wrote in message
oups.com...
I read the quote from Blanco about Bush appealling to her to order a
mandatory evac in a copy of the Monday NO Times Picayune (the day of
the hurricane). Since then, I have seen two apocryphal statements that
she had decided to evacuate BEFORE Bush talked to her but no evidence
of this. The idea that she had decided to evac before she talked to
Bush is cantradicted by both her and Nagin being afraid to evac due to
buisiness and liability concerns the day before. Instead, she decided
to blame Bush by telling people (as quoted in the NO paper) just in
case an evac really was not needed. As it turns out, and evac really
was needed so Bush should get credit.


I still find it amazing that even in the face of overwhelming evidence,
people like bb continue to deny that Blanco publicly stated that Bush spoke
with her on the phone and urged her to evacuate New Orleans.

Facts:
The Bush/Blanco phone call took place before the mandatory evacuation order
was given by Nagin.

The press conference occurred after the phone call.

Blanco stated in the press conference that Bush called her and urged her and
Nagin to issue a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

"NOYB" wrote in message
link.net...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Riptide of the Brownshirts
Power Grab in New Orleans

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

The New Orleans catastrophe is inexplicable.

FEMA's slow response is a mystery.

No it's not. Blanco failed to turn over authority to the Feds, as was
requested the Friday before the storm hit. That left the ball was in her
court, and she dropped it.


Never before has federal funding for work by the US Corps of
Engineers on the New Orleans levees and for the congressionally
authorized Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project
(SELA) been curtailed in the face of dire expert warnings of the
consequence.

Bush sent more funding to NO to sure up the levees than any of his
predecessors.


The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA knew days in
advance that Hurricane Katrina was threatening the Gulf coast of
the US.

Exactly. That's why Bush called Blanco five days in advance and asked her
to issue a mandatory evacuation, and to turn over authority to the Feds.


]
Yet, the normal advance preparations were not
undertaken.

Then maybe you should ask Blanco why.



At the request of the Louisiana governor, President Bush
declared a federal emergency for Louisiana on Saturday August 27
prior to Katrina's arrival in New Orleans on the following
Monday.

Hahaha. Nice spin...but wrong. Bush was in contact with Blanco on
Friday...and it was at his urging that NO was even evacuated.

The declaration specifically authorized FEMA "to
identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and
resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

It didn't give him power over local police and the National Guard...which
is exactly what was needed to quell the looting and ensure the safety of
the relief workers.

However, FEMA took no action until 3 days after the hurricane,
delaying the arrival of effective help until 5 days after 80% of
New Orleans was under water.

Compare this inexplicable delay with the rapid response to the
Florida hurricanes last year.

That's what a decent Governor can do for you.


Cynics note that Florida's governor is President Bush's brother,
a Republican being groomed for a run for president, while the
Louisiana governor and New Orleans mayor are expendable
Democrats. However, the New Orleans disaster is too great to be
attributed solely to crass party politics.


Yet the Dems are making every effort to do so.




Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments...His
graduate economics education was at the
...the University of California at
Berkeley...


Berkeley, eh? Figures.



Took 5 days also for Federal help to get to Homestead, FL after Andrew. And
they are not a minority populated city. Just goes to show that FEMA is and
is still run like most government programs. Incompetently.

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
link.net...

"NOYB" wrote in message
link.net...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Riptide of the Brownshirts
Power Grab in New Orleans

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

The New Orleans catastrophe is inexplicable.

FEMA's slow response is a mystery.

No it's not. Blanco failed to turn over authority to the Feds, as was
requested the Friday before the storm hit. That left the ball was in her
court, and she dropped it.


Never before has federal funding for work by the US Corps of
Engineers on the New Orleans levees and for the congressionally
authorized Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project
(SELA) been curtailed in the face of dire expert warnings of the
consequence.

Bush sent more funding to NO to sure up the levees than any of his
predecessors.


The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA knew days in
advance that Hurricane Katrina was threatening the Gulf coast of
the US.

Exactly. That's why Bush called Blanco five days in advance and asked
her to issue a mandatory evacuation, and to turn over authority to the
Feds.


]
Yet, the normal advance preparations were not
undertaken.

Then maybe you should ask Blanco why.



At the request of the Louisiana governor, President Bush
declared a federal emergency for Louisiana on Saturday August 27
prior to Katrina's arrival in New Orleans on the following
Monday.

Hahaha. Nice spin...but wrong. Bush was in contact with Blanco on
Friday...and it was at his urging that NO was even evacuated.

The declaration specifically authorized FEMA "to
identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and
resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."

It didn't give him power over local police and the National Guard...which
is exactly what was needed to quell the looting and ensure the safety of
the relief workers.

However, FEMA took no action until 3 days after the hurricane,
delaying the arrival of effective help until 5 days after 80% of
New Orleans was under water.

Compare this inexplicable delay with the rapid response to the
Florida hurricanes last year.

That's what a decent Governor can do for you.


Cynics note that Florida's governor is President Bush's brother,
a Republican being groomed for a run for president, while the
Louisiana governor and New Orleans mayor are expendable
Democrats. However, the New Orleans disaster is too great to be
attributed solely to crass party politics.


Yet the Dems are making every effort to do so.




Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments...His
graduate economics education was at the
...the University of California at
Berkeley...


Berkeley, eh? Figures.



Took 5 days also for Federal help to get to Homestead, FL after Andrew.

And they didn't have 20 feet of water to trudge through.

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 11:55:46 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Took 5 days also for Federal help to get to Homestead, FL after Andrew.

And they didn't have 20 feet of water to trudge through.

That may be, but Bush's father took a big hit because of Andrew, and it
was just before the election. GWB should have paid attention, as he is
taking the hit now.

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 11:55:46 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Took 5 days also for Federal help to get to Homestead, FL after Andrew.

And they didn't have 20 feet of water to trudge through.

That may be, but Bush's father took a big hit because of Andrew, and it
was just before the election. GWB should have paid attention, as he is
taking the hit now.

George H. Bush was working with a Democratic Governor at the time...just
like his son is now.

When his son had to work with a Republican Governor 4 times last year,
things went pretty smoothly.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
thunder wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 11:55:46 +0000, NOYB wrote:


Took 5 days also for Federal help to get to Homestead, FL after Andrew.
And they didn't have 20 feet of water to trudge through.

That may be, but Bush's father took a big hit because of Andrew, and it
was just before the election. GWB should have paid attention, as he is
taking the hit now.



The situation in the aftermath of Andrew was far different than the
aftermath of Katrina. Both did a horrific amount of damage, but for the
most part there were not thousands of people stranded, needing rescue, and
in danger of losing their lives after that storm.

There wasn't 20 feet of standing water for 8 days.