Defending Gov Blanco and the Mayor of NO: A Katrina Timeline

[Nikki Stone 1]

Defending Gov Blanco and the Mayor of NO: A Katrina Timeline

The Democratic governor and mayor are being prepared as scapegoats, and I am just livid. Junior's failures will be heaped on them in this faux Congressional hearings.

To help and defend them, I suggest the creation of a Katrina timeline on DU. We can start with the pre-Katrina requests for troops, document Gov. Blanco's request for troops after the storm, document when the levees broke (MONDAY NIGHT), and the arrival of the forms (forms!) from Washington to request the National Guard (THURSDAY!).

We need posts with each event and a link to the article or DU thread (in the case of TV/radio reports) that documents it.

Once the timeline is properly made WITH documentation, we can email it to EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS--especially those on this committee.

We can also email it to newspapers, media outlets, and to the Governor and Mayor themselves as they prepare to defend themselves in front of the Neocon onslaught.

It's a big project, but we could actually affect the outcome of this thing and make sure that our elected reps. can't--in good conscience--ignore the truth.

Nikki

[Catrina]

1. That's a very good idea

I will look for links ~

Recommended ~

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Thank you!

:)

[Duer 157099]

2. This might help

http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4908558/detail.html

This is the interesting part, 11:15am Monday (Monday!)

11:15 a.m.: Levee Breached At Industrial Canal
There's been a levee breach at an industrial canal in the Ninth Ward in St. Bernard Parish. When this occurs, water rises rapidly, so residents should be extra alert to the threat of rising water. There are reports of 8 feet of water spilled out because of the breach. There is also heavy street flooding throughout Orleans, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes. A WDSU crew drove around the city and some streets look like flowing rivers. Also, earlier reports of an apartment collapse in Jefferson Parish are false. It was actually a house that collapsed. -- WDSU.com Web Staff

[Nikki Stone 1]

4. AMEN ALLELUIA!

PERFECT!

[caligirl]

5. Katrina task force order looks to be August 31 see here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2056837

[Nikki Stone 1]

6. Thanks, I might need a govt or military link to that

....

[caligirl]

7. Shipwack provided this link

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/08/mil-050831-dod05.htm

[Adelante]

8. This might come in handy

Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly 9/1/05
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_09/007023.php

-snip-

*

March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.

*

2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.

*

Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it."

*

June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."

*

June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

-snip-

[Catrina]

9. Governor requested assistance

on Aug. 28th!! Link here ~

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4598659

There's a paper trail, so lying isn't going to work.

[lostnfound]

10. kick