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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (736821)	9/3/2013 1:23:12 AM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Recommended By Jorj X Mckie Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578748

>> Blanco hesitated in asking for help from FEMA and this caused a delay in FEMA's ability to engage. FEMA did their job once they were asked to. Right. The entire complaint about Bush not going to NOLA was bogus; he explained this both at the time and later in his book, pointing out that the airport was essentially a staging area for rescue operations, and for him to have landed there early on would have been a horrible mistake given what it takes to accommodate AF1 landing somewhere like that. I'm just not sure how people think FEMA should have been able to deliver water to Convention Center Blvd. if the locals couldn't. The entire Blanco thing came to a head on Friday. But on Wednesday, the day after the realization of the scope of the problem set in, Karl Rove gave Senator Vitter a message to deliver to Blanco, which he delivered. The message was a request that Blanco assign authority over the National Guard to the President. We're talking the first full day of the crisis that she received that message. Bush could not have taken that responsibility because it had a substantial component of law enforcement which, of course, required her permission under the Posse Comitatus Act (1878). How could Bush have even done that -- sending defenseless troops into a situation where the reporting indicated gunfire at rescuers, etc.? No way. So, on Wednesday, Blanco was asked for the authorization. I believe she was provided with the essential paperwork at that time as well. On Friday, the Air Force One meeting on the tarmac occurred. According to liberal historian Doug Brinkley, "Blanco could not see how that would help ... she had no reason to step aside and allow George Bush to play the role of hero." According to Brinkley (and he cites his sources), "Blanco believed Bush's 'federalizing' push ... was a 'paper reorganization', part of the White House's spin effort to blame HER" for the mess. According to Vitter, Nagin lost his temper, pounded the table, and was "inching toward" a nervous breakdown. Bush, in the meeting aboard AF1, told the rest of the people in the meeting to "stay here ... We're going to another section of the plane and we're going to make a decision." IN that private meeting Bush offered Blanco two options. She said she needed another 24 hours to respond. As people were dying. Bush later gave details of his discussion with Blanco -- "I told her it was clear the state local response forces had been overwhelmed. 'Governor', I pressed, 'you need to authorize the federal government to take charge of the response.' She told me she needed 24 hours to think it over. Bush responded, "We don't have 24 hours. We've waited too long already." She refused to answer. Blanco was responsible for a lot of suffering and undoubtedly some deaths that week. I heard her speak a few months before Katrina. It was the worst speech I've ever heard. It was a large crowd and people just got up and walked out in the middle of it. I remember talking with some others about how pathetic it was. It was clear that woman was utterly incompetent to hold the office.