SOUND OFF! Say what's on your mind, but do not RESPOND TO what other posters write.

[kgeaux]

So, let me get this straight. Bush had no power to send in troops or take over in any way. It was all up to the governor? He had absolutely no recourse at all? He was, in effect, sitting horrified with the rest of us (except for Michael Brown, who didn't know), watching people die and knowing that people were being raped and beated and that rescue efforts were halted because of shooting. He could do nothing. Right?

Edit: Oops, I didn't realize this was the "Sound Off" thread because I was responding to a poster who was responding to a different poster. I can delete, but I really want to know the answer. Please can I leave my post?

I'm sorry, I'm responding again. I think we've lost sight of the purpose of the thread, but oh, well! Word going around Lafayette is that Bush gave Blanco TWO ultimatums before she issued the request for federal oversight. Asking for supplies and asking for oversight are apparently two different things. I am going to state now that I have no link to support the 2 ultimatim claim. But that talk is ALL over Lafayette.

Does politics play a role in this? Blanco is a Democrat and Bush is Republican, and I don't know.

 

[Dara]

I'm sorry, I'm responding again. I think we've lost sight of the purpose of the thread, but oh, well! Word going around Lafayette is that Bush gave Blanco TWO ultimatums before she issued the request for federal oversight. Asking for supplies and asking for oversight are apparently two different things. I am going to state now that I have no link to support the 2 ultimatim claim. But that talk is ALL over Lafayette.

Does politics play a role in this? Blanco is a Democrat and Bush is Republican, and I don't know.

It's my fault you're responding, so I'll thank you and thwack myself. :doh:

Thanks for the insight. Because this is the no response thread, I brought some info about this into the general "updates" thread. There's a Yahoo article that has some info there. I'm just trying and trying to unravel it all (shyeah, like I can do it when it's a huge mess). Ok, that's my response to your response to my response to your response. I'm done, but I'd love to discuss this in the other thread whenever you have time/patience/energy/inclination!

 

[TisHerself]

I hope that everyone is now out of New Orleans, that everyone who needs medical help is getting it. They are all for now at least, in a safe, warm and clean place, I am praying that for anyone who has someone missing they find them soon. I hope it will not be too long before they can find places for these families to live. Most of all I pray that God gives them the strength to accept the lose of their homes, their lives as they knew it, and in some cases their families. I could never in my wildest dreams even begin to imagine the devastation and heartbreak that the people of the Whole Gulf Coast have suffered. My deepest respect and admiration goes out to the rescue workers, to the nurses and doctors who were giving each other IV's just so they could keep ministering to patients. To as one poster mentioned, residents who were helping other residents, those are the Hero's.
JMHO What happened here was a Horrific human disater that touched all of us and I know affected me deeply. Whatever structural or governmental improvement that could have prevented the magnitude of the end result, Blaming President Bush and with such anger is quite simply Pathetic.

 

[TexMex]

I agree that Kathleen was paralized and over her head but FEMA Michael Brown didn't even know about the convention center and we knew it all day. That is not good response from those we entrusted to carry on and protect us. Remember no water was thrown from the helicopters on the expressway nor the convention center until Friday.Days after the flooding occured, not happy with the fed either. We are grasping at straws.

Police Chief: 'Urban Warfare' Slowed New Orleans Rescue

New Orleans Police Chief Edwin Compass said Friday that hurricane rescue efforts were hampered when relief workers came under attack by the city's criminal element, prompting conditions that resembled "urban warfare."

"We have never had an urban warfare battle like this on any front in the history of our nation," Compass told NBC's "Dateline."

Story Continues Below


"You're fighting in buildings that are pitch black with darkness. These individuals have root - the criminal element have looted all the gun shops and gun stores in this city, so they're armed, they're dangerous."
Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief Michael Brown, under fire for his agency's slow response, echoed Chief Compass's complaint, telling CNN: "We are working under conditions of urban warfare."

NYTimes:


Opportunistic thieves cleaned out abandoned stores for a second night. Officials said that in one incident a police officer had been critically wounded by gunfire. "These are not individuals looting," Ebbert said. "These are large groups of armed individuals

 

[bulletgirl2002]

I'm sorry, I'm responding again. I think we've lost sight of the purpose of the thread, but oh, well! Word going around Lafayette is that Bush gave Blanco TWO ultimatums before she issued the request for federal oversight. Asking for supplies and asking for oversight are apparently two different things. I am going to state now that I have no link to support the 2 ultimatim claim. But that talk is ALL over Lafayette.

