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH A LEVEE BREACH.
Yet, all of this is Governor Blanco’s fault? Sounds to me like she was doing all she could, with the resorces she had. And, that she assummed that FEMA would handle the relief efforts, as they are supposed to do.
September 5th, 2005 at 8:48 am
Good catch! Do you have a link for the interview?
September 5th, 2005 at 9:13 am
GREAT to have you back, Hesoid.
Please stay longer this time.
September 5th, 2005 at 10:24 am
Hesiod,
The bottleneck is not in FEMA, but Homeland Security and somebody’s idea that it would be in President Bush’s best interest to take away States Rights. Bad idea for the Republican Party whose Base stands up for States Rights. Federal Orders or States Orders to the NG Commanders and Others really don’t matter to the Citizens in Need and as a Society niether should it matter to Americans. However, I do believe LA’s Governor was Right in standing up for Her Troops and Law Enforcement under The Law of the Land.
September 5th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
I think there was a dKos diary saying the breach was reported by the weather service by 8:15 am Monday morning.
I am confused about what specific accusations the Republican pukes can be leveling –or is there nothing specific? just mud slinging? I’ve read scores of reports of FEMA fucking up but none of the governor or mayor.
September 6th, 2005 at 7:04 am
NorthCOM said the Bataan, a hospital ship with capability of producing a hundred thousand gallons of water a day, was in position but that Bush never gave the orders to go ahead and they couldn’t go.
We need to find out when they got their orders and who gave them.
Their Lt. Commander said Bush didn’t make the right call at the right time.
There’s a direct .mpg link on this page: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/5167.html
September 6th, 2005 at 8:30 am
I would like to know what if any steps were taken on the 27th to pre-position any support for Katrina victims.
FEMA damn well should have realized that NO was at risk not just from the Cat 4 hurricane but also from the additional flooding from leevees and taken steps.
So far I have heard that the National Guard was the only thing that was in place.
September 6th, 2005 at 10:05 am
Bush dropped the ball, but there are stil people that will react to any criticism of Bush as pure partisan bickering, because they so blindly follow whatever he says and immediately dismiss anything said that doesn’t match up with the lies he’s told.
September 6th, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Remember the base closing bruhaha? The base closing was the issue du jour just before Katrina hit. There was a ruling by a judge that said the Rummy didn’t have the authority to close National Guard bases and order the National Guard to move to other bases. The Govs of a few states challenged Rummy’s authority and won. Does Rummy play turf battles? Hell yeah! Who was in charge when Bush and Cheney were on vacation? Rummy? Would Rummy put his turf battles ahead of the welfare of the people? He has before. That’s the missing “why” in this story. It stinks like the convention center.
September 6th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
link to the letter that the gov of louisianna sent on aug 28, 2005 to the president requesting aid.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
September 7th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
The proof is there in front of you, yet your interpretation (and the rest of the morons that responded) is grossly skewed. Blanco is completely incompetent. Bush urged her to issue a mandatory evacuation, but all she did was sit on her @ss and wait till the hurricane fury blew over!! Just like she said she was going to do. Then once the storm had passed, the good-for-nothing governor sobbed like a little baby and was too confused to know which way was up! So, in effect, the federal government came in to clean up her mess and show some real leadership. Because of her slacker attitude, innocent people died waiting for aid. And you know what? This is only the beginning of the repercussions. The waters are now contaminated which are being pumped back into the lake which then flows into the Gulf where fish swim that people eat…and guess what’s in the water?? Get a clue, people! She should have listened to Bush.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:45 pm
F.Y.I. LOUISIANA is spelled with one ‘n’, not two…
September 7th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
According to the timeline and associated links here, Governor Blanco declared a state of emergency Friday before Katrina hit LA.
http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline
September 7th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
This is crazy, I actaully thought this was a GOP site, not a liberal site. You are quoting the Gov, stating or summarizing as you put it:
1. President Bush declared an EMEGENCY before the storm hit.
2. He was €œsupportive€ of the Governor€™s ewfforts BEFORE the storm.
3. FEMA was on the gound, ready to go.
Sounds like Bush didn’t drop the ball did he? You just wait, this next weeks / months, more questions and answers will arise on the balls dropped by the local and state officials.
