Mar 21 2007
The Blanco Blemish
I knew Governor Blanco of Louisiana was a disaster during Katrina, but I never knew how much until I read this in a local paper – and her screw ups seem to have started from day one and dominoed from there.
Her failure to take quick action to remove the tolls from the Crescent City Connection in the midst of the mass evacuation for Hurricane Ivan, the meeting with Fidel Castro and striking out against dissident lawmakers by arranging to have their committee spots yanked were blemishes that failed to dent her once robust popularity and it seemed for a while that her re-election would be inevitable.
Not suspending tolls during a forced evacuation? No wonder so many people road out Katrina. People who to this day blame Brown and FEMA for anything having to do with a natural disaster that has no equal in our history are forgetting FEMA works for the Governor and local authorities. FEMA practiced to a set of plans which Blanco and Nagan threw out the window the minute the hurricane hit. The response was amazing in terms of mobilizing equipment and federal aid (the military heroes of the day are an easy indicator of that fact). But our best was simply not good enough in the face of Katrina’s enormous path of destruction. FEMA being overwhelmed is not the same thing as FEMA being wrong or screwing up. It is no more ‘wrong’ than a olympic weightlifter being stumped by the challenge of lifting a car over their head. Somethings are just not possible.
Blanco and Nagan held off evacuations until FEMA and Bush finally brow beat them to start way too late. Blanco refused to allow supplies into New Orleans, even when word had come the levies had broken. In the 24 hours it took the cvity to fill with water supplies would have been at the Superdome and nearly all the people moved to higher ground. That was Blanco’s screw up. FEMA was ready to go on her orders. Now the woman is finally paying her dues for her mistakes and stepping down. She should be up on charges of negligence.
Interesting!
When Houston evacuated from Hurricane Rita, one thing that Houston did not screw up on was that all toll roads were open without charging toll fees. They did screw up on other things. But they’ve made some improvements since.
This was the first Democratic victory using their MSM. Huge. Will anyone ever forget the pictures of Shep Smith standing out there, hour after hour saying it was all Bush’s fault?
I didn’t know about the tolls but I have been screaming about what the Dem’s MSM was able to accomplish. The Gov had school buses sitting 50 miles away and all she had to do was tell them to go get the people. That simple, that easy, that quick. Instead, they stop the food/water from even going in. They put guards on the bridges.
This article concerns me though because they point out who is in line. I actually prefer Blanco to her Lt Gov Mitch Landrieu. This is the link between the Dems in Washington and what went down. Mary Landrieu was all over TV shouting at Bush while her brother, Mitch Landrieu kept it boxed in from his end.
Lousiana residents need to ask why Lt Gov Mitch Landrieu refused to send hundreds of school buses to rescue his people. It is impossible to live less than an hour away from the MSM’s drama, talk about finding buses and not be aware they were sitting on your doorstep.
Thank God this woman is gone. Her incompetence was a major factor in the New Orleans disaster. She was shielded by the Democrats’ blame Bush machine.
The day the levees broke, Bush teleconferenced Blanco and specifically asked her whether the levees had been breached. No, Blanco said. In fact, New Orleans was already taking on water. If Blanco had given Bush the proper information when he asked for it, Bush could have sent FEMA into action hours ahead of time.
Instead, Bush took all the heat and the the MSM pretty much let Blanco and Nagin off the hook. Which is why it’s important for the President to SPEAK UP. No one else is going to defend him. He has to do it himself.