Does politics play a role in this? Blanco is a Democrat and Bush is Republican, and I don't know.

I heard he gave her an ultimatum too and is plenty pissed at her. I didn't post this because it was a rumour. oops BB I broke the rules...

 

[TexMex]

I may phrase this wrong, but there is a separation of state and federal powers. He needed to be asked. It's a RULE, a LAW, something. The federal government cannot move in and take over state responsibilities without an invitation. The invitation was not issued. You can blame Bush all day long, but he responded immediately when our governor finally, finally realized she was in over her political head, and her constituents were in over their heads in water.

The federal response has been phenomenal. Wonderful. Had they been there on day one, what a difference it would have made.

It is against the law for any President to order troops into a city or across state lines without a request and permission from the Governor of that state.

John Armor, a First Amendment lawyer: "Federal law prevents the President from sending in the National Guard until the Governor gives the order. It is little known, but the Commanding General of the National Guard in every state reports to the Governor, not the President, until the Governor says otherwise.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

It is against the law for any President to order troops into a city or across state lines without a request and permission from the Governor of that state.

John Armor, a First Amendment lawyer: "Federal law prevents the President from sending in the National Guard until the Governor gives the order. It is little known, but the Commanding General of the National Guard in every state reports to the Governor, not the President, until the Governor says otherwise.

I have to say I have been learning a lot through this ordeal.

Thanks for the info....

 

[less0305]

It is against the law for any President to order troops into a city or across state lines without a request and permission from the Governor of that state.

John Armor, a First Amendment lawyer: "Federal law prevents the President from sending in the National Guard until the Governor gives the order. It is little known, but the Commanding General of the National Guard in every state reports to the Governor, not the President, until the Governor says otherwise.

Thank you Tex.... I've been screaming this for days!!!

That is how our government system is set up. The Constitution! If the President did whatever he pleased with states....we wouldn't have a state system. We'd have a dictatorship!!! We live in the United STATES of America.

 

[Dara]

So, Blanco apparently requested some National Guardsmen (New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday)

and some were there but playing cards instead of saving lives (under orders, I am sure), but we're to believe she didn't ask at all?

People are screaming a LOT of conflicting information. Some of the loudest aren't necessarily the most accurate.

In a federal emergency, I wonder if the president still can't send in troops. I keep seeing claims but haven't seen proof.

 

[less0305]

The President can send them in for emergencies relating to an attack on our country - I can't think of the correct term. He can martial the National Guard if it is a matter of National security from an outside source. It's all clearly written in the Constitution and amendments. I'm just not saying it correctly.


IFFFFF, I remember my history and civics lessons correctly. I will stand to be corrected tho - it was a long time ago when I took history and civics.

 

[TexMex]

I'm sorry, I'm responding again. I think we've lost sight of the purpose of the thread, but oh, well! Word going around Lafayette is that Bush gave Blanco TWO ultimatums before she issued the request for federal oversight. Asking for supplies and asking for oversight are apparently two different things. I am going to state now that I have no link to support the 2 ultimatim claim. But that talk is ALL over Lafayette.

Does politics play a role in this? Blanco is a Democrat and Bush is Republican, and I don't know.

Politics in this sense kgeaux

LA state officials sought to 'maintain their independence from federal takeover' by ignoring President Bush's legal pleas and proposals to start the ball rolling for federal assistance on FRIDAY, BEFORE the storm. President Bush was trying desperately to get Blanco's attention; trying to warn her that huge devastation was on the way, and yet Blanco and her "advisors' thought it was a political ploy by the administration to grab power.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency.

The fact that even now, Governor Blanco continues to stubbornly cling to power, resisting the federal takeover of the evacuation, proves that

1) she's had the power -- and hence, the authority and responsibility to use it -- all along, and

2) Even though a shift to federal authority would probably be the best thing for all of the affected victims, Blanco -- is more interested in playing political games and covering her own behind than she is in doing the right thing to help her state.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

I guess it isn't a surprise, but I'm frustrated to see how political this has become, on both sides.... neither side is innocent, IMO.

 

[Dara]

You know, I almost hope Bush tries to use some of the excuses I've read here. I really do.

Nail, meet coffin.

(it's a metaphor, btw)

 

[kgeaux]

It is against the law for any President to order troops into a city or across state lines without a request and permission from the Governor of that state.

