Blanco - what did she do right and wrong?

[lateo]

I'm sorry if this has been brought up over and over but I must ask this question. Can someone provide me links to her actions in regards to what she did to protect her state?

I am well aware of the requests for Federal help that she made so I'm not looking for that.

Specifically what I am looking for is what she did locally involving evacuating people and general preparedness for the hurricane.

Links to LA documents about their plans to evacuate and hurricane preparedness would be especially appreciated.

TIA!

[Spazito]

1. Look up the State Emergency Plan, which the Governor had to

activate prior asking for bush to proclaim a state of emergency for Louisiana. See how it was amended to tie it to Homeland Security once HS was set up. It makes for very interesting reading.

[Nederland]

2. The whole waiting 24 hours thing

I still don't understand what that was all about, but I do know that Nagin was rather upset that she didn't give Bush a decision right away.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/05/ltm.01.html

<snip>

NAGIN: They both shook -- I don't know the exact date. They both shook their head and said yes. I said, 'Great.' I said, 'Everybody in this room is getting ready to leave.' There was senators and his cabinet people, you name it, they were there. Generals. I said, 'Everybody right now, we're leaving. These two people need to sit in a room together and make a doggone decision right now.'

S. O'BRIEN: And was that done?

NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."

He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.

S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?

NAGIN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?

NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.

S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no.

NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died.

<snip>

[Spazito]

6. The 'offer' bush made was for the Governor to give up her authority

and 'allow' bush to federalize the state thereby giving the federal government control over ALL the assets of Louisiana including the oil that is currently within the authority of the state of Louisiana.


Here is an article that refers to that 'request' by bush:

"Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

[Nederland]

27. Then she messed up

If she had given up her authority then Bush would have no one to blame but himself. As it is now, Bush can say "well I wanted to help but the governor wouldn't let me". Its bullshit of course, but it gives him cover that he wouldn't have had.

As for your concern about oil, I'm not sure what you mean. The oil in the gulf is owned by private companies, not the state of Louisiana.

[yodermon]

35. It was too late.

This particular drama happened on Friday (9/2). At this point, Bush/DHS/FEMA had already squandered DAYS by not responding, even as the Governor's & Mayor's requests for help had become increasingly frantic (re Nagin's Wed. nite radio interview).

The levee's broke Monday, remember.

People were dehydrating by Wednesday, remember.

And bush* has the gall to "offer" to "help" by "federalizing" the "relief effort" on FRIDAY?!?!?

Please.

[sam sarrha]

39. they will get a tax cut.. on their preditory rates

[TankLV]

50. No. If she gave up her authority, this would be worse.

Bunkerboy would have used all his power TO PROTECT HIMSELF POLITICALLY!

She did the right thing.

She brought in CLINTON's TRIED AND TRUE EXPERT with a profound positive record of COMPETANCE to save people and get the proper help they need and isn't STILL being given!

If we've learned anything from this, NEVER TRUST A REPUKE!

I knew sure as hell when bunkerboy "reorganized" the "fatherland" security bureaucracy that we were going to regret it all.

EVERYTHING THE REPUKE TOUCH TURNS TO SHIT!

[lateo]

15. It is a BS talking point...look here for the debunking...

http://www.alternet.org/story/25227

This quote is cut out of Lie #6 and it is a direct quote from the NRP.

* Notification and full coordination with States
will occur, but the coordination process must not
delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of
critical resources. States are urged to notify and
coordinate with local governments regarding a
proactive Federal response.

* State and local governments are encouraged to
conduct collaborative planning with the Federal
Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness
for catastrophic incidents."

The moneyshot here is this statement:

but the coordination process must not
delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of
critical resources.

The coordination process MUST NOT DELAY OR IMPEDE the rapid deployment.

and the next sentence is equally damning.

States are urged to notify and
coordinate with local governments regarding a
proactive Federal response.

States are URGED, not required. The Federal response is supposed to be PROACTIVE.

[Nederland]

21. That doesn't answer the question

What Nagin wanted was a single point of control. Who, in your opinion and according to the processes outlined in National Response Plan, was supposed to be that single point of control, the state or federal government?

On edit: Perhaps this is the crux of the problem. The NRP sucks. It is not a document designed to create a single point of command and therefore a single place to direct blame. It is a political document designed to cover people asses and give them excuses when the shit hits the fan. By using fuzzy words like "urge" and "coordinate", it allows people on both sides to point the finger elsewhere--which is precisely what we are seeing right now.

[lateo]

23. According to the NRP the Fed was in charge.

They didn't need Blanco's permission or approval for anything. And if you read my first reply to this the NPR states that:

but the coordination process must not
delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of
critical resources.

