You see, if things go wrong, but the paperwork is good, you can't be fired...
There is an army cartoon that shows a jeep on it's last legs, with a broken windshield, flat tires, and holed in the seats...and a General is pointing at the jeep, and the sargent is holding a clipboard saying: But the paperwork says it is in fine condition....
That probably dates me to pre Humvee days, but the idea hasn't changed...cover your ass with paper work, and you can ignore the reality of any situation....
So we see this in the WaPost:
"...Among the more than 100,000 pages of newly released records, which ranged from after-action reports to hand-scrawled notes written at the height of the storm, are memos showing Blanco frustrated and angered over delays in evacuations and the slow delivery of promised federal aid.
?Federal Aid? Ummm....didn't she have any, you know, local resources?
I mean, they had time to write 100 000 pages of memos....and had no problem finding bic pens and paper to write them...I mean, local officials usually have a disaster plan on record, with names and numbers and maps etc. etc....but I guess the governor prefers to cry and blame Bush for not doing instant miracles....
Ummm....you need to be specific...what and where would help...I mean, you are on the ground and are supposed to be in charge...THIS is where you need a memo: stating One: Get volunteers to find the keys of the buses in the parking lots. Two: Have the NG helicopter them in. Three: get 100 maps, and circle each area to be evacuated...Four: Print out previously devised evacuation plan from computer...Five: Tell Nagin to find some locals to help show the drivers where to go...Six: Get valium for the Governor and let Bobby Jindal take over...
But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were "standing by," Blanco's aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show.
Even if FEMA had buses available, they would have to drive them a couple hundred miles...that takes time....Guess they didn't bother to check the parking lots of New Orleans for buses, the ones that Drudge showed standing in four feet of water?
But apparantly some areas of government DID work:
That day National Guard helicopters rescued 2,296 people from rooftops and "newly created islands," according a Louisiana National Guard report....
Oh, you mean the LANG was there? Imagine that...according to CNNI, the governor couldn't send in LANG people because they were all in Iraq...(not)...
Blanco's heroic efforts can be summarize HERE:
But the fact that she was blaming FEMA for "not providing buses" ignores the fact that the buses were available, as her own memo admits:
"... With no sign of the promised FEMA buses in sight on Wednesday, General Honore requests more school buses and Governor Blanco issues Executive Order No. KBB 2005-31 later in the day, allowing her to officially commandeer or utilize any private property she finds necessary to cope with the disaster or emergency. Governor Blanco´s office continues to direct each school superintendent to provide an inventory of school buses and bus drivers in their districts.
An estimated 1500 school buses were commandeered. Although all of the buses were not ultimately used, initial estimates indicate that at least 800 school bus trips were made shuttling evacuees to safety. The Governor´s staff arranges a staging and implementation plan that keeps the buses flowing in convoys once the order is issued..."
Translation: there were plenty of local buses available for officials to evacuate people, but they weren't being used...indeed, Blanco didn't bother to use them until General Honore (who was sent in by Bush) TOLD her to do it...duh...
As for the FEMA buses, her one sided report keeps crying why weren't they available immediately...Well, maybe because you have to DRIVE buses to the area, and that takes time...as this part of the memo showed, FEMA was actually sending in buses from out of state...
Just before midnight on Wednesday, the Governor learns that a number of the promised FEMA buses are finally crossing into North Louisiana, some 7 or 8 hours away from
Guess Captain Kirk's Transporter didn't work, and they had to drive them in...
Then we have THIS strange action:
Governor Blanco also writes to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson and urges him to consider both immediate and long-term housing solutions for evacuees.
Well, that's that...she wrote a letter...now if 10,000 houses don't materialize instantly, it will be Bush's fault too...
Then we have the question on why the US Army wasn't sent in...
General Blum provides his candid assessment that the Governor should not federalize the troops, recommending the dual command structure. He confirms the Governor´s position that a joint command is appropriate, with Lieutenant General Honore commanding federal forces and Major General Landreneau commanding State forces, and that federalization would not be necessary to receive more federal assets. ... We all know that the Posse Comitatus Act significantly limits the situations when the army and air force can conduct law enforcement missions. The reality is that thousands of Guard troops are pouring into the State, yet very few federal troops are on the ground to meet the Governor´s request.
UMMM...there are few federal troops because legally they couldn't be sent...and even on Thursday evening, the governor is not requesting them...and then says since they are not here, we won't request them...Did I get it right?
And by Friday, she finally got around to announcing a public health emergency...so outside doctors could treat people..
But finally things got better:
On day four after Katrina hits
God bless all those First Responders, the police, the firemen, the Red Cross, the Coast Guard and Navy, the National Guard, the local fishermen who got people out of houses, and the volunteers, including lots of churches who helped, and let us thank those who took time from their lives and evacuated, clothed, fed, and housed those fleeing the storm...and thank the Walmart and Home Depot and motels, and grocery stores and other private businesses that helped people in those hours...but never got thanked or even mentioned on CNNI or FoxNews...
Ah, but what about those Federal Troops?
The Governor has a private conversation with President Bush about the command structure of the operations, and reiterates her need for a significant number of federal troops. The President asks Governor Blanco to put her troops, the Louisiana National Guard and EMAC National Guard, under control of a Department of Defense appointed General. By the time of Friday´s conversation, the situation has evolved and the immediate needs on the ground are far different than the needs when federal troops were first requested earlier in the week.
Translation: Blanco "asked" for federal troops, but did not legally clear the way for them to be sent...legally tying Bush's ability to send in Federal troops....so the National Guard, who should have been called to duty two days before the hurricane hit, finally was called up...
Of course, the National Guard is tasked to do such things, but never mind (for the militarily impaired, the NG consists of support services such as police, food services, water supplies, construction, and medical units that train for local emergencies...Navy SEALS are nice but probably can't cook 1000 meals a day, or decontaminate 2000 gallons of water an hour....)...apparantly neither the governor nor the MSM is aware of such things...
the rest of the memo, written by the Governor's office, is praising the governor ...
An Atlanta newspaper notes the huge difference between Blanco and the nearby governor of Mississippi...LINK...
but it notes both states are still angry about FEMA:
"We're supposed to be the greatest country in the world, and it's 12 weeks after the hurricane and we've still got people living in tents," said Ellis, the towing company owner.
Hmmm...the government as tooth fairy...
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Update: MUSIC AND CATS BLOG has an update on Bywater in New Orleans rebuilding the damaged Shotgun houses...for those of you not from the South, a "shotgun house" has one room behind another...so if you open the front door and shoot, it goes right thru out the back door...