John Armor, a First Amendment lawyer: "Federal law prevents the President from sending in the National Guard until the Governor gives the order. It is little known, but the Commanding General of the National Guard in every state reports to the Governor, not the President, until the Governor says otherwise.

Thank you so much for clearing that up! That is what I am trying to say, but you've got it so much clearer and more official!

Thank you Tex.... I've been screaming this for days!!!

That is how our government system is set up. The Constitution! If the President did whatever he pleased with states....we wouldn't have a state system. We'd have a dictatorship!!! We live in the United STATES of America.

Yep. You're right!

So, Blanco apparently requested some National Guardsmen (New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday)

and some were there but playing cards instead of saving lives (under orders, I am sure), but we're to believe she didn't ask at all?

People are screaming a LOT of conflicting information. Some of the loudest aren't necessarily the most accurate.

In a federal emergency, I wonder if the president still can't send in troops. I keep seeing claims but haven't seen proof.

Blanco and Richardson: Democrats. Bush: Republican. It is looking more and more to me like either partisan politics or monumental ineptitude.

Politics in this sense kgeaux

LA state officials sought to 'maintain their independence from federal takeover' by ignoring President Bush's legal pleas and proposals to start the ball rolling for federal assistance on FRIDAY, BEFORE the storm. President Bush was trying desperately to get Blanco's attention; trying to warn her that huge devastation was on the way, and yet Blanco and her "advisors' thought it was a political ploy by the administration to grab power.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency.

The fact that even now, Governor Blanco continues to stubbornly cling to power, resisting the federal takeover of the evacuation, proves that

1) she's had the power -- and hence, the authority and responsibility to use it -- all along, and

2) Even though a shift to federal authority would probably be the best thing for all of the affected victims, Blanco -- is more interested in playing political games and covering her own behind than she is in doing the right thing to help her state.

This is exactly what is being bandied about town. Do you happen to have a link? Our news agencies over here are not exactly known for bucking the system. I learned more from Bill O'Reilly interviews the other day than I've learned from my local news.

 

[TexMex]

Sunday, August 28, 2005;| CNN's David Mattingly, Susan Candiotti, Jacqui Jeras and Rob Marciano contributed to this report.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that it was President Bush that had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
New Orleans orders evacuation ahead of Hurricane Katrina's winds of nearly 175 mph.


Sunday, August 28, 2005: CNN

Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and other emergency teams were in place to move in as soon as the storm was over, FEMA Undersecretary Michael Brown said.

Associated Press August 28

Mandatory evacuation ordered for New Orleans
8/28/2005, 10:48 a.m. CT
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.

The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

 

[kgeaux]

B]Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.
__________________

There you go. There you go. He did try, he tried.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Sunday, August 28, 2005;| CNN's David Mattingly, Susan Candiotti, Jacqui Jeras and Rob Marciano contributed to this report.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that it was President Bush that had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.
New Orleans orders evacuation ahead of Hurricane Katrina's winds of nearly 175 mph.


Sunday, August 28, 2005: CNN

Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and other emergency teams were in place to move in as soon as the storm was over, FEMA Undersecretary Michael Brown said.

Associated Press August 28

Mandatory evacuation ordered for New Orleans
8/28/2005, 10:48 a.m. CT
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.

Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.

The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

Wow....hmmm. That seems pretty clear.

As I'm a cynic when it comes to some things I read, LOL, I want to hear what the mixup is about the Gov saying she sent the request for aid to Washington on Sunday (I think), but the paperwork didn't come back from D.C. until Wednesday. There's got to be a lot of detail in that story, and I'm sure more will come out later, as time goes by.

 

[bulletgirl2002]

Wow....hmmm. That seems pretty clear.

As I'm a cynic when it comes to some things I read, LOL, I want to hear what the mixup is about the Gov saying she sent the request for aid to Washington on Sunday (I think), but the paperwork didn't come back from D.C. until Wednesday. There's got to be a lot of detail in that story, and I'm sure more will come out later, as time goes by.

Hell the feds requested Friday to take over and the bi*** said no.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Hell the feds requested Friday to take over and the bi*** said no.

Yeah, it's not going to be so good for the Gov, I don't believe. Where's she been the last 1-2 days, anyways? I think she's keeping a low media profile. Not saying that's good or bad, but wonder what she's been doing....

 

[kgeaux]

Yeah, it's not going to be so good for the Gov, I don't believe. Where's she been the last 1-2 days, anyways? I think she's keeping a low media profile. Not saying that's good or bad, but wonder what she's been doing....

VERY low profile. Almost invisible.