Laying a little blame in Louisiana
For months now, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has joined her Democratic colleagues in condemning the Bush administration for failures in responding the the hurricane Katrina disaster. Headlines were made yesterday when a recorded phone call to the Bush administration showed that more than 3 hours after the National Weather Service announced the levee system failure and warned of flash floods, Governor Blanco reassured the White House that the levees were still holding.
In any emergency response plan, certainly in a predictable situation - like say, hurricanes in La., a three hour delay in information flow to the head executive officer of the state would be considered a complete and utter failure. But giving Gov. Blanco the benefit of the doubt and recognizing that sometimes the information is simply slow in confirming, I am still left with questions.
Why, for instance, knowing after the fact that she had misinformed the Bush administration, did she join in the chorus of political opportunists who were so quick to point to Washington as the source of failure?
Why, when impoverished black New Orleans residents were blaming Bush for a slow response, did she not speak up? Why when newspapers around the country made a racial issue out of the painful aftermath, did she remain silent and let the White House take the rap?
Why did Democrat Kathleen Blanco stand by and knowingly let the public misunderstand the truth of the situation?
Clearly, Blanco was more concerned about protecting her political posterior than answering truthfully to her displaced constituents. She played politics while the media and New Orleans residents went on a a verbal witch hunt and accused the Bush administration of being racist and leaving poor black residents to die.
You voted for her New Orleans - I hope you don't mind getting what you paid for.
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Comment by C-Mom— 2006/03/07 @ 05:01 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/03/07 @ 08:25 AM — (Reply)
I have to add another question to yours: Why, when all is said and done does the blame head up to Washington when the entire region had more than 3 days notice to get prepared? Why? Because local leaders didn't help them in anyway to prepare. Were there local bus companines called in to transport people out of the cities where there was a "mandatory" evacuation? Sounds to me like the blame has to lie with not only the local leadership, but the people of the region. If I was told there was a mandatory evacuation, you can bet that I would be gone and with as much of my "important" things as possible. Grow up New Orleans, Louisiana, etc, take responsibility for you own actions, or lack thereof....
Comment by — 2006/03/10 @ 06:24 PM — (Reply)