You see? What Bush wanted to do was to strong arm her into something that goes outside the scope of the NRP, and indeed it would seem he was holding up relief efforts until she did.

[Nederland]

24. Response

Let me get this straight. The NRP says that the federal government must coordinate its response with the state and local authorities but that response must not delay or impede the response. Correct?

Excuse me, but this simply re-enforces my belief that the NRP is fucked up. That type of language is deliberately meant to obscure responsibility. It allows local and state officials to complain that the federal government did not "rapidly deploy" and it allows federal officials to complain that state and local governments did not "coordinate" with them. Its simple fucked up.

A clear a precise plan would say this:

FEMA is responsible for all activities and shall be the single point of command and control. FEMA should consult with state and local authorities but has the freedom to ignore those opinions as they see fit.

THAT is how you write a document that defines responsibility.

[lateo]

26. I agree.

It does leave too much wiggle room for finger pointing. But, the second sentence there pretty much tightens it up a bit...although I would have worded it differently.

[DanCa]

3. With respect for the Governor

She had too much faith in the feds which is run by murder inc. I think that and the fact that she underestimated the number of people who couldn't afford to leave the city was the mistake before hand.

[Courtesy Flush]

4. Don't circle the wagons around Blanco

The blame doesn't belong on only one side. Pointing a finger at Republicans only will only perpetuate the problem.

Blanco is not a leader. She was over her head as Tourism Commissioner, and should never have run for governor. I'm sure she thought it would be great fun, but she has no history of leadership.

[Spazito]

7. Links to prove your contention, please

Throwing out suppositions without proof from credible sources tend to be dismissed as they should be, imo.

[K-W]

8. Huh?

Pointing a finger at Republicans only will only perpetuate the problem.


Which problem would blaming the people who deserve the blame perpetuate exactly?

[bryant69]

9. I can't say for sure

But I would assume that if you let the Democratic Governor and teh Democratic Mayor off the hook for their errors, you are not encouraging them to improve themselves.

Bryant

[Courtesy Flush]

11. Exactly

But the blame goes to Blanco AND Bush.

Root out the incompetents on both sides. Defend the indefensible and you'll end up in the same boat as the Republicans. Demand accountability on all levels and on both sides.

[K-W]

13. No, I think I will base my opinion on reality and not partisan balance

If we were to list every person who might deserve some blame for this we would be here all day, but it is clear from the facts that Bush is primarily responsible for this disaster and pretending that Blanco deserves the same level of blame as Bush only obscures that fact.

Dont worry about me ending up in the same boat as the republicans. Since I have no intention of lying there is no danger of that.

[Nederland]

29. Reality

Reality to me seems that we had a Democratic governor and a Republican president playing political games with words while a decent hard working Democratic mayor is screaming for help for his people and not getting it.

But hey, that my "reality".

[LostinVA]

31. Actually, Nagin is much more of a Repub than Blanco

He did a Lauch Faircloth to 8improve his election chances. But that's besides the point. Blanco didn't play a political game with Bush, she was thrown into the Gladiator arena without a sword, but she beat him at his own game anyway.

She and Landrieu aren't exactly flaming liberals, but I'm getting tired of all of the finger pointing going to wards dem women and black men. It;s sickening.

[Nederland]

33. I could care less

...what party he belongs to. He seems the only person in the mix that expressed genuine concern for the people.

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[K-W]

38. Your pride in electing criminals is... special. EOM

[Bridget Burke]

12. Please, tell us more about Blanco.

Since you appear to know her so well. We'll point fingers as we wish.

There are two groups here:

* Local authorities who dealt with the disaster directly. Were they 100% correct all the time? Perhaps not.

* Bush & Co who bled FEMA dry, delayed help to the disaster area & have been trying to cover their political asses ever since.

The whole world was watching & we know who deserves more blame.

[Courtesy Flush]

14. Sorry if I can't provide all the info you want

But I live in South Louisiana, and I watched with amazement before the hurricane when the "mandatory" evacuation only seemed to apply to people who had cars. The poor were rounded up and kept in town, though the SuperDome is walking distance from the river, where people could have been transported by ship.

In the days before the storm, orders were coming from Baton Rouge.

Bush screwed up on the national level, but the evacuation was a local issue.

[Spazito]

16. Actually, once bush signed the proclamation declaring a state

of emergency exists in Louisiana, which he did on the 26th of August, according to the National Response Plan, federal agencies have responsibilities to act proactively.

