THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, BUT THE MEDIA CANNOT FIND IT!
I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in
the
near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to
light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National
Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and
Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of
NO and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the
NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was
destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his
advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for
a
state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the
Posse
Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before
midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and
pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government
and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was
told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to
be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor she
held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of
bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal
assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed
upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and
Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal
assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin
mandatory evacuation. After a personal plea from the President Nagin
agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory
evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers
requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration the President
declared the area a national disaster area before the state of
Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations.
Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the
ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional
requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal
government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done
since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to
use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to NO for
levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a
marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that
will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the
federal government for funding and published on the city's website was
never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of
gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the
organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or
coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they
were.
The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as do
we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the
multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which
further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should
have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to
his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses
at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city
transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or
activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but
been
destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands
more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing
fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption
and
incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their
lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to
avoid them in the future.
I think all of Nagin's pomp and posturing is going to bite him hard in
the
near future as the lies and distortions of his interviews are coming to
light.
On Friday night before the storm hit Max Mayfield of the National
Hurricane Center took the unprecedented action of calling Nagin and
Blanco personally to plead with them to begin MANDATORY evacuation of
NO and they said they'd take it under consideration. This was after the
NOAA buoy 240 miles south had recorded 68' waves before it was
destroyed.
President Bush spent Friday afternoon and evening in meetings with his
advisors and administrators drafting all of the paperwork required for
a
state to request federal assistance (and not be in violation of the
Posse
Comitatus Act or having to enact the Insurgency Act). Just before
midnight Friday evening the President called Governor Blanco and
pleaded with her to sign the request papers so the federal government
and the military could legally begin mobilization and call up. He was
told that they didn't think it necessary for the federal government to
be involved yet. After the President's final call to the governor she
held meetings with her staff to discuss the political ramifications of
bringing federal forces. It was decided that if they allowed federal
assistance it would make it look as if they had failed so it was agreed
upon that the feds would not be invited in.
Saturday before the storm hit the President again called Blanco and
Nagin requesting they please sign the papers requesting federal
assistance, that they declare the state an emergency area, and begin
mandatory evacuation. After a personal plea from the President Nagin
agreed to order an evacuation, but it would not be a full mandatory
evacuation, and the governor still refused to sign the papers
requesting and authorizing federal action. In frustration the President
declared the area a national disaster area before the state of
Louisiana did so he could legally begin some advanced preparations.
Rumor has it that the President's legal advisers were looking into the
ramifications of using the insurgency act to bypass the Constitutional
requirement that a state request federal aid before the federal
government can move into state with troops - but that had not been done
since 1906 and the Constitutionality of it was called into question to
use before the disaster.
Throw in that over half the federal aid of the past decade to NO for
levee construction, maintenance, and repair was diverted to fund a
marina and support the gambling ships. Toss in the investigation that
will look into why the emergency preparedness plan submitted to the
federal government for funding and published on the city's website was
never implemented and in fact may have been bogus for the purpose of
gaining additional federal funding as we now learn that the
organizations identified in the plan were never contacted or
coordinating into any planning - though the document implies that they
were.
The suffering people of NO need to be asking some hard questions as do
we all, but they better start with why Blanco refused to even sign the
multi-state mutual aid pack activation documents until Wednesday which
further delayed the legal deployment of National Guard from adjoining
states. Or maybe ask why Nagin keeps harping that the President should
have commandeered 500 Greyhound busses to help him when according to
his own emergency plan and documents he claimed to have over 500 busses
at his disposal to use between the local school busses and the city
transportation busses - but he never raised a finger to prepare them or
activate them.
This is a sad time for all of us to see that a major city has all but
been
destroyed and thousands of people have died with hundreds of thousands
more suffering, but it's certainly not a time for people to be pointing
fingers and trying to find a bigger dog to blame for local corruption
and
incompetence. Pray to God for the survivors that they can start their
lives anew as fast as possible and we learn from all the mistakes to
avoid them in the future.
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