Did you know that N.O. had an Evacuation Plan, that was not followed at all? Within that plan School Buses (take note, you will hear more about the School Buses) were suppose to be used to get people out that didn’t have cars and those buses were never called up and ended up flooded and useless?
Did you people realize that FEMA is not a first responder and the local and state services, detailed in the Evacuation Plan by N.O. have strict responsibilities for evacuating the city?
Did you know that for years (Clinton Admin) money set aside and Federal govt. grants to for building improvements were not used at all by the state for N.O.?
It cracks me up, when Clinton was President nothing was his fault, Somilia, WTC (#1 attack), Kenya Embassy’s, Waco, etc - but now that Bush is President - he micro manages all aspects of the government. Give me a freaking break.
September 7th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Bush is incompetent,
Gov. Blanco cried? WOWEE! Now there’s proof she sucks!
Of course, Haley, the fastass Casino hooker cried too. Not sure if he was crying about the deads Mississipians, or all those busted up casinos, though.
Ands, of course Bush was NOT the one who got Blanco and Nagin to order a mandatory evacuation. That’s horseshit.
BTW, what does Bush’s alleged advice to order a mandatory evacuation have to do with the polluted water being pumped bak into the Gulf and causing environmental problems?
Maybe he should have spent money of shoring up the city’s levees and flood walls instead of in Iraq, ya fuckhead.
September 7th, 2005 at 2:02 pm
Marge,
Please…. You just had the quote from Governor Blanco herself that Bush declared the emergency, but you have the real news from Thinkprogress.org? LOL, PLEASE…. Oh, yea that’s a good reference…..*puke
September 7th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
I was there. The mandatory evacuation orders for the low lying areas were in place by Saturday. Then, each area above was given the order so that the northerly population would not clog the roads. Each Parish issued their own orders, but the effort was coordinated by parish officials. My parish, St. Tammany, was ordered out Sunday morning. The interstates had contraflow going north and east. A large percentage of New Orleanians had no money (and or) no car. Some had been through so many hurricanes, the thought they could ride this one out. Some could not get all in the family out, and stayed behind to care for those who could not go.It was impossible for anyone in authority to go house to house to check up on who stayed behind. The local authorities and Governor Blanco did the best they could. Fema was totally incompetent. Second guessing by those far away never works.
September 7th, 2005 at 3:18 pm
Oh, and it gets better!! Blanco was just interviewed about the forced evacuations that the mayor is issuing today…she said (in her usual snotty, bitchy condescending way) “well, the mayor of New Orleans issued that…he’s just carrying over from what he said a week ago….But the governor, and that would be ME, has to enforce it and sign off on it which I haven’t.”
SO, HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE SHE DECIDES TO DO SOMETHING SMART? 5 PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF WATERBORNE DISEASES SO FAR. WHAT MORE WILL IT TAKE FOR HER TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE CONDITIONS ARE EXTREMELY TOXIC…DEADLY!!! …I swear! She needs to get her head out of her butt, put her lipstick away and do her freaking job! How does she sleep at night?
September 7th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
Marge, Marge, Marge…also from your little timeline…Saturday, August 27 Katrina upgraded to cat 3–and what does blanco do…throws in the towel!!!!! —-€œI have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.€ [Office of the Governor]—-She is W-O-R-T-H-L-E-S-S …and she pretty much says so herself in that statement…
September 7th, 2005 at 5:43 pm
It looks like the lyinmg asshole Republican troll brigade is paying us a visit now.
Mike Moore, you are a fucking idiot. First of all, the fact that Bush declared an emergency means absolutely shit. It means nothing.
It means nothing because FEMA fucked up after that. It also GETS BLANCO OFF THE HOOK! OMce that federal wemergency was declared, it was a federal show. resouirces, including military assets, should have been pouring in at that point. That didn’t happen.
As for Amy in Baton Rouge, take your Republican staffer Propaganda bullshit and go fuck yourself.
Did you know, Amy the stupid Republican staffer bitch, that General Honore AGREES with Gov. Blanco? He said none of HIS troops are going to forcibly evacuate anybody from N. Orleans.