From the plan:

The NRP establishes policies, procedures, and mechanisms for proactive Federal response to catastrophic events. A catastrophic event is any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. A catastrophic event could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to State, local, tribal, and private-sector authorities in the impacted area; and significantly interrupts governmental operations and emergency services to such an extent that national security could be threatened. All catastrophic events are Incidents of National Significance.

[Courtesy Flush]

17. I read it three times

And saw nothing that said the governor sits back and leaves everything to the feds.

Sorry. She had the opportunity to act, and didn't. To say that she didn't HAVE TO act, so she's blameless, is inexcusable. If she'd evacuated the city, lives would have been saved. Maybe she can legitimately pass the buck, but she had the power to act, and did not. I have evacuees living in my house right now. I could easily have said I'm not taking you in because I don't HAVE to. Everyone needed to act. Not just the feds.

In the days before the storm we kept hearing that the Super Dome was the shelter of last resort. In reality, it was the shelter of FIRST resort. People should have been taken out of the city.

[Spazito]

18. Seeing as you are from Louisiana, you must be familiar with

the state's Emergency Plan, so, could you please post the relevant parts that back up your statement? I have read it, btw. Can you post the date where Homeland Security was entwined into the state Emergency Plan which it was.

[Courtesy Flush]

19. Huh???

My statement said nothing about the Emergency Plan. I'm talking about people's moral duty to take action. The governor had the power to evacuate the city. If the Emergency Plan dictated that she sit on her hands, please quote the passage that requires this.

Bad leadership is bad leadership. Show me where the plan forbids her to evacuate the city!

In a major emergency, ALL resources come into play. I can't believe you would defend any plan that requires inaction on anyone's part. I can't believe you would defend a leader who would hide behind red tape when she should have acted.

Just two weeks before the storm I spent the weekend in New Orleans. My dad grew up there, and I have a great fondness for the city. I don't give a fuck how many laws let people off the hook. Everyone had a duty to save lives.

[Spazito]

20. But by saying the Governor didn't do her job, you must know

that she didn't implement the state Emergency Plan and the only way you would know that is if you have it handy and can cite from it.
I am obviously in error in assuming you would be familiar with the plan or know what it contains.

Again, can you cite links to credible sources that back up your contention that:

She forbade evacuation of the city

She was inactive

I am glad you don't care about what laws let people off the hook because that must mean you see clearly that the federal government was lethally incompetent and is trying to fall back on those laws as an excuse.

[Courtesy Flush]

22. True

The last statement was absolutely true.

No. I'm sorry I haven't read the Emergency Plan. I've been a little busy for the last week.

CNN is a credible source that she was inactive. Maybe you've seen the pictures of the masses left in the city.

[Bridget Burke]

42. Yes, you were busy last week.

But not too busy to watch CNN & post on the internet.

[TankLV]

51. CNN "credible". Riiiiight.

Now I know where you get your information.

And I now KNOW it's all bullshit.

[nyhuskyfan]

40. Where do they bring them?

If you are going to evacuate everyone out of the city prior to the hurricane, where do they go? It isn't like other parts of the state are automatically safe from a Category 5 Hurricane. Shreveport suffered significant damage in a hurricane in the mid 1980's, and that is as far from NO as you can go.

The places in Louisiana above sea level won't flood the way NO did, of course. But the first issue is shelter from a Hurricane packing 100+ miles an hour winds. If you take people away from where they have some cover and put them in places where they have none, there is going to be the risk of significant losses of life from the initial hurricane. I'm not sure where you can house 200,000 people in Lousiana that would be secure in the path of a Category 5.

If my choices are the Superdome or a tent in a state park somewhere, I'll go with the Dome.

[Nederland]

41. Also from the plan:

Section III. Roles and Responsibilities.

As a State’s chief executive, the Governor is responsible
for the public safety and welfare of the people of that
State or territory.

I'm not posting this in an effort to say that Blanco is to blame and Bush is not. I'm merely pointing out that documents like the NRP and the the Louisiana State Emergency Plan are documents that are hundreds of pages long and you can always pull a paragraph from somewhere that will back up any position you want. I think my posts from higher up in this thread make it clear that I think a big part of the problem is that these plans are designed to obscure responsibility and cover people's asses, not provide clear instructions.

[Spazito]

44. I totally agree that the NRP is one of the most atrociously written

legal document I have ever seen. When one reads it, you can readily see the copious amounts of red tape overriding other copious amounts of red tape.

I do not, however, think that, because of it's poor language and everything else that is wrong with the document, it absolves the federal agencies of the responsibilities they had signed onto in the document.

[Courtesy Flush]

45. But you think it absolves the state?

[Spazito]

46. I have yet to see any proof of state dereliction with which to blame

or absolve. What I have seen is concrete evidence where FEMA has failed and can provide links if you wish. They are actual articles not simply talking heads on CNN postulating about what might have happened.

