If the implications in this transcript of a CNN video are as Mayor Nagin says, then Governor Blanco is guilty of gross incompetence and the good people of Louisiana should demand she resign immediately. Partial Transcript:
NAGIN: They both shook -- I don't know the exact date. They both shook their head and said yes. I said, 'Great.' I said, 'Everybody in this room is getting ready to leave.' There was senators and his cabinet people, you name it, they were there. Generals. I said, 'Everybody right now, we're leaving. These two people need to sit in a room together and make a doggone decision right now.'
S. O'BRIEN: And was that done?
NAGIN: The president looked at me. I think he was a little surprised. He said, "No, you guys stay here. We're going to another section of the plane, and we're going to make a decision."
He called me in that office after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- and I don't remember exactly what. There were two options. I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
S. O'BRIEN: You're telling me the president told you the governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision?
NAGIN: Yes. S. O'BRIEN: Regarding what? Bringing troops in?
NAGIN: Whatever they had discussed. As far as what the -- I was abdicating a clear chain of command, so that we could get resources flowing in the right places.
S. O'BRIEN: And the governor said no.
NAGIN: She said that she needed 24 hours to make a decision. It would have been great if we could of left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn't happen, and more people died.
Go to Wizbang Blog and read the whole thing. There is also a link to the CNN video of the interview.
Make up your own mind.
VW








Context is everything.
Sunday, the day BEFORE Katrina hit New Orleans, Gov. Richardson of New Mexico offered NM National Guard troops to Gov. Blanco. SHE ACCEPTED. The required paperwork from the federal government, without which Richardson couldn't legally have sent the troops, didn't come until three days AFTER Katrina hit and the levees broke.
Posted by: Kevin | Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at 09:41
I'm operating under a self-imposed moratorium...I'm not going to actively criticize anyone associated with the relief effort until about another week or so. That being said, I think it is clear that there is plenty of blame to go around although not as much as is being tossed about and not necessarily at the obvious targets. For example, there are people TODAY who are still refusing to evacuate.
Posted by: Saije | Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at 17:01