BTW, Mayor Nagin supported Buhs in 2000, and supported Gov. BLanco’sa REPUBLICAN opponent. He also supported Bobby indal. He’s a DINO [Democrat in Name Only].
Looks like Republicans, all around, fucked up this mess, doesn’t it?
September 7th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
BTW, Amy…We don’t refer to the Capital of Louisiana around here with that frenchified “Baton Rouge” crap. That’s unpatriotic.
We call it good old American “Red Stick.”
Red Stick, Louisiana.
Sounds about right.
September 7th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Hesiod,
Looks like you’re the effing idiot, man! If the fact that Bush declaring a state of emergency means nothing, then Blanco doing so on Friday means even less! I mean, come on, it’s a friggin category 4 hurricane..of course there’s going to be an emergency and need for aid afterwards. She declared it and then buckled under the pressure. And instead of asking for help right away, that dumb bitch Blanco told the Red Cross and FEMA not to go in and not to send supplies because she did not want to attract more people to the Superdome. You would know that if you got your news from a reliable source like Fox News rather than MTv. Blanco needs to go sell cosmetics and let the able-bodied republicans do the job the right way.
Oh, and are you new to this country, a-hole? The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Yeah, it’s french because our roots are French. What’s “unpatriotic” about calling a city by its name? You’re a fucking retard. You’re just looking for an argument because you know you aint got a leg to stand on…just like Blanco.
I’m going find some intelligent people to talk to. This is seriously a waste of my time.
September 8th, 2005 at 6:11 am
Sorry, Amy the lying Republican staffer bitch from Red Stick, I don’t respond to trolls anymore.
September 8th, 2005 at 6:20 am
BTW, Amy the lying Republican bitch staffer from Red Stick, read what Marsanne Golsby said about Gov. Blanco:
So, shut yer propaganda spreading pie hole, lying bitch.
September 12th, 2005 at 6:56 pm
Hesiod–Please educate yourself before posting to this forum. If you don’t understand the topic, stay out of the discussion. Uninformed participants only waste other people’s time. And enough with the tantrums. You’re only embarrassing yourself further. Thanks in advance.
…and this is the rest of the story….Another example of how our media, Hollywood, and the corrupt government in Louisiana try to blame all their misfortunes on the US Government.
A SAD STATE OF CORRUPT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT.
Politics over duty
This is a post from a fellow over in Merritt Is, FL, a reporter who’s
been researching what went on before the storm hit.
I think all of Nagin’s pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in
the near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to
light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National
Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and Blanco
personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of New Orleans and
they said they’d take it under consideration. This was after the NOAA buoy 240
miles south had recorded 68′ waves before it was destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his
advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for a state
to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus
Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act).
Just before midnight
Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and pleaded with her
to sign the request papers so the federal government and the military could
legally begin mobilization and call up.
He was told that they didn’t think it necessary for the federal government to
be involved yet. After the President’s final call to the governor she held
meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of bringing
federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal assistance it would
make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed upon that the feds would not
be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and
Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal assistance, that
they declare the state an emergency area, and begin mandatory evacuation.
After a personal plea from the President, Mayor Nagin agreed to order
an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory evacuation, and the governor
still refused to sign the papers requesting and authorizing federal action.
In frustration the President declared the area a national disaster
area before the state of Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced
preparations. Rumor has it that the President’s legal advisers were looking into
the ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional
requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal government can
move into state with troops - but that had not been done since 1906 and the
Constitutionality of it was called into question to use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to New
Orleans for levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a
marina and support the gambling ships.
Toss in the investigation that will look into why the emergency
preparedness plan submitted to the federal government for funding and published
on the city’s website was never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for
the purpose of gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the
organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or coordinating into
any planning - though the document implies that they were.
The suffering people of New Orleans need to be asking some hard
questions as do we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even
sign the multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which
further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining states.
Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should have
commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to his own
emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses at his disposal
to use between the local school busses and the city transportation busses - but
he never raised a finger to prepare them or activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but
been destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands more
suffering, but it’s certainly not a time for people to be pointing fingers and
trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption and incompetence. Pray
to God for the survivors that they can start their lives anew as fast as
possible and we learn from all the mistakes to avoid them in the future.