[stevietheman]

47. That's exactly right... it's a matter of "proportion of blame"...

and according to all the facts I've seen, the feds will shoulder the vast majority of the blame on this one. The major and governor made some mistakes, but there are multitudes of facts on the ground that FEMA not only made mistakes, but *intentionally* caused delays and blocked help from getting in. Therein lies the difference between the local/state "blame" and the federal "blame".

We blame the feds for intentional problems in this disaster, whereas there's no evidence of similar intentions on the part of the mayor or governor.

[Courtesy Flush]

49. No argument here

That puts it in perspective as to why the resistance to wanting answers from Louisiana. Yes, the overwhelming proportion of the screw ups came from the federal level, But I have to live here in this state, and I want answers on all fronts, even if the rest of the country doesn't.

I suppose the governor issue isn't important to those of you who don't live here, but to us in Louisiana, it's important to get answers. And no, the answers won't come from a document that was written years ago, it will come from an investigation of the events of the last two weeks.

Sorry if I don't have all the answers in advance for you, but that's what investigations are for, and I want one.

[LostinVA]

30. gigglegigglegiggle -- don't blame Repubs only

GOOD laugh. thanks, I needed that!

Okay, how's this: Old Haley is doing a hell of a job. Yup!

[bryant69]

5. Agrees with others

She clearly made some mistakes in assuming people could get out of New Orleans.

We have a tendency to see things as black and white - Bush is a bastard and he failed to deal with this disaster in anything resembling good fashion - so we have a natural tendency to put him on the hook and to take local officials off the hook.

The truth is that thsi disaster was botched at every level of government.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[KharmaTrain]

10. Communications Breakdown...That's Why Federal Is Needed

How these wingnut assholes think that there was any concept of order in that or any city or state taking that kind of devestation.

The storm took out power and tons of communications towers. People were isolated all over the region...this included police, city and state officials. This storm's severity, which was known, was particularly bad on communications systems. Many state and local law enforcement officials were out of touch with their higher ups and for that first 24 hours both Nagin and Blanco were truly flying blind.

I'm not giving a free pass to either, since I know they made mistakes, but what they did was compounded by FEMA and some of the biggest problems were created by the lack of FEMA inaction.

The one issue I've found that's sticking in people's craw the past day or so has been the finding of the elderly in those nursing homes who weren't evacutated. This wasn't just in New Orleans but in many areas...and it wasn't just blacks it was whites as well.

[Beaverhausen]

25. Link to her original letter to Bush re: State of Emergency

http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976

[holeinthedonut]

28. About the evacuation

It seems about 80% of the people in NOLA were evacuated. This is an astounding number by ANY measure and far far more than any previous hurricane warning, more than any computer model or other "expert" prediction.

Let's get over the evacuation. There is absoultely no realistic argument that 100% of the people could have evacuated even if they were millionaires with milky white skin and rocket packs on thier backs.

80% is HUGE. Move on to the real problem which is the response to a national disaster is a joke, an expensive life costing - life alterning joke, much like the war in Iraq, the Clear Sky's initiative and the rest of the asshole's agenda.

Thanks for listening.

[LostinVA]

32. Welcome to DU! An excellent #3 post!

Excellent points.

[newyawker99]

48. Hi holeinthedonut!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kbm8795]

34. What she did WRONG. . .

was not ask El Salvador for assistance before bothering with our federal government. They would have responded.

[Xithras]

37. She should have had the NG on standby.

As the governor, she didn't need Bushes approval to call up the LA national guard (at least half of whom were still in the state). As a governor in a state where the "worst case scenario" hurricane is discussed EVERY YEAR, she also should have appointed people to make sure the states disaster plans were up to snuff.

She should have called up the NG the moment that hurricane was declared a Cat5. Some of them should have been stationed inside the Superdome, and others in the convention center. The majority, however, should have been in or around Baton Rouge. The MOMENT the storm started to pass, she should have ordered EVERY ONE OF THEM to the coast and into NO to secure the city.

Everyone knew what was coming, and what its effect could be. Rather than be a proactive leader, she allowed herself to fall into a reactive position and was made to look wholly ineffectual as a result. There's no valid reason why she should have waited until AFTER the hurricane had passed and AFTER the city had flooded to call the NG into active service.

[Be Brave]

43. The Louisiana NG was deployed even before the storm hit. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

52. Don't you think it is more important what BUSH DID WRONG?

The only thing Blanco did wrong was show up for work the day of a disaster.

Stop feeding the Rove monster with every thread that we waste time on talking